How pet insurance works
Pet insurance is not like human health insurance. There is no network and no co-pay card. In almost every plan you pay the vet yourself first, then file a claim, and the insurer reimburses a percentage of the covered bill after your deductible. Five settings decide both what a plan covers and what it costs:
1. Accident & illness vs accident-only
Accident & illness plans cover injuries and sickness — cancer, allergies, stomach problems, hereditary conditions. Accident-only plans are far cheaper (industry average $190/year for dogs vs $836 for accident & illness, NAPHIA 2025) but exclude illness entirely, which is where most large claims come from.
2. Annual limit
The most the insurer will pay in a policy year — commonly $5,000, $10,000, or unlimited. Published data shows the limit alone can nearly double a premium (a French Bulldog median of $69/month at a $5,000 limit vs $134 unlimited, Insurify).
3. Deductible
What you pay out of pocket each policy year before reimbursement starts — typically $100–$1,000. Higher deductible, lower premium. It resets annually, not per claim.
4. Reimbursement rate
The share of the covered bill the insurer pays after the deductible: usually 70%, 80%, or 90%. 90% feels safer but raises the premium more than the extra coverage is often worth.
5. Waiting periods & pre-existing conditions
Coverage doesn't start the day you buy. Typical waiting periods run a few days for accidents and around 14 days for illness, with some conditions (like cruciate ligament injuries) carrying waits of 6 months or more. And no mainstream plan covers pre-existing conditions — anything diagnosed or noted by a vet before enrollment (or during a waiting period) is excluded. That single rule is why enrolling a young, healthy pet locks in the broadest coverage, and why shopping after a diagnosis rarely works.
What it doesn't cover
Routine care (vaccines, check-ups, dental cleaning) is excluded from standard plans and sold separately as a wellness add-on. Elective procedures, breeding, and pre-existing conditions are also out. Exam fees are covered by some insurers and not others — check before you compare prices, because two quotes at the same premium may not cover the same bill.
Get real quotes for your pet
Our quoting partner — a licensed pet insurance comparison service — is being connected now. When it launches, this button will show you live quotes from multiple insurers for your exact pet, using the same coverage settings as the estimates above so you can compare like with like.
Quote comparison launching soonPetPolicyCosts.com never sells your data. Quote requests will be handled by the licensed partner on their own pages.
Next: Is pet insurance worth it? The honest maths →
See the numbers by breed
The five settings above are easiest to see in real breed data — compare the published young-adult ranges for the French Bulldog, English Bulldog, Dachshund, Golden Retriever, Maine Coon and Sphynx — or browse the full cost-by-breed index.
Keep reading
- Is pet insurance worth it?
- Pet insurance cost by state
- Most expensive & cheapest breeds to insure
- Pet insurance for senior pets
Or run your own numbers in the breed-by-breed cost calculator — pick a breed and an age band and it prices the same published data used across this site.