Jack Stevens DVM, the original founder of Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) founded Pets Best Insurance in 2005. The company is a member of NAPHIA, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association. Pets Best covers cats and dogs over seven weeks old for illnesses, accidents, injuries, surgeries, prescription medication, hospitalization, and more.

Pets Best does not cover pre-existing conditions, congenital conditions, parasites, preventable diseases (if you failed to get a vaccine), elective procedures (like ear cropping), and dental coverage. However, if you add “BestWellness” to your plan, your pet’s covered for routine visits, annual teeth cleanings, vaccinations, and more.

There are no annual limits or age restrictions, and you can choose any vet, anywhere. Pets Best reimburses you 80 percent after your deductible—there is no benefits schedule.

Once you purchase a Pets Best policy, accident coverage kicks in after three days, and medical and wellness coverage after 14 days. You can either mail or fax your claim form. Pets Best will reimburse you within 10 business days.

Policy holder reviews for Pets Best Insurance are mixed, but this is standard for insurance companies. If you have a thorough understanding of what’s covered and what isn’t before you purchase a plan you won’t be disappointed.

Pets Best Pet Insurance Review

Rating: 10

Our review process starts with calling each of the insurance providers over the telephone and then, we gather quotes for these three pet profiles:

• A 2-year old male Yorkshire Terrier named Jax
• A 6-year old male Cocker Spaniel named Max
• An 8-year old female mixed breed cat named Fluffy

I was prompted to click 2 for the sales department—different from other companies that directed me to customer service. Once I began speaking with Ryan, I could see the clear difference. He did a fantastic job selling me on the company. In fact, Pets Best is now one of my top choices.

To obtain the quotes, he asked if the pets are spayed and neutered, and if they have any pre-existing conditions. He explained that Pets Best is one of only two pet insurers that reimburse 80% of the actual bill.

They don’t use a benefits schedule or usual and customary fees list. Other companies do this to limit the amount of money you can get for any specific illness or condition. Pets Best reimburses 80% of the whole bill, after the deductible, no matter what.

THE PLANS/QUOTES

Since I have multiple pets, I will get a 7% discount for each one. If I pay upfront for the entire year, I’ll get an additional 7% discount.

Ryan recommended starting with the Pets Basic Plan, and then upgrading later if I see fit.

All plans cover:

• Accidents, illnesses, and injuries
• MRIs, CAT scans, and X-rays
• Surgeries
• Cancer treatments
• Prescription medications
• After-hours emergency vet visits
• Visits to specialists
• Acupuncture
• Chiropractic therapy
• Hospitalization

Pets Basic

$100 per-incident deductible, covers $2,500 per incident, has a $42,500 lifetime limit

For all three pets, would cost $64.78/month

• The 2-year old male Yorkshire Terrier: $22.87
• The 6-year old male Cocker Spaniel: $28.01
• The 8-year old female mixed breed cat: $18.78

Pets First

$75 per-incident deductible, covers $7,000 per incident, has a $100,000 lifetime limit

For all three pets, would be $110.11/month

• The 2-year old male Yorkshire Terrier: $33.73
• The 6-year old male Cocker Spaniel: $45.72
• The 8-year old female mixed breed cat: $30.66

Pets Premier

$300 per-incident deductible, covers $14,000 per incident, has a $100,000 lifetime limit

For all three pets, would be $168.20/month

• The 2-year old male Yorkshire Terrier: $55.58
• The 6-year old male Cocker Spaniel: $68.05
• The 8-year old female mixed breed cat: $44.57

THE DETAILS

None of the plans include routine care. You can add the wellness program at any time, and also remove it whenever you’d like. This allows you a certain amount of coverage for specific treatments each year—$35 for annual exams and $100 for teeth cleaning, for example—for a total of $400 in dogs and $500 in cats. The website indicates you can only use half of the wellness benefits in the first six months of the year, and then you can use the rest in the remainder, which I find a tad odd. According to Ryan, it would cost me an additional $17 per month per pet to add wellness care.

None of the plans have an annual limit. Perhaps most importantly, Pets Best offers continuous lifetime coverage. Many insurance companies consider conditions from on policy term pre-existing when the plan renews the next year, which seriously limits your coverage. Some of them allow you to purchase an additional package to address this, increasing your premium cost.

The waiting period is 3 days for accidents and 14 days for full coverage. There are no start-up fees. You can cancel at any time, and you will receive a pro-rated reimbursement for overpayments.

Pets Best is very similar to Petplan—another popular, well-reviewed pet insurance company. The only difference is that Petplan drops coverage to 70% when you visit a specialist.

CONCLUSIONS

Pets Best seems true to its name—one of the best pet insurance companies on the market.

In making my decision, I will consider the following:

Pros:

• No benefits schedule—you get 80% reimbursement, after the deductible, no matter what
• Lifetime continuous coverage
• High multi-pet discount and discounts for paying annually
• Flexible, comprehensive plans
• The company cares—they just pledged $1 million to help cure canine cancer
• The founder had 25 years industry experience before forming the company
• Pets Best is a member of NAPHIA, North American Pet Health Insurance Association

Cons:

• You can only use half your routine care allowances in the first six months of a year
• Some customer reviews indicate claim processing can be slow

To purchase a Pets Best policy, visit them online or call 1-866-929-3807. Ryan’s extension is 308—and he is well worth speaking to!

Tags: Pets Best