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Opening its doors in 2019, TrustedPals is exiting the pet insurance industry at the end of 2023. Its website currently states it is no longer issuing new policies. Existing customers still enjoy TrustedPal's best pet insurance coverage for their beloved cats and dogs, but getting a quote for pet insurance or applying for a new plan is no longer possible.
What happens to pet parents with current policies? Unfortunately, TrustedPals has yet to release an official press release regarding what happens at the end of 2023, and we have yet to get a response from TrustedPals customer service. However, if your pet is young and healthy, switching insurance carriers now could protect you from preexisting condition exclusions.
What we know right now is positive in some ways. TrustedPals pet insurance policies have been backed by Marsh, which acts as the insurance agent and program manager for Zurich Insurance Companies. Zurich has an A+ rating from AM Best for its financial strength. So any claims filed through the end of 2023 should be paid in line with your chosen policy.
While it's no longer possible to purchase pet coverage from TrustedPals, the information we share below can still help you learn about the plans it offered and how it stacked up to the competition. This can make it easy for current TrustedPals customers to compare options for what each pet insurance covers with other providers they may want to switch to for the smoothest transition.
Pet Insurance Plans from TrustedPals
TrustedPals pet insurance plans were based on accident and illness coverage. However, pet parents could also purchase a wellness plan option as an add-on.
Based on what we know, TrustedPals customers should enjoy the same benefits received before the company stopped selling policies. TrustedPals customers have flexible deductible options and choices for annual coverage.
For example, pet parents could opt for a pet insurance deductible of $0, $100, $250, $500, or $750, and annual coverage limit options included $4,000, $8,000, or unlimited. Most pet insurance providers offer options like a $500 or $1,000 deductible. TrustedPals just broke it down into more minor differences in the dollar amount. It was among the few offering a $0 deductible option.
TrustedPals customers also have varying reimbursement levels, with the following options available:
- 70% - Customers pay 30% of qualifying vet bills after deductible.
- 80% - Customers pay 20% of qualifying vet bills after deductible.
- 90% - Customers pay 10% of qualifying vet bills after deductible.
- 100% - Customers do not pay qualifying vet bills after a deductible is met.
Pet parents with senior pets enjoyed fewer limits. Again, 70-90% coinsurance is common among providers. However, we are not aware of another pet insurance company with 100% coinsurance at this time.
Accident and illness coverage for cats and dogs includes quite a few benefits, including the following:
- Trips to the vet: TrustedPals pet insurance plans pay for veterinarian visits when a dog or cat is sick or injured.
- Treatment at the vet: Once a pet is diagnosed and treated, pet plans from TrustedPals cover everything they need to recover, including bandages and supplies, surgery, and more.
- Prescription medicines: TrustedPals also covers prescription medicines your veterinarian prescribes to help your pet get better.
- Training and therapy: TrustedPals can pay for prescribed training and treatment as directed by a veterinarian, including training to correct behavioral issues.
TrustedPals offered added benefits with its pet plans free of charge, including the following:
- A "pet finder" program that helps locate lost pets in real-time
- Helpful mobile app
- Pet medical records storage
- Access to TrustedPal pet advisors
What Is Not Covered by TrustedPals?
Like other pet insurance companies, TrustedPals doesn't cover everything your pet could need. Pet insurance companies exclude preexisting conditions as a rule. What preexisting means depends on the company. The company lists the following exclusions on its website:
- Preexisting conditions: TrustedPals does not cover known illnesses with symptoms before securing coverage. Some conditions can be covered if asymptomatic for a set period. Examples could include ear infections and other infections.
- Optional treatments: TrustedPals does not cover any treatments or medicines not prescribed by a veterinarian. This means all optional pet care needs to be paid out-of-pocket.
- Hip dysplasia for 12 months: This condition is not covered by TrustedPals for a full 12 months after a pet insurance plan begins. If your pet shows signs of hip dysplasia, it would be a preexisting condition.
- Cruciate ligament injuries for 12 months: Like with hip dysplasia, TrustedPals imposes a 12-month waiting period. If your pet shows signs of cruciate ligament injuries in the first 12 months of coverage, it would be a preexisting condition.
- Boarding, grooming, and transport: These items are not covered by TrustedPals in any circumstances, even if you pay extra for a pet wellness plan.
- Preventative care: TrustedPals does not cover preventive care unless you pay for a wellness care add-on.
- Microchipping: While TrustedPals offers a unique tag your pet can wear to help locate them if lost, the company does not pay for microchipping.
TrustedPals also has a 14-day waiting period before you can use coverage to pay for care resulting from accidents and illnesses.
Additional Coverage Options from TrustedPals
Unlike some other pet insurance companies with diverse riders, TrustedPals offers just one optional upgrade in its wellness plan. With this optional add-on, individuals can get up to $750 in coverage each year towards various wellness-oriented treatments, including:
- Annual wellness exams
- Dental cleanings
- Flea and tick preventatives
- Heartworm preventatives and testing
- Prescribed nutritional supplements
- Prescribed pet food
- Spaying or neutering
- Vaccinations
While TrustedPals customers can get these services and more covered by its optional wellness plan, keep in mind this optional coverage only kicks in once you have met the plan's deductible for the year.
How Much Does Pet Insurance from TrustedPals Cost?
Because TrustedPals is no longer offering quotes for coverage on its website, you'll want to consider the average cost of pet insurance as you compare all the plans available.
Generally speaking, major pet insurance providers charge monthly premiums of $20-$44 for dogs and $12 to $46 for cats. Average plans cost $35 per month for dogs and $28 per month for cats, with up to $5,000 in coverage annually.
Several factors will affect your pet insurance premiums. For example, your pet's age, pet type, and breed play significant roles. Other details affecting pet insurance costs include the deductible you select, your annual coverage your coinsurance (typically 70% to 90%).
Why Is TrustedPals Shutting Down?
We could not get input directly from TrustedPals customer service for this review. However, we can easily speculate as to the causes of its demise.TrustedPals put itself at particular financial risk. A healthy pet may not go to the vet for anything but a routine checkup.
However, on the high end, pet insurance premiums are typically around $50 per month. So even one major accident or illness for each pet covered with a $0 deductible and 100% coinsurance could significantly impact the company's financial well-being.
In short, most vet bills are around $100-$200. However, a significant emergency involving surgery could easily cost several thousand, all of which would be covered by a plan that brings in $600 in premiums per year, the bulk of which would pay for administrative costs.
The risk profile may be acceptable for a company the size of Marsh, assuming it brings in enough customers with lower coverage and higher deductibles. However, if the company attracted few customers with varying coverage, it would not be sustainable long-term, which is what we might be seeing now.
Preexisting condition exclusions became common across pet insurance to keep prices down for the average pet parent. It mitigates the company's risk and keeps it solvent. In addition, offering 100% coverage with $0 deductibles eliminated customers' hesitation to spend extreme amounts that would ultimately bankrupt an insurer.
How Do I File Claims with TrustedPals?
Before you file a claim with TrustedPals, you should understand how your pet insurance coverage works based on your policy details. The main components of even a super cheap pet insurance plan include the following:
- The annual benefit is how much you can receive in reimbursement from TrustedPals annually after your deductible is paid. With TrustedPals, the yearly benefit can be $4,000, $8,000, or unlimited.
- The deductible is how much you have to pay before TrustedPals reimburses eligible pet care expenses. With this provider, deductibles range from $0 to $750.
- Reimbursement is the percentage of pet care costs TrustedPals will pay within a calendar year after your deductible is met. With the company, this percentage can be 70%, 80%, 90%, or 100%.
To give you an idea of how much you could get reimbursed for, let's imagine you picked a TrustedPals pet insurance plan with an annual benefit of $8,000, a $500 deductible, and reimbursement at 70%. Suppose your dog swallows a sock or a piece of chocolate and has emergency surgery. Then the bill for hospital and treatment reaches $4,500.
With TrustedPals, you would pay this vet bill upfront and ask for a reimbursement. Once your claim is fully processed, you will receive $2,800 back. This amount equals 70% reimbursement of your $4,500 bill after your $500 deductible is met.
Fortunately, TrustedPals makes it easy to find information on filing a claim on its website. However, customers need an account on the TrustedPals "Pawtel" (online portal) to file a claim.
To file a claim with TrustedPals, you will need to:
- Make sure your pet's care took place after the 14-day waiting period for accident and illness coverage
- Pay your vet bills in full
- Log into the Pawtal and answer a range of questions regarding your claim
- Upload your veterinarian bills into the Pawtal
From there, TrustedPals says it processes claims quickly to reimburse clients within ten days of filing.
What Preexisting Conditions Are Not Covered with TrustedPals?
We already mentioned how TrustedPals does not cover preexisting conditions, but the insurance provider does not outline these conditions. Instead, the company says the following:
"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 preexisting conditions isn't an unexpected cost, so unfortunately, it's not covered."
TrustedPals says some "curable" preexisting conditions are covered, but it does not outline how long a condition needs to be resolved before it qualifies for coverage again.
Other items not covered by TrustedPals include a few we mentioned already, such as:
- Hip dysplasia for 12 months
- Cruciate ligament problems for 12 months
- Medical care for pets not prescribed by a veterinarian
Based on this information, any curable preexisting conditions would likely need to be resolved for at least 12 months before coverage could apply. However, we have yet to receive a definitive answer to this question from TrustedPals.
Compare TrustedPals vs. MetLife
MetLife offers pet insurance for dogs and cats, and customers can tailor policy details to their needs. For example, MetLife offers deductibles between $250 and $2,500, and annual caps range from $2,000 to $10,000. However, unlike other pet insurance providers, MetLife does not offer plans with unlimited yearly coverage.
MetLife pet insurance also offers dog and cat insurance for pets up to 11 years of age. So the company provides coverage throughout most of your pet's life. But if you're coming up on your dog's 11th year, you'll need to start shopping for a new policy. As many small breeds are prone to living into their late teens and even 20s in rare instances, MetLife falls short of many pets' lifespans.
TrustedPals may have been too generous, leading to its inevitable demise. However, MetLife shows a rare disinterest in the pet insurance field. As a result, its many restrictions are written from a discounted business perspective instead of the pet-centric underwriting TrustedPals used between 2019 and 2023.
Compare TrustedPals vs. Healthy Paws
Healthy Paws offers dog and cat insurance for pet owners with no annual limits or lifetime limits of any kind. However, customers can only opt for reimbursement at 70%-90%. Deductibles of $100, $250, and $500 are also available.
Like other coverage, Healthy Paws was created to pay for accidents and illnesses that affect your pet during a coverage year. The company also says it reimburses most customers within two business days after filing a claim.
It may offer fewer options than TrustedPals. However, Healthy Paws has a long and reliable history in the pet insurance industry and will likely be around for the foreseeable future. More importantly, pet parents can care for their furry loved ones without breaking the bank.
Compare TrustedPals vs. Figo
You can also consider a company called Figo for your pet insurance needs. This company does not place any age limits on pets for coverage, and all plans offer 24/7 access to a live veterinarian who can answer questions and provide support when you need it most.
Pet plans from Figo are made to pay for accidents and illnesses, chronic conditions, cancer, and more. Several add-ons are also available, including optional wellness care, an extra care pack, and coverage for veterinary exam fees.
Like TrustedPals, Figo offers unlimited coverage and a personalized pet tag that helps you find your pet should they ever get lost. If you're considering buying pet insurance to replace your TrustedPals coverage now, Figo is a competitive option.
Methodology
To write this review of TrustedPals pet insurance, we compared many of the best pet insurance companies based on available policies, coverage limits, deductible options, reimbursement levels, and more. While TrustedPals no longer offers new policies to pet owners, we aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the coverage options still in place through the end of 2023.
More importantly, we can advise which companies meet a certain standard of coverage (i.e., where TrustedPals customers can go). Evaluating pet insurance continues to be a complex process involving multiple aspects. We combined all of these to generate an objective score for each company.
We only considered facts we gathered to write this review, although we did consider past user reviews and the financial health of companies offering insurance products.
FAQs
TrustedPals is longer issuing new pet insurance policies, and the company plans to exit the pet insurance market at the end of 2023.
TrustedPals has a 14-day waiting period for accidents and illnesses. A 12-month waiting period also applies for hip dysplasia and cruciate ligament injuries.
Pet parents can expect monthly premiums of $35 for dogs and $28 for cats for pet insurance plans with up to $5,000 in coverage per year. Of course, unlimited pet insurance coverage will increase rates, but less than you think.
TrustedPals offers pet insurance with five possible deductibles: $0, $100, $250, $500, or $750.
Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards.
Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.
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