Pets Best Review

What is Pets Best?

Pets Best is a pet insurance provider founded in 2005 by a veterinarian, offering accident-and-illness coverage for dogs and cats in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. As with most pet insurers, the Pets Best brand you buy from is an administrator — Pets Best Insurance Services, LLC — rather than the carrier that holds the risk. What makes Pets Best unusual is that its policies are not backed by a single underwriter but by a panel of four different carriers depending on your state and product: American Pet Insurance Company (NAIC #12190), Independence American Insurance Company (NAIC #26581), Independence Pet Insurance Company (NAIC #17543), or MS Transverse Insurance Company (NAIC #21075). We flag this because the entity actually on the hook to pay your claim varies, and their financial profiles are uneven.

Pets Best has also changed hands twice recently: Synchrony acquired it in 2019, then sold it to Independence Pet Holdings in March 2024. Ownership changes do not automatically mean worse coverage, but they are worth knowing for a product you may hold for a decade. Its main selling points are a flexible tiered plan lineup, optional direct vet pay, a 24/7 vet telehealth line, and — importantly for many shoppers — no upper age limit on enrollment. This review breaks down the plans, the reimbursement mechanics, and the trade-offs.

Pets Best's pet insurance coverage

Pets Best structures its coverage into three accident-and-illness tiers — Essential, Plus, and Elite — plus a standalone accident-only plan and two optional wellness plans (EssentialWellness and BestWellness). Across the accident-and-illness plans you choose an annual deductible, a reimbursement percentage of 70%, 80%, or 90% that stays fixed for the rest of the policy year once your deductible is met, and an annual payout limit of $5,000, $10,000, or unlimited. The unlimited tier is competitively priced, which matters because the annual cap — not the deductible — often determines whether you are fully covered for a catastrophic bill.

The tier you pick changes what is included. Exam fees for diagnosing a covered accident or illness are included on the Plus and Elite plans but not on Essential, so a cheaper Essential policy can leave the office-visit fee on your tab, and Elite adds benefits such as rehabilitative and alternative-therapy coverage. The accident-and-illness plans cover hereditary conditions, cancer, emergency treatment, and periodontal/dental disease; dental is excluded on the accident-only plan. Routine care is sold separately through the EssentialWellness or BestWellness add-ons, which pay set amounts per service with no deductible — a budgeting layer rather than true insurance.

On waiting periods, Pets Best is comparatively friendly: it provides immediate accident coverage in many cases and a standard illness waiting period, and it allows waiting periods to be waived if your pet is examined by a veterinarian within a short window around your policy's effective date (the exam generally needs to fall three days before to seven days after the start date, with the form submitted within 30 days). As always, pre-existing conditions are excluded. You have 180 days from the date of a vet visit to file a claim.

The direct-vet-pay option is a genuine differentiator. Rather than paying the full bill and waiting for reimbursement, you can have Pets Best pay any eligible reimbursement straight to your veterinarian's office by submitting a signed veterinarian reimbursement-release form with your claim. For standard reimbursement, Pets Best reports processing claims in about 10 days on average (longer if it needs more information), with payment reaching a bank account in roughly five to seven days or a CareCredit card in three to five days after approval. A 24/7 pet telehealth line is included across plans.

Strengths

The standout strength is enrollment eligibility. Pets Best enrolls pets from as young as 7 weeks — below the 8-week minimum common among peers — with no upper age limit. That makes it one of the few genuinely viable options for owners of senior dogs and cats, whom many competitors shut out with age caps around 14.

The combination of optional direct vet pay and a competitively priced unlimited annual-limit tier is the second real advantage. Direct vet pay addresses the biggest weakness of the reimbursement model — having to front a large emergency bill in cash — while an affordable no-cap tier protects against exactly the five-figure bills insurance is meant to cover. The included 24/7 vet telehealth line is a useful extra for quick questions.

The tiered structure also lets you match coverage to budget rather than accepting a one-size plan, and Pets Best is frequently cited among the lower-cost providers in independent pricing surveys. Backed by roughly two decades of operating history and a BBB A+ rating on the administrator, it presents as an established, flexible option.

Watch-outs

The four-underwriter panel is the most important thing to understand before buying. Your actual carrier depends on your state, and Pets Best's licensing materials do not publish a clear carrier-by-state map — so it can be hard to know in advance which company is backing your policy. The carriers are uneven: Independence American Insurance Company carries an AM Best A- (Excellent) rating, but one of the four, American Pet Insurance Company (NAIC #12190), is the same underwriter owned by Trupanion, a separately-ranked competitor with its own regulatory-fine history. If underwriter strength matters to you, ask Pets Best which carrier will issue your specific policy.

Coverage add-ons are the second watch-out. Exam-fee coverage is only bundled on the Plus and Elite tiers — an Essential buyer optimizing on price can unknowingly give up office-visit reimbursement — and wellness/routine care is always a paid add-on rather than something included. Read the tier details closely so you know exactly what your chosen plan covers.

Finally, two changes of hands since 2019 (Synchrony, then Independence Pet Holdings in 2024) is more corporate turnover than most peers — worth weighing for a long-term policy, even though it has not translated into a documented decline in coverage. You may also see marketing figures on aggregator sites (dollars-paid totals, a non-standard 'TrustPilot' score) that we could not verify against a primary source — treat unverified stats skeptically and rely on the current policy documents.

Who Pets Best fits

Pets Best is one of the best options in this category for owners of older pets, because there is no upper age limit on enrollment — if a competitor just told you your senior pet is too old to insure, Pets Best is worth a quote. It is also a strong fit for anyone who wants direct vet pay so they are not fronting a large emergency bill in cash, and for budget-conscious shoppers who want to dial coverage across the Essential, Plus, and Elite tiers.

It is a weaker fit if you want the certainty of a single, top-rated underwriter, since the four-carrier panel means your backing depends on your state and is not clearly mapped upfront. If you go with Pets Best, ask which carrier will underwrite your policy in your state, and make sure you are on the Plus or Elite tier if you want exam fees covered rather than the cheaper Essential plan. As with any insurer, buy early, prioritize the unlimited annual limit for worst-case protection, and verify current pricing and underwriter details on Pets Best's own site before you enroll.