Healthy Paws Pet Insurance Reviews (2024 Guide) (2024)

By:

Quartz Advisor Reviews Team

By: Quartz Advisor Reviews Team QZ.com

12/20/2023 10:37 am

Healthy Paws Pros and Cons

Like all pet insurance providers, Healthy Paws has its own unique offerings. Healthy Paws currently offers one easy-to-understand plan that eliminates the typical confusion some pet owners have around the many types of pet insurance plans available. In the following section, we will do a detailed breakdown of its plan and give you an idea of the average cost.

To keep things simple, Healthy Paws offers one pet health insurance plan, which is an accident and illness insurance policy. This plan covers new accidents and illnesses that your pet develops while on an active Healthy Paws pet insurance plan. Its straightforward plan keeps things easy to understand by providing your pet with coverage for everything from cancer to genetic conditions, alternative therapies, emergency care, injuries, and more.

Unlike many pet insurance providers, the company’s plan offers unlimited payouts because there is no maximum limit on payouts for a specific incident, per year, or for your pet’s lifetime. Healthy Paws can typically file claims within two business days due to its mobile app or online submission system and tireless claims adjuster team.

Healthy Paws pet insurance plans also support homeless pets. Its foundation pays for medical care for homeless animals so that they can recover and be adopted out to good families. We love that it has donated to over 300 nonprofit pet organizations throughout its history.

Things to note about Healthy Paws pet insurance is that its plan does not cover any type of routine veterinary care because it does not offer a wellness plan add-on, which most of its competitors do offer. Wellness plans are great for pet owners looking to cover their pets for ongoing, routine veterinary care, such as examination fees, vaccinations, routine blood work, and more. If this is important to you and your pet, we recommend looking into other pet insurance providers.

We also recommend considering your pet’s age. All pets must be registered before their 14th birthday because Healthy Paws does have an age threshold, which is common among many providers. Your pet’s age will also impact your reimbursem*nt level.

Dogs and cats under 5 years of age:

• 90%, 80%, and 70% reimbursem*nt

Dogs and cats 6 and 7 years old:

• 80%, 70%, or 60%t reimbursem*nt

Dogs and cats 8 years and older:

• 50% or 60% reimbursem*nt

If your dog or cat is aging, please keep in mind that the reimbursem*nt rate will go down as it ages, which can put a financial burden on pet owners whose pets develop chronic conditions or serious illnesses as they age.

All pet insurance providers have an annual deductible, which is the amount of money you must first pay toward your pet’s vet bills before your pet insurance provider begins reimbursing you based on your plan’s reimbursem*nt rate and coverage. For example, if you have an annual deductible of $250, you will need to pay $250 towards your pet’s healthcare before you can begin submitting claims. Once you’ve hit that number, you won’t need to meet your deductible until it’s reset for the following year.

Healthy Paws offers multiple deductible options, and they vary based on your cat or dog’s age:

• Dogs and cats 5 years and younger ($100, $250, and $500 deductible options)
• Dogs and cats 6 and 7 years old ($250, $500, and $750 deductible options)
• Dogs and cats 8 years and older ($750 or $1,000 deductible options)

Different deductible options provide pet owners with the choice to adjust their monthly rates. For example, if you choose a higher deductible, your monthly rate will likely be less. If you choose a lower deductible, your monthly rate will likely be more expensive. Our previous cost breakdown table was based on a $250 deductible, but if you change the Golden Retriever pet insurance quote by selecting a $500 deductible, the rate goes down to $44.05/month. So, depending on your financial situation and goals with pet insurance, it can be beneficial to have a lower or higher deductible.

Like all pet insurance providers, Healthy Paws does not cover pre-existing conditions, which is any health condition or problem your pet had before its Healthy Paws pet insurance plan became active.

Other things that Healthy Paws will not cover include spaying and neutering, anal gland expression, pre-existing cruciate ligament injury (bilateral exclusion), elective procedures, behavioral modification, training, therapy or medications for behavioral modification, and boarding costs. In terms of the cruciate ligament bilateral exclusion, this means that if your pet has a cruciate ligament injury in one leg before being on a pet insurance plan with Healthy Paws, its other leg will not be covered.

Healthy Paws will also not cover any type of routine veterinary care costs because it offers no kind of wellness or preventative care coverage. This exclusion will prevent you from receiving coverage for examinations, annual checkups, dental cleanings, spay and neuter procedures, vaccinations, and more.

It also has a significant waiting period for hip dysplasia. Even if your pet is on an active Healthy Paws pet insurance plan, it cannot receive coverage for any illnesses related to hip dysplasia. If your pet develops hip dysplasia during this 12-month waiting period, it will be considered pre-existing, and you will not receive coverage for it.

Healthy Paws only offers one plan, but its plans can be customized with reimbursem*nt rates and deductible options. Here are the following options for pet owners currently:

Dogs and cats 5 years and under:

• 90%, 80%, and 70% reimbursem*nt
• $100, $250, and $500 deductible

Dogs and cats 6 and 7 years old:

• 80%, 70%, or 60% reimbursem*nt
• $250, $500, or $750 deductible

Dogs and cats 8 years and older:

• 50% or 60% reimbursem*nt
• $750 or $1,000 deductible

Healthy Paws does not offer customizable annual limits because its plan has an automatic unlimited maximum payout for all incidents, the entire year, and the lifetime of your pet.

Healthy Paws also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. Its one plan option does have a 15-day waiting period for accidents and illness, excluding hip dysplasia, which has a 12-month waiting period.

Start by having your dog or cat treated at its veterinarian’s office. Once you receive and pay the veterinary bill, simply snap a photo of the bill and upload it to Healthy Paws’ mobile app or through its online portal. Once you’ve submitted the claim, you’ll need to wait a few business days to have it approved. Then, you’ll be reimbursed based on your plan’s reimbursem*nt rate.

According to Healthy Paws, claim approval typically takes less than two business days. Healthy Paws’ mobile app is available on both Android and iOS devices.

Find a Pet Insurance Company in Your State

There are always positive and negative reviews for any pet insurance provider. To give you a well-rounded idea of Healthy Paws pet insurance’s customer reviews, we’ve compiled a list of some of its notable reviews from multiple sources. Please keep in mind that all companies have negative reviews, which is not necessarily a sign of a “bad” pet insurance provider.

“I got Healthy Paws insurance for my Yorkie (Cleo) expecting not having to use it any time soon. About a year after I enrolled her, Cleo started having severe digestive issues that required several urgent visits to the vet and appointments with an internal medicine specialist. I sent the insurance claims to Healthy Paws and their response have been beyond anything I could have expected. The claim process is incredibly simple and they reimburse me really fast. Their customer service is amazing, the wait time when you call is minutes, something rare in these days. They even took the time to send me a very caring email enquiring about Cleo’s health. If you own a pet you should have pet insurance, and Healthy Paws is the best.” —Maria C., Google Reviews

“Disappointed due to the 35% rate increase in the first year. Read many other reviews with extremely high rate increases. Would recommend looking elsewhere or saving money monthly for future costs.I am not looking for a canned response letting me know how hard the management team works to keep costs low or that my account cannot be found…just wanted to share others so that they do not make the same mistake that I did of expecting a reasonable premium to remain.” —Slice, TrustPilot

“Pet had major abdominal surgery to remove a Christmas ornament. My claim was reviewed and processed within 3 days and it was a huge relief to know that I was protected during this very expensive medical emergency.” —Max, TrustPilot

“I cannot recommend enough. My 4 month old puppy got sick and needed lots of tests done and healthy paws covered everything! Everyone is super sweet when talking and very helpful. I highly recommend!” —Ashley O., Google Reviews

The Healthy Paws Foundation and Healthy Paws Pet Insurance LLC were started in 2009. Since its start, Healthy Paws has been able to help many pet owners give their pets the best veterinary care that they deserve. Unlike many pet insurance companies, Healthy Paws also has a nonprofit foundation that it uses alongside its insurance company to help others.

The co-founders Steve Siadek and Rob Jackson met through a no-kill animal shelter and have always had an enormous passion for helping animals. Steve actually left his corporate career to help animals and became a local shelter’s executive director, while Rob, an insurance executive, adopted his dogs through the shelter Steve was running. As Rob continued to come back and foster more and more dogs, Steve and him began talking. They quickly realized that they could do more to help animals by helping pet owners with the financial impact of veterinary treatments.

Today, their foundation helps pay for medical treatments for homeless pets so that they can be adopted out to good homes. On the other hand, Healthy Paws helps pet owners keep their dogs healthy and happy with quality veterinary care, so that pet owners don’t have to surrender their pets or put them down when they can be treated.

To ensure that Healthy Paws can always provide its customers with financial stability, it has partnered with Aon Corporation, one of the largest global insurance brokers. Healthy Paws is also underwritten by the Chubb Group, an A+ rated insurer. This combination ensures that Healthy Paws is here for the long term and will continue helping insured pet parents and donating to pet nonprofit organizations.

Here at Quartz, our research team looks to examine all pet insurance policies and comes up with reviews based on:

• Coverage
• Plan options
• Cost
• Reputation
• Customer service
• Species available
• Wellness benefits

We’ve created a 5-star rating system to score pet insurance brands based on a 100-point scale. To develop a list of the best pet insurance plans, we looked into plans, rating coverage, claims handling, reimbursem*nts, deductibles, and limitations.

Each factor is weighted differently based on the following factors:

• Monthly Pricing (25 points): How each pet insurance company charges for their plans is a crucial part of the decision-making process of the customer. Affordable rates and comprehensive coverage are the defining characteristics of providing the best pet insurance.
• Coverage (20 points): We scored companies based on the treatments and procedures they cover. Providers offering broader coverage and more unique treatments received more points. Pet insurance policies are not offered by all companies for older pets. Providers who have an age limit on the pets they cover were deducted points.
• Plans (15 points): Pet insurance providers offer accident-and-illness plans, accident-only plans, wellness add-ons, and pet preventive care add-ons, so customers can choose the right plan for their pets. We also factored in costs to achieve the most comprehensible review for your pet’s needs.
• Customization Options (10 points): You can ensure your pet only gets what they need by customizing your policy. A higher score was earned by providers who offered a greater range of annual limits, deductibles, and reimbursem*nt rates.
• Customer Service (10 points): We scored companies based on their website accessibility and usability, mobile apps, and grating points to companies with the most customer experience options.
• Industry Reputation (10 points): We assessed each company’s industry reputation by reviewing up-to-date BBB ratings and accreditation information, as well as their years of experience in the industry.
• Waiting Periods (10 points): Companies with shorter accident and illness waiting periods scored higher than companies with longer waiting periods.

Our team revisits each company’s information at the end of every month to make updates and ensure the information is as accurate as possible.