What Is a Good Deductible for Pet Insurance? (2024)

A pet insurance deductible is the amount you must pay for your pet’s veterinary charges before your pet insurance policy makes any payments. The amount of the deductible you choose affects your premium. A higher deductible gives a lower premium and a lower deductible correlates to a higher premium.

Deductibles generally range from $0 to $1,000. According to Nationwide, most pet owners choose an annual deductible of $250.

Deductibles vary by pet insurance provider and their policies, but pet parents should prepare to pay out of pocket for a veterinary bill until meeting the plan’s deductible.

For example, suppose you have a policy with a $500 deductible, and your pet’s veterinary bill is $1,000. In that case, you will pay the first $500 before your insurance pays its portion of the remaining eligible expenses. Most pet insurance companies offer multiple deductible options per policy, so consider your budget and how much you are comfortable paying out of pocket. Remember that the tradeoff with a low deductible is a higher premium, and you’ll need to determine whether you are more comfortable with a lower fixed monthly rate or out-of-pocket expenses.

Pet Insurance Deductible Versus Copay and Reimbursem*nt Rates

After you pay your deductible, the insurance company will pay a certain reimbursem*nt percentage (up to 90%) of eligible expenses. For instance, if your pet has an injury that requires a $3,000 surgical procedure and you have accident coverage with a $100 deductible and a 90% reimbursem*nt rate, you would pay $400 out-of-pocket ($100 deductible + 10% cost of surgery [$300] = $400).

Some policies require a copay — sometimes called co-insurance — and your deductible. Once you’ve hit your deductible, you must pay the copay for an eligible service. Your insurer will pay for the rest. For example, if your copay for a routine veterinary exam is $25, that is what you will pay out-of-pocket once you’ve hit your plan’s deductible.

Choosing the right deductible may take a bit of calculating and research, but it can make a big difference in how much money you save on vet bills each year.

Below, we break down monthly premium quotes with different deductible options we gathered for a dog from Pets Best. These quotes are for an accident and illness policy with a $5,000 annual limit and a 90% reimbursem*nt rate.

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Keep in mind that most pet insurance companies don’t pay vets directly. Rather, you’ll pay your vet upfront, then file a reimbursem*nt claim through your insurer. The insurer will not start reimbursing your claims until you hit your deductible.

When choosing a deductible, take into account:

• Your financial situation: Make sure your deductible is an amount you’d be comfortable paying out of pocket in a lump sum. If you choose a high deductible to get a lower monthly premium and your pet needs expensive emergency care, you may be responsible for paying the entire bill at once, with little to no reimbursem*nt from your insurer.
• Your pet’s health risks: Certain animals are prone to certain health conditions, such as French bulldogs being prone to breathing issues or German shepherds being prone to hip dysplasia. If it’s likely that your pet will need surgery or other major medical care, you may want to be more strategic about your pet insurance budget. Weigh a lower deductible and higher monthly premium against a high-deductible, low-premium option to see which is a better financial decision.

Is a Higher or Lower Pet Insurance Deductible Better?

Whether a higher or lower pet insurance deductible is better for you depends on your circ*mstances: your budget, your pet’s age and health history, and your anticipated veterinary expenses. Calculated based on the pet’s age, breed and location, pet insurance premiums can be customized to fit your budget depending on the deductible you choose.

Deductibles usually range from zero to $1,000 and inversely affect the premium payment. A more affordable monthly premium requires a higher deductible, and a lower deductible will require a higher monthly premium.

A young and healthy pet is less likely to be diagnosed with a chronic condition, making a higher deductible and lower monthly premium a good choice. For older pets or those predisposed to health conditions, you may want to consider a lower deductible and higher monthly premium. Your deductible choice ultimately comes down to your ability — and comfort level — to pay emergency vet expenses out of pocket.

Compare Deductibles From Top Pet Insurance Companies

Insurance companies typically offer three types of pet insurance deductibles — annual deductibles, per-incident (or per-condition) deductibles and lifetime per-condition deductibles.

Annual Deductibles

Annual deductibles are the most common type of pet insurance deductible. Once you meet your yearly deductible, your insurance company will reimburse you up to your reimbursem*nt level for eligible expenses. You won’t need to pay the deductible again until the next policy year when the deductible resets. After that, you must meet the deductible again.

The table below shows the cost of three different veterinary visits for a pet insurance plan with a $500 deductible and an 80% reimbursem*nt rate.

• Claim 1: The first claim was for a foreign object ingestion, which incurred $1,360 in veterinary fees. The policyholder was responsible for paying the $500 deductible, which left $868 to be paid. The insurance company reimbursed at 80%, or $680, which left the policyholder responsible for an additional $172. In all, the veterinary bill, which would have cost $1,360 without pet insurance, cost the pet owner $672.
• Claim 2: With the policy deductible met, the second flea and tick medication claim cost the policyholder only $14 after being reimbursed for 80% of the $70 vet bill.
• Claim 3: The cost of the third claim, for vomiting, cost the policyholder only $50 after being reimbursed for 80%, or $200, of the $250 vet bill.

Per-Incident or Per-Condition Deductibles

With a per-incident deductible, you pay a separate deductible each time your pet visits the vet for a new condition. Once you've met the deductible for one incident or condition, your insurance company covers the remaining associated costs up to your reimbursem*nt level for eligible expenses.

The table below shows the cost of three different veterinary visits for a pet insurance plan with a $100 per condition deductible and an 80% reimbursem*nt rate.

• Claim 1: For the first claim for foreign object ingestion, the policyholder pays the $100 deductible and 20% ($252) of the remaining bill for a total cost of $352.
• Claim 2: The second claim is for a new condition, vomiting, and costs the policyholder another $100 deductible, plus 20% ($30) of the remaining bill, for a total cost of $130.
• Claim 3: The third claim was for two separate conditions or incidents — vomiting and flea and tick medication. The policyholder pays the $100 deductible for the flea and tick medication, but they have already covered the deductible for vomiting. The insurance company reimburses at 80% per claim. Because the flea and tick medication total was less than the $100 deductible, there was no balance for the insurance company to pay. The policyholder pays $50 for the vomiting-related claim and $70 for the flea and tick medication for a total cost of $130.

Lifetime Per-Condition Deductibles

A lifetime per-condition deductible applies to a pet’s specific chronic medical condition. It’s an option for breeds prone to developing certain conditions, such as hip dysplasia, that may require ongoing veterinary care throughout their life.

Once the deductible for a particular condition is met, the policyholder will not have to pay future deductibles for that same condition during their pet's lifetime. For example, if you have a lifetime per-condition deductible and your pet is diagnosed with an ear infection at a young age, you will pay the entire deductible amount for the ear infection at the time of diagnosis. However, you will not have to pay additional deductibles for ear infection-related visits during your pet’s lifetime. You will still be required to pay deductibles for non-related conditions and incidents.

Claims that apply to a pet insurance deductible depend on the terms and conditions of the specific policy. But all claims related to covered conditions and incidents usually apply to the deductible once the deductible is met for the remainder of the policy term.

Before choosing the best pet insurance, research, ask questions, get a quote and review sample contracts before committing to a policy. As with human health insurance policies, pet insurance has many exceptions, including exclusions, waiting periods and annual limits.

• Exclusions: Exclusions are specific conditions or incidents not covered by the policy. Exclusions vary by provider, but common ones include preexisting conditions (i.e., those issues diagnosed before the policy start date) and routine and preventive care, including regular check-ups and vaccinations. While most pet insurance providers typically exclude preventive care, some offer a supplemental wellness plan that gives more extensive preventive care coverage.
• Waiting periods: When you purchase a pet insurance policy, coverage does not begin for a certain time period. Waiting periods prevent pet owners from buying a policy to help cover conditions that already exist (preexisting conditions). Waiting periods begin when a policy is purchased, and their length differs among insurance companies and policy types.
• Annual limits: Some insurance companies have a yearly limit, which is the maximum amount of money they will reimburse you for claims within a 12-month policy period after your deductible is met. If an insurance company has no annual limit, there is no cap on how much they will pay out in claims for eligible veterinary costs.

When you buy pet insurance for multiple pets, you will have one policy for all your eligible pets or separate policies for each. Most pet insurance companies require separate deductibles and reimbursem*nt amounts for each pet, even if they are on the same policy.

Some pet insurance companies offer a policy with no deductible, but that means you will pay a much higher premium. Although not having a deductible may be convenient, higher premiums may mean you pay more overall.

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Our review of pet insurance companies is based on in-depth industry research that includes reading hundreds of customer reviews, scoping quotes and purchasing processes by secret shopping, speaking to representatives on the phone to assess the customer service experience, and surveying 1,000 dog and cat owners nationwide to determine the most important elements of pet insurance coverage.

We scored each provider on a 100-point scale based on those elements. We then divided this final score by 20 to calculate an overall star rating out of 5.0 stars.

Here are more details about each factor and how it’s weighted:

• Monthly pricing (25 points): The best pet insurance companies combine comprehensive coverage and plan options with affordable rates.
• Plans (15 points): The top pet insurance companies offer accident-and-illness plans, accident-only plans and wellness or preventive care add-ons to give customers the option to choose a plan that’s best for their pet.
• Covered treatments (15 points): We scored companies based on the treatments and procedures they cover. Companies with a breadth of included treatments and unique coverages received more points than providers with more standard or general policies.
• Customization options (10 points): Providers with more annual-limit, deductible and reimbursem*nt-rate options earned the highest scores.
• Customer care (10 points): We scored companies on their website accessibility and overall usability, customer service availability, mobile apps (if any), money-back guarantees and veterinarian telehealth options, awarding points to the insurers with more customer experience offerings.
• Industry reputation (10 points): We reviewed up-to-date ratings and accreditation information from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and scored companies on their years of experience in the industry and their state availability.
• Waiting periods (10 points): Companies with shorter accident, illness and orthopedic waiting periods between the sign-up and coverage start date scored higher than companies with longer waiting periods.
• Eligible age (5 points): Some companies don’t offer policies for pets that are over a certain age. We deducted points from providers that have age limits for covered pets.

We use our rating system to compare and contrast each company against key factors to help us determine the best pet insurance companies in the industry. To learn more, read our full pet insurance methodology for reviewing and scoring providers.