Healthy Paws Pet Insurance Review

Healthy Paws offers low-priced pet insurance to ensure that dog and cat owners can afford to care for their sick or injured pets. The company offers unlimited lifetime coverage, a choice of deductibles and reimbursements, and a quick and easy way to submit claims.

We review Healthy Paws’ coverage details and exclusions, add-on services, pricing, customer service, ratings, and more to help you decide if its plans are right for you.

Company Overview: Low Prices and Fast Claims

Founded in 2009, Healthy Paws was the result of a chance meeting between a former corporate executive and an insurance professional at a local no-kill animal shelter. Since then, the company has helped pet parents care for their sick and injured pets and contributed financially to hundreds of pet rescues and animal shelters.

Healthy Paws does away with the menu of annual coverage limits, replacing it with unlimited lifetime coverage for every policy. That means you can choose the best care for your pet for their whole life without worrying about maxing out your benefits.

Healthy Paws has an average rating on Yelp and an excellent rating on Trustpilot. Some Yelp reviews complain about the company increasing premiums without notice, especially for older pets. Most positive reviews on Trustpilot, however, praise Healthy Paws for its fast claims processing and reimbursement.

Healthy Paws’ insurance policies are underwritten by Chubb which has an A++ rating for financial stability from AM Best.

Policies Available: Accident and Illness

Healthy Paws offers straightforward accident and illness insurance with limited customization options. All policies come with no lifetime coverage caps or limits and if your pet is younger, let you choose from the following coverage options:

Deductible: $100, $250, $500
Reimbursement: 70%, 80%, 90%

Although some pet insurance companies only offer accident-only policies for older pets, Healthy Paws will cover pets aged six and older with a full accident and illness policy with unlimited lifetime coverage. The caveat is you are unable to choose your deductible and reimbursement percentage and may be forced to accept a deductible as high as $1,000 and reimbursement percentage as low as 50%.

The following services and conditions are covered by all Healthy Paws accident and illness policies:

Hereditary, congenital, and chronic conditions
Cancer
Diagnostic treatment
X-rays, blood tests, ultrasounds
Surgery
Hospitalization
Prescription medications
Emergency care
Specialty care
Acupuncture, chiropractic care, and hydrotherapy
Euthanasia (when medically necessary)

You will need to wait 15 days after your date of enrollment before filing any accident or illness claims. For pets enrolled under six years old, there is a 12 months waiting period for hip dysplasia. Any claims filed before your waiting periods are up will be denied.

Healthy Paws also requires you to get a full exam for your pet either before the start of your policy or within a set time after enrollment based on the age of your pet:

Five and under: Within the last 12 months (or within 15 days after)
Six and over: Within the last 30 days (or within 15 days after)

Plan Exclusions: Pre-Existing Conditions

Healthy Paws offers the standard coverage exclusions for pre-existing conditions as well as the following services. It’s important to note that you will need to pay for any exam and office visit fees out of pocket since they aren’t covered by your policy.

Wellness and preventative care
Examination fees
Dental healthcare
Spaying and neutering
Cosmetic or elective procedures
Injury or illness due to any intentional or neglectful act
Behavioral treatment
Non-FDA treatment or supplements
Breeding or conditions relating to breeding
Experimental or investigational treatment or medicine
Pet diets
Daycare/boarding

Healthy Paws will also cover certain dental procedures related to injuries, such as a chipped tooth, extraction, and reconstruction of damaged teeth. However, dental cleanings and extractions due to decay are not covered.

Cost: Low Premiums and Basic Coverage

Healthy Paws offers some of the lowest premiums we’ve seen in all of our reviews. With that said, the company’s policies have some noticeable deficits, such as no coverage for exams or dental services, no optional wellness plan, and no special coverage riders.

Healthy Paws also charges a one-time administration fee of $25 to start your policy. Although the company doesn’t offer any healthy pet or multiple-pet discounts, for every friend you refer, it will donate $25 on your behalf to help homeless pets. The referral program is not available in Maine, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Vermont, or Washington.

You can also get a full refund of any paid premiums if you cancel your policy within 30 days and haven’t submitted any claims.

Important

Healthy Paws doesn’t reimburse you for exam and office visits for covered services, so be prepared to pay those out of pocket.

Customer Service: Mobile App and Online Portal

Healthy Paws has worked hard to simplify its claims process. All you need to do is take a photo of your vet bill and upload it through the online customer center or via the company’s mobile app. You can also submit your claim via email, fax, or mail.

Healthy Paws states that most claims are processed within 10 days. Once completed, your reimbursement will be issued within 24 hours. You can choose to receive your reimbursement by mailed check or have it directly deposited to your bank during business hours. Healthy Paws also offers the option to reimburse your vet directly so all you’ll need to pay is your portion of the bill during checkout.

Healthy Paws offers phone and email support Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT.

Tip

Submitting a claim is as simple as uploading a picture of your vet pill through the Healthy Paws website or mobile app. No claim form is required.

Competition: Healthy Paws vs. Petplan

We compared Healthy Paws to Petplan which also offers basic accident and illness insurance, customizable policies, and no available wellness plan. Side-by-side, Petplan appears to offer the same coverage as Healthy Paws for a bit more per month. When you dig deeper, however, you’ll see that you get a lot more for your money with Petplan.

Not only does Petplan cover non-wellness exams and office visits, which are excluded in Healthy Paws’ policies, Petplan also covers boarding when you're hospitalized and virtual visits.

Overall, if you’re looking for basic accident and illness coverage, we think it’s worth paying a little extra for what Petplan offers.

	Healthy Paws	Petplan
Animals covered	Dogs and cats	Dogs and cats
Coverage type	Accident and illness	Accident and illness
Waiting period	Accidents: 15 days Illnesses: 15 days	Accidents: 15 days Illnesses: 15 days
Network size	Any licensed vet in the U.S.	Any licensed vet in the U.S.and Canada

Final Verdict: Coverage That Falls a Little Short

On the whole, we weren’t all that impressed with Healthy Paws compared to many other providers that offered basic accident and illness insurance. Although the company’s premiums are impressive for a plan with no annual limits, its lack of optional coverage options makes it lag behind its competitors, based on our methodology. At the very least, we would like to have had the option to add coverage for exam fees and vet visits. A few other coverage riders for boarding, trip cancelation, cremation and burial, and wellness coverage would also benefit pet owners.

Although Healthy Paws does offer some of the simplest and most straightforward plans and easiest claims process we’ve seen, we recommend you shop around and find a provider that offers a little more coverage for your money.

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