Is Pet Insurance Worth It?
Consumer Reports’ first-ever ratings of pet insurers can help you decide whether buying coverage makes financial sense, or can provide peace of mind
When asked if I’m a cat or a dog person, my answer is yes. We’ve got one of each at my house: Logo, who’s been our good boy for two years now, and Phoebe, who arrived at the door as a stray kitten three years ago. They are both happy, healthy, and uninsured.
For us, pet insurance has long been on the maybe-we-should-look-into-it list, along with getting faster internet or lower-interest-rate credit cards. But our lassitude was called into question early one evening when Phoebe showed up at the back door disoriented, limping, and with a nickel-sized bald spot on her left hind quarter. I was concerned about Phoebe, but also worried things were about to get expensive.
Turns out most of the roughly 65 million U.S. households with a dog and 46 million with a cat don’t insure them, either; just 4.8 million cats and dogs are insured in this country. In a first-ever evaluation for Consumer Reports, we rated eight pet insurance providers—ASPCA, Banfield, Embrace, Fetch, Healthy Paws, Nationwide Pet Insurance, Pets Best, and Trupanion—based on a survey of 2,061 CR members with insured pets, looking at things such as how much the premium cost, the claims process, and whether people had choice in which vets to see.
