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(800) 358-3801

FAQs (for humans)

Quick answers about TrustedPals
and finding the best pet insurance for your dog or cat.

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What’s pet insurance?

How to make a claim

Making changes

Billing and payments

Renewal

Think of it like medical insurance for dogs and cats. It’s there to protect your pet in case they get sick or injured. You’ll make monthly or annual payments for your pet insurance. Then, if you ever need to take your pet to the vet, you show your insurer the bill afterwards. They’ll keep the plan’s co-pay and deductible and pay you the reimbursement amount (up to your plan limit).

There are lots of providers out there, so it’s a good idea to take a look at some pet insurance reviews to help you pick the best plan for you. Personally, we like to keep things simple, so we just offer one comprehensive cat insurance plan and one comprehensive dog insurance plan, to keep every pet covered from whiskers to tail. 

It’s different for every animal – and for every insurer.  We’ll ask for your pet’s age, breed, ZIP code and if they’re a boy or a girl to help us figure out how much to charge. 

The amount you pay will also change at each renewal, because the cost of caring for your pet changes as they age.

Find out more about how renewal works.

Being part of the pack means being part of our family, so we offer up the following discounts to humans:

  • A 5% discount for MultiPaw accounts, where someone insures more than one pet with us.

And we also offer additional 5% discounts* (one per human) for:

  • They’re active in the military, or a veteran
  • They work in a veterinary clinic
  • They’re a veterinary student
  • They’re a first responder (emergency services)
  • And if you help your human stay safe as a service animal

* Some states don't allow us to offer you a discount, sorry New York and Tennessee.

It covers pets against accidents (for example, falling down the stairs) and illnesses (like diabetes, cancer or kidney problems). 

Every plan is different. Compare them to each other to find the best one for you. 

But it’s important to remember that most pet insurance policies do not cover your pet against conditions they had before you bought a plan. We call these pre-existing conditions. 

If your pet has a pre-existing condition, that doesn’t mean pet insurance isn’t a useful thing to have – you’ll still be able to claim back the cost of treating new accidents or illnesses.

Most accidents and illnesses are covered – but even the best pet insurance doesn’t cover everything.  We’ve listed a few examples below to help you understand the types of things which aren’t covered, but this doesn’t cover off everything – you’ll need to read the full terms and conditions for the full picture.

Pre-existing conditions
These are illnesses or injuries your pet had before you took the plan out. All pet insurers create plans to protect you against the cost of things you didn’t expect to happen. Treatment for pre-existing conditions isn’t an unexpected cost, so unfortunately, it’s not covered.

Spaying or neutering
We won’t cover this cost unless you have our wellness plan, because it’s not an unexpected procedure or an emergency.

Training and behavioral therapy
Unless their vet has prescribed it, we won’t pay for training or therapies to change the way your pet behaves. 

Hip dysplasia and cruciate ligament problems
If your pet shows signs of hip dysplasia or cruciate ligament damage within the first 12 months of cover (our ‘waiting period’), we won’t cover the cost of treating these conditions – even if it’s the first time you’ve had the problem.

Hip dysplasia is a condition where the hip joint doesn’t form properly. It can be very painful, and in extreme cases, cause arthritis. Physical therapy and prescribed medications are often used to help treat the problem. It’s more common in larger dog breeds, but even the best pet insurance for dogs won’t cover it without a waiting period.

Cruciate ligaments are in your pet’s knees. They’re attached to the bones in their legs, and if they get damaged it can become difficult and painful to walk. Surgery’s normally required to treat this condition. 

We want to provide the very best pet insurance, but it’s just not possible for us to cover these conditions without our 12-month waiting period. This is to make sure we’re still in a good place to pay other claims, as treating these conditions can be really expensive.

Routine care
The point of a pet insurance plan is to help your pet if they run into unexpected trouble.
Grooming, vaccinations, teeth cleaning and nail trimming are all examples of things you need to do to keep your pet fit and healthy. They’re not unexpected costs, so they’re not covered.
But we can help you budget for many of these everyday costs with our wellness plans.

When you’re looking for pet insurance, you’ll have to give your address (or at least your ZIP code) to get a quote. Each state regulates the cost of insurance, so we need to know which you’re in – because we need to play by the rules.

If you’re moving, please tell us. It might change the cost of your insurance, but if you don’t let us know then we might not be able to pay claims when you need our help.  We really don’t want that to happen, so please tell us before you move so we can make sure there’s no break in your pet’s cover.

Ours does, if they’re diagnosing or treating your pet for an illness or injury.

And most pet insurance providers (including us!) let you go to any licensed vet. If an insurer says they’ll only let you use a limited network, you should ask them why that is. And ask yourself if it’s easy to get to an approved clinic (bearing in mind you might not be at home if something goes wrong).

When you make a claim, your insurer will keep your co-pay and deductible, and pay you the reimbursement amount (up to your plan limit). Learn how we work out how much to pay here.

There’s often a limit on how much a pet insurer will pay for claims over a single year, and in some cases, there’s a cap to the amount they’ll pay for a single claim.

The best pet insurance for cats and dogs will let you choose a plan with unlimited cover, if you want it. This means the insurer will pay every single claim they accept, without a cap. But this type of plan will cost more than a plan with an annual limit. 

We offer limits from $4,000 per year, and we also offer unlimited plans, to make sure we have affordable options for everyone. 

A deductible is your annual contribution to the cost of claims we pay.  Once you’ve paid it in full, we won’t take it off any further claims until renewal.

You can choose a deductible of $0, $100, $250, $500, or $750.  The amount you pick will affect the cost of your premiums. 

You’ll also need to pick a co-pay, which is your contribution to the cost of each claim we pay. Just so you know, you can’t pick a deductible of $0 and a co-pay of $0.

Learn more about how we work out what to pay.

A co-pay is your contribution to the cost of each claim, after meeting your deductible.

Whereas, a reimbursement (the opposite of your co-pay) is what we pay you towards the cost of each claim, after meeting your deductible. You can choose a reimbursement of 70%, 80%, 90%, or 100% for your covered expenses.

Learn more about how we work out what to pay.

Sometimes, yes. Some insurers even pay to be boosted up ‘top 10’ lists and partner up with sites to get hold of premium placement spots. 

Some insurers also pay websites when people click on their links. So be careful if you see a recommendation for an insurer on another site and ask if they’re paying to be there if you’re unsure.  

Unlike some other insurers, we just have one simple plan to cover you for accidents and illnesses, so it’s easy to see what your pet’s covered for.

Some of the most popular dog insurance plans and the most popular cat insurance plans have different plans, each with different cover. But to make their plans ‘cheaper’, they often cut out crucial cover.

The truth is, you’ll never know what cover you need until something goes wrong. And we don’t want anyone to be facing a big vet’s bill all on their own.

By providing the same great coverage across the board and letting you choose your own limit, we’ve created options for every pet, no matter your budget.

We like to think we offer the best pet insurance option out there – one that doesn’t cut corners to reduce price. But you’re right – of course we’d say that! If you’d like to hear it from someone else, read our pet insurance reviews. 

Our accident and illness plan won’t pay out to look after your pet’s wellbeing, or for preventative care, like teeth cleaning, spaying or neutering, flea and tick prevention or vaccinations.  Instead, we offer a pet wellness plan to help you budget for this type of care – to help make sure your pet’s in tip-top shape every day.

No!  Please get your pet the care they need and you can submit your claim afterwards. 

But if it’s an emergency, we’d rather your pet gets the care they need as soon as possible. Your pet’s health comes first, and we’ll help you with your claim afterwards.  You’ll just need to show us the bill. 

You can make a claim, after your 14 day waiting period, in the Pawtal or by calling (800) 358-3801.  And you can track a claim you’ve already made in the Pawtal.

We work hard with the aim of sorting out every single claim within 10 business days, to give you the best pet insurance experience possible – and so that you’re not out of pocket for long.

If we need more information, we’re almost always able to get it ourselves, directly from your vet. And if things take longer than normal, we’ll let you know.

Yep. It makes sense to claim for any covered condition, no matter if it’s $50 or $5,000. 

It all goes towards your deductible. If you had a $100 deductible and claimed for $50, we wouldn’t pay anything for that claim.  But if you claimed again later in the same year, there would only be $50 left of your deductible to pay.

Find out more about deductibles.

Once a plan’s set up, we’ll need to agree to any change you want to make. If we agree to a change, it might also change the cost of cover. And, unfortunately, we’ll sometimes have to say ‘no’ – but we’ll always tell you why.

If you move to a different ZIP code, please let us know, so we can help you keep your plan in place.

We’re always happy to offer pet insurance for dogs and pet insurance for cats – the more we can help out, the better! But all pets get their own plan. If you have more than one pet (and plan), you can manage each using the same Pawtal account.

Get a quote to see how much the best pet insurance option around will cost your other pets. 

You can set the deductible, reimbursement and coverage limit for each pet health plan you buy.

Sorry, but we can’t do that. It’s linked up with your pet’s plan, so we’re not able to shift this around.

If you want to cancel your plan, please call us on (800) 358-3801.  But if there’s something the matter, we’d like to talk about it before you go! Let us know if you’re having a problem, and we’ll do our best to sort it out. 

You can pay using a credit or debit card, or a checking or savings account, unless you are on payroll deduction.

We’ll collect your payments each month, so you can spend more time with your pet, and less time with the paperwork. 

Yes, but we can only store one payment method at a time.  To change how you pay, visit the Pawtal or call us on (800) 358-3801. This does not apply to payroll deduction arrangements.

If paying for your policy in monthly installments there will be a $1 per month transaction fee. 

If paying annually there is no fee.

Easy – let us know your new card details in the Pawtal, or call (800) 358-3801.  Make sure you let us know well in advance of your payment date so we can collect it without a problem. 

We renew your plan each year, on the anniversary of the date you took it out. 

We’ll send you an email a little while in advance, just to remind you it’s coming up. On your renewal date, your plan limit and annual deductible will reset. 

If you want to find out your renewal date, you can find it in your profile in the Pawtal, or by calling us on (800) 358-3801.

We don’t want anything to get in the way of quality time with your dog or cat.  So, no, you don’t need to do anything special at renewal. But it’s a good chance to double-check that all your details are still correct.

It can – this is because as your pet gets older, things change. 

When they’re a puppy or kitten, they’re still learning – and accidents happen! As they get a bit more world-wise, the cost of their insurance might go down a bit. Then as they get into their senior years it’s likely to rise.

The cost of pet insurance depends on a lot of other things too, such as where you live and what breed of dog or cat you have. This means we can’t give an exact answer on how things will change as your pet gets older.

By changing the cost of plans as pets age, we’re able to make sure you get the best pet insurance experience and that we’re able to pay claims when you need us most.

We have designed plan options to help fit mostunique situations and budgets. Selecting a reimbursement of 100% and a deductible of $0 is not an option.

All claims must be submitted within 60 days of the treatment or invoice date. You can make a claim directly within the Pawtal. If you need assistance submitting a claim, please call (800) 358-3801 to speak with a member of the Pet Advisor team.

Ours does, if they’re diagnosing or treating your pet for an illness or injury.

And most pet insurance providers (including us!) let you go to any licensed vet. If an insurer says they’ll only let you use a limited network, you should ask them why that is. And ask yourself if it’s easy to get to an approved clinic (bearing in mind you might not be at home if something goes wrong).

When you’re looking for pet insurance, you’ll have to give your address (or at least your ZIP code) to get a quote. Each state regulates the cost of insurance, so we need to know which you’re in – because we need to play by the rules.

If you’re moving, please tell us. It might change the cost of your insurance, but if you don’t let us know then we might not be able to pay claims when you need our help.  We really don’t want that to happen, so please tell us before you move so we can make sure there’s no break in your pet’s cover.

It’s different for every animal – and for every insurer.  We’ll ask for your pet’s age, breed, ZIP code and if they’re a boy or a girl to help us figure out how much to charge. 

The amount you pay will also change at each renewal, because the cost of caring for your pet changes as they age.

Find out more about how renewal works.

No!  Please get your pet the care they need and you can submit your claim afterwards. 

But if it’s an emergency, we’d rather your pet gets the care they need as soon as possible. Your pet’s health comes first, and we’ll help you with your claim afterwards.  You’ll just need to show us the bill. 

Unlike some other insurers, we just have one simple plan to cover you for accidents and illnesses, so it’s easy to see what your pet’s covered for.

Some of the most popular dog insurance plans and the most popular cat insurance plans have different plans, each with different cover. But to make their plans ‘cheaper’, they often cut out crucial cover.

The truth is, you’ll never know what cover you need until something goes wrong. And we don’t want anyone to be facing a big vet’s bill all on their own.

By providing the same great coverage across the board and letting you choose your own limit, we’ve created options for every pet, no matter your budget.

We like to think we offer the best pet insurance option out there – one that doesn’t cut corners to reduce price. But you’re right – of course we’d say that! If you’d like to hear it from someone else, read our pet insurance reviews. 

A deductible is your annual contribution to the cost of claims we pay.  Once you’ve paid it in full, we won’t take it off any further claims until renewal.

You can choose a deductible of $0, $100, $250, $500, or $750.  The amount you pick will affect the cost of your premiums. 

You’ll also need to pick a co-pay, which is your contribution to the cost of each claim we pay. Just so you know, you can’t pick a deductible of $0 and a co-pay of $0.

Learn more about how we work out what to pay.

Most accidents and illnesses are covered – but even the best pet insurance doesn’t cover everything.  We’ve listed a few examples below to help you understand the types of things which aren’t covered, but this doesn’t cover off everything – you’ll need to read the full terms and conditions for the full picture.

Pre-existing conditions
These are illnesses or injuries your pet had before you took the plan out. All pet insurers create plans to protect you against the cost of things you didn’t expect to happen. Treatment for pre-existing conditions isn’t an unexpected cost, so unfortunately, it’s not covered.

Spaying or neutering
We won’t cover this cost unless you have our wellness plan, because it’s not an unexpected procedure or an emergency.

Training and behavioral therapy
Unless their vet has prescribed it, we won’t pay for training or therapies to change the way your pet behaves. 

Hip dysplasia and cruciate ligament problems
If your pet shows signs of hip dysplasia or cruciate ligament damage within the first 12 months of cover (our ‘waiting period’), we won’t cover the cost of treating these conditions – even if it’s the first time you’ve had the problem.

Hip dysplasia is a condition where the hip joint doesn’t form properly. It can be very painful, and in extreme cases, cause arthritis. Physical therapy and prescribed medications are often used to help treat the problem. It’s more common in larger dog breeds, but even the best pet insurance for dogs won’t cover it without a waiting period.

Cruciate ligaments are in your pet’s knees. They’re attached to the bones in their legs, and if they get damaged it can become difficult and painful to walk. Surgery’s normally required to treat this condition. 

We want to provide the very best pet insurance, but it’s just not possible for us to cover these conditions without our 12-month waiting period. This is to make sure we’re still in a good place to pay other claims, as treating these conditions can be really expensive.

Routine care
The point of a pet insurance plan is to help your pet if they run into unexpected trouble.
Grooming, vaccinations, teeth cleaning and nail trimming are all examples of things you need to do to keep your pet fit and healthy. They’re not unexpected costs, so they’re not covered.
But we can help you budget for many of these everyday costs with our wellness plans.

It covers pets against accidents (for example, falling down the stairs) and illnesses (like diabetes, cancer or kidney problems). 

Every plan is different. Compare them to each other to find the best one for you. 

But it’s important to remember that most pet insurance policies do not cover your pet against conditions they had before you bought a plan. We call these pre-existing conditions. 

If your pet has a pre-existing condition, that doesn’t mean pet insurance isn’t a useful thing to have – you’ll still be able to claim back the cost of treating new accidents or illnesses.

We’re always happy to offer pet insurance for dogs and pet insurance for cats – the more we can help out, the better! But all pets get their own plan. If you have more than one pet (and plan), you can manage each using the same Pawtal account.

Get a quote to see how much the best pet insurance option around will cost your other pets. 

You can set the deductible, reimbursement and coverage limit for each pet health plan you buy.

A co-pay is your contribution to the cost of each claim, after meeting your deductible.

Whereas, a reimbursement (the opposite of your co-pay) is what we pay you towards the cost of each claim, after meeting your deductible. You can choose a reimbursement of 70%, 80%, 90%, or 100% for your covered expenses.

Learn more about how we work out what to pay.

Our accident and illness plan won’t pay out to look after your pet’s wellbeing, or for preventative care, like teeth cleaning, spaying or neutering, flea and tick prevention or vaccinations.  Instead, we offer a pet wellness plan to help you budget for this type of care – to help make sure your pet’s in tip-top shape every day.

Yep. It makes sense to claim for any covered condition, no matter if it’s $50 or $5,000. 

It all goes towards your deductible. If you had a $100 deductible and claimed for $50, we wouldn’t pay anything for that claim.  But if you claimed again later in the same year, there would only be $50 left of your deductible to pay.

Find out more about deductibles.

All claims must be submitted within 60 days of the treatment or invoice date. You can make a claim directly within the Pawtal. If you need assistance submitting a claim, please call (800) 358-3801 to speak with a member of the Pet Advisor team.

You can make a claim, after your 14 day waiting period, in the Pawtal or by calling (800) 358-3801.  And you can track a claim you’ve already made in the Pawtal.

We work hard with the aim of sorting out every single claim within 10 business days, to give you the best pet insurance experience possible – and so that you’re not out of pocket for long.

If we need more information, we’re almost always able to get it ourselves, directly from your vet. And if things take longer than normal, we’ll let you know.

Once a plan’s set up, we’ll need to agree to any change you want to make. If we agree to a change, it might also change the cost of cover. And, unfortunately, we’ll sometimes have to say ‘no’ – but we’ll always tell you why.

If you move to a different ZIP code, please let us know, so we can help you keep your plan in place.

We have designed plan options to help fit mostunique situations and budgets. Selecting a reimbursement of 100% and a deductible of $0 is not an option.

Sorry, but we can’t do that. It’s linked up with your pet’s plan, so we’re not able to shift this around.

If you want to cancel your plan, please call us on (800) 358-3801.  But if there’s something the matter, we’d like to talk about it before you go! Let us know if you’re having a problem, and we’ll do our best to sort it out. 

Yes, but we can only store one payment method at a time.  To change how you pay, visit the Pawtal or call us on (800) 358-3801. This does not apply to payroll deduction arrangements.

If paying for your policy in monthly installments there will be a $1 per month transaction fee. 

If paying annually there is no fee.

Easy – let us know your new card details in the Pawtal, or call (800) 358-3801.  Make sure you let us know well in advance of your payment date so we can collect it without a problem. 

Being part of the pack means being part of our family, so we offer up the following discounts to humans:

  • A 5% discount for MultiPaw accounts, where someone insures more than one pet with us.

And we also offer additional 5% discounts* (one per human) for:

  • They’re active in the military, or a veteran
  • They work in a veterinary clinic
  • They’re a veterinary student
  • They’re a first responder (emergency services)
  • And if you help your human stay safe as a service animal

* Some states don't allow us to offer you a discount, sorry New York and Tennessee.

It can – this is because as your pet gets older, things change. 

When they’re a puppy or kitten, they’re still learning – and accidents happen! As they get a bit more world-wise, the cost of their insurance might go down a bit. Then as they get into their senior years it’s likely to rise.

The cost of pet insurance depends on a lot of other things too, such as where you live and what breed of dog or cat you have. This means we can’t give an exact answer on how things will change as your pet gets older.

By changing the cost of plans as pets age, we’re able to make sure you get the best pet insurance experience and that we’re able to pay claims when you need us most.

We don’t want anything to get in the way of quality time with your dog or cat.  So, no, you don’t need to do anything special at renewal. But it’s a good chance to double-check that all your details are still correct.

We renew your plan each year, on the anniversary of the date you took it out. 

We’ll send you an email a little while in advance, just to remind you it’s coming up. On your renewal date, your plan limit and annual deductible will reset. 

If you want to find out your renewal date, you can find it in your profile in the Pawtal, or by calling us on (800) 358-3801.

These FAQs are helpful hints, not plan promises

Our FAQs are here to tell you more about how insurance policies work – they’re not a promise to cover any specific pet and they're not part of our terms and conditions (or anyone else's). You should read our sample terms and conditions to learn more about the exact coverage we offer, and make sure you’re getting the best pet insurance for you.

Feel free to read our Accident & Illness and Wellness plans for your dog and cat.