Why Your Pet Insurance Provider Matters

If you’re new to the pet insurance world, you may think that any provider would be a suitable choice for your pet. Yet, unfortunately that assumption would be wrong. In fact, with pet insurance - there isn’t a catch-all approach to choosing your coverage plan. Each provider is unique and different and the plans they offer vary from pet to pet.

So, before you take the advice of your friends or recommendations from your vet, it’s important to know why your pet insurance providers matter. And, why it’s necessary to compare your options before you buy. At Fursure, we can jumpstart the process of comparing your available pet insurances options. We make it fast, easy and personalized to fit the needs of you and your family.

Let’s take a look at why your pet insurance provider matters and give you a deeper look at how costs can vary depending on various factors.

Why Your Pet Insurance Provider Matters

It’s important to understand that when you’re shopping around for best insurance, different providers have different benefits for your pet. And, they will vary depending on your specific dog or cat, their breed, lifestyle, age, your zip code and budget.

In order for you to see the true difference, we’re going to present an example for you to learn from. This example will include two different pets (dog & cat) and two insurance providers options with their coverage plans.

There are two main categories of policy types that you can purchase for your pet: accidents and illnesses. We break these down in depth in our article, Everything You Need To Know About Pet Insurance. In short, accident plans cover unexpected incidents such as your pet getting hit by a car. And, illness plans cover more anticipated issues that may arise with your pet such as skin infections.

A Pet Insurance Provider Compare & Contrast

Comparing Pet Insurance Providers| Photo by Alec Favale on Unsplash

For our example, we are going to discuss pet insurance policies for Demi, the poodle, and Neva, the Siberian cat.

Demi is less than a year old and Neva is 2 years old. They both live in the zip code 02130.

We’re going to compare and contrast coverage options for both Demi and Neva based on two providers: Pets Best and Trupanion.

Pets Best Policy

Based on our recommendation, the policy that the pet owners should select is their Plus Plan. This has a 90% reimbursement with no annual maximum.

For Demi, if her owner was to purchase pet insurance now - while she is still young - the pricing of her plan would be:

• $16.60 per month with a $1,000 deductible
• $29.17 per month with a $500 deductible

If her owner waited until Demi was 10 years old to purchase the plan, the pricing could significantly increase to:

• $57.37 per month for a $1,000 deductible
• $100.75 per month for a $500 deductible

As you can see, the age of the dog heavily contributes to the monthly cost of her pet insurance.

For Neva, let’s say her pet owner purchased an accident coverage plan now. The annual coverage would be $10,000 with a deductible of $250 and a reimbursement percentage of 90%. And, the monthly cost of her insurance would be $6.

If she wanted to increase the deductible to $1,000, her payment would increase to $8.43.

Yet, let’s imagine that Neva’s owner waited until she was 10 years old to purchase the insurance. With a $1,000 deductible, her new payment would be 3 times as much at $23.20.

Therefore, with these side by side comparisons - you can see that the age of your pet is a huge influence in determining how much your provider will charge you per month for insurance.

Trupanion Policy

The Trupanion policy we would recommend has a 90% reimbursement and no annual maximum.

These are the monthly prices for Demi, if her owner was to buy her pet insurance now:

• $27.70 per month with a $1,000 deductible
• $42.82 per month with a $500 deductible

If her owner waited until she was 10 years old, the prices would increase as such:

• $61 per month for a $1,000 deductible
• $102.71 per month for a $500 deductible

As for Neva, these are the monthly prices if her owner purchase her insurance now:

• $17.74 per month for a $1,000 deductible
• $25.17 per month for a $500 deductible

If they wait until Neva is ten years old, the pricing would increase to:

• $32.19 per month with a $1,000 deductible
• $51.65 with a $500 deductible

For both Demi and Neva, their pet insurance policies would be 2 to 3 times more expensive if their owners waited until they were 10 years old to purchase their coverage.

Pets Best vs. Trupanion: Which Policy Is Best?

With the numbers from each provider, you can now understand that a large factor of your pet insurance policy cost is the type of pet you have and the age of your pet.

With certain providers it could cost about 2 times more for a pet owner to have a dog in comparison to a cat. And, the price of your policy increases between 2-3 times more the longer you wait to insure your pet.

So, which policy - Pets Best or Trupanion - would be best for Demi and Neva?

For Demi, these are her owner’s most cost effective choices if they purchase right away:

• For a $1,000 deductible - Pets Best for $16.60 per month
• For a $500 deductible - Pets Best for $29.17 per month

For Neva, these are her owner’s most cost effective choices if they want a plan that covers both accidents and illness:

• For a $1,000 deductible - Trupanion for $17.74 per month
• For a $500 deductible - Trupanion for $25.17 per month

Despite that both Demi and Neva live in the same zip code, their pet insurance providers are different based on the overall cost per month. In short, no two plans are the same for each pet. The age, breed, type of animal, and where you live are key factors in determining how much your policy will cost.

From our example, you can see how important it is to compare pet insurance providers before you purchase a plan for your pet.

With the help of our pet gurus at Fursure, we can quickly compare options and create a customized plan for your pet’s needs. We deliver fast results and give pet owners around the country the confidence they need to purchase a policy that fits their budget.

If you’re looking to take away the stress of buying pet insurance, pass the ball to our team and we’ll have you covered in no time. To get your pet protected and covered in just a few minutes, buy a pet insurance policy today!