How Pet Insurance Works

Pet insurance is a policy pet owners buy to help cover their pet’s health care expenses. It generally works by reimbursing you, as a pet owner, for certain veterinary care after you’ve taken your pet to see a vet and submitted a claim. Let’s take a closer look at what it is and how it works.

How Does Pet Insurance Work?

Following your pet’s accident, injury, or illness, this is the standard procedure for how pet insurance works.

Here’s a closer look at how to use your pet insurance coverage.

1. Take your pet to the vet and pay the bill

The first step is scheduling a visit with a licensed veterinarian whenever your pet is sick or injured. At MetLife Pet Insurance, you can use any registered vet in the country — so if you like your current vet, you can keep them. You can also visit an emergency clinic if the situation calls for it.

When you’re checking out at the vet, it’s important to ask for an itemized receipt, vet notes, and any necessary medical records from your visit to help us process your claim. You’ll also want to get your vet’s name, address, and phone number to help with processing the claim as fast as possible.

Your vet may be able to send you all the pertinent information via email, so you don’t have to worry about dealing with paper copies.

2. Submit a claim

At MetLife Pet, we’ve made it quick and easy to submit a claim and receive your payment. Just send us your vet invoice and any relevant records via our MyPets online portal, fax number, email, mailing address, or the MetLife Pet app.

Once you’ve submitted your claim, we’ll reach out to your vet if we need more information. And if the expenses are covered, we’ll process it so you can get paid.

3. Get reimbursed

After submitting your claim, you’ll probably wonder, “How does pet insurance reimbursement work?” It’s simple. We’ll process your covered claim — usually within 5 days. Payment will be sent to you using whichever method you prefer, including multiple direct deposit options or a paper check in the mail.

Depending on your deductible, reimbursement rate, and reimbursement limits, you can be reimbursed for up to 90% of the cost of covered expenses.¹

MetLife Pet policyholders are pretty satisfied with the reimbursement process, too. Just listen to what Karen F. said on petinsurancereview.com: “I have had a few pet insurance companies previously. MetLife is by far the best! Easy-to-submit claims. Never a hassle processing claims. Claims are quickly processed, and there are multiple choices for reimbursement! Great experience overall! I have been using them for the last 9 months and I am very pleased!”

You can see what other pet parents say about Metlife Pet by checking out more reviews. If you’re ready to learn more about how pet insurance works, let’s get into the details of your pet insurance policy, including some common terms you’ll find in your policy’s fine print.

How Do Pet Insurance Deductibles Work?

A pet insurance deductible is the amount of money on your vet bill you’re responsible for under the policy before you can be reimbursed. For example, a $3,000 vet bill under a plan with a $500 deductible means you would pay the first $500. The insurance provider would then reimburse you for covered expenses — up to your reimbursement rate — on the rest of the bill.

A higher deductible means you pay more out of pocket before being reimbursed. The trade-off is high-deductible plans usually have a lower premium.

The size of your deductible depends on the policy plan you choose. MetLife Pet offers a wide range of deductible options to fit your budget and your pet’s unique needs.²

What Is An Insurance Premium?

A premium — or rate — is the money you pay for your pet insurance policy. Premiums can be paid monthly or annually.

A policy’s premium depends on the deductible, reimbursement rate, and annual limits you choose. It can also be influenced by your pet’s breed, age, sex, and your location. MetLife Pet Insurance provides the option of customizing your policy, which enables you to better meet your pet’s particular needs.

What Is A Reimbursement Rate?

So what is reimbursement in pet insurance? The reimbursement rate is the amount of money, as a percentage, your policy will pay out for covered medical expenses.

Let’s use the example from above with a vet bill totaling $3,000. After the $500 annual deductible is met, you’re left with $2,500. A policy with an 80% reimbursement rate could reimburse you for $2,000 of the remaining $2,500 vet bill, assuming all expenses are covered.

With MetLife Pet, you can get reimbursed for up to 90% of the cost of covered expenses, depending on your chosen policy and its exclusions, such as pre-existing conditions.¹

What Are Reimbursement Limits?

Typically, there are two types of limits you should be aware of when choosing your policy:

• Annual limits: These cap your reimbursement within a 12-month period and are the maximum amount of money you can be reimbursed per year. Once you’ve hit your annual reimbursement limit, you’ll be responsible for the full cost of your vet bills until your annual limit resets. Some providers offer plans with an unlimited annual maximum, meaning you never have to worry about hitting your pet’s annual limit.
• Per-incident limits: These determine how much you can be reimbursed for a single illness or accident. For example, if your dog ate something they shouldn’t and needed an emergency exam, lab work, and surgery, those fees would typically be covered by your policy as a single “incident.” A broken bone in an unrelated accident would be a separate incident. You’d need to submit a new claim, and the per-incident limit would reset.

Annual and per-incident limits typically vary per policy plan, and you should consider all of your pet’s health care needs when choosing the best pet insurance plan. For example, a younger dog might not need too many vet visits, so you may want to start with a policy that has lower limits. An older dog, on the other hand, may require frequent checkups as they age, potentially making a policy with higher limits the better option. MetLife Pet offers no per-incident limits and has flexible annual limits you can choose from.³

How Long Does Pet Insurance Take to Kick in?

You may wonder how soon you can use pet insurance after buying a policy. Like most insurance plans, there’s a waiting period before your plan kicks in and pet insurance coverage begins.

Waiting periods can vary between providers. MetLife Pet offers a 0-day waiting period for accidents and our optional Preventive Care plan, and a 14-day waiting period for illnesses.⁴

What Does Pet Insurance Cover?

Some of the things typically covered with a MetLife Pet policy include:

• Accidents and illnesses
• Vet-prescribed medication
• Surgeries, hospitalization, and emergency care
• Diagnostic testing (including blood tests, X-rays, and more)
• Alternative therapies

MetLife Pet also offers an optional Preventive Care plan that can help cover costs related to proactive things like vaccinations, parasite treatment and prevention, dental cleaning, and more. Simply put, pet insurance can help you give your furry family members the care they need without worrying as much about unexpected expenses.

What doesn’t pet insurance cover?

Pet insurance can cover a lot. But some exclusions include breed-related conditions, elective surgeries, obedience training, grooming costs, and non-prescription food.

How To Get Pet Insurance

Pet insurance can be a great way to keep your pets healthy and your wallet full. Our plans are designed to be affordable, customizable, and comprehensive. Plus, MetLife Pet offers a healthy pet incentive that can help you save on your deductible.⁵

Still on the fence? Get a free quote today to see how pet insurance can fit into your life — and your budget. We can even help create a custom pet insurance plan that works for you and your pet’s needs.