MetLife Pet Insurance Review

We all want our pets to live long, healthy, and happy lives. As pet parents, a big part of our job is to do everything in our power to make sure that happens. But what about the things that are outside our control, like unexpected injuries or illnesses? In this article, we’ll explore how MetLife Pet Insurance can help pet parents manage healthcare costs for dogs and cats.

Odds are, most pets will require some sort of health intervention or treatment over the course of their lives. And, unfortunately, even seemingly simple illnesses can become costly if imaging or testing is required. (I learned this the hard way after my own dog’s UTI left me with an $800 bill.) 

To keep pet healthcare costs from piling up, many pet parents are turning to pet insurance plans, like those available from MetLife Pet Insurance. According to the latest data from the North American Pet Health Insurance Association, more than 4 million pets in North America have pet insurance coverage.¹ 

MetLife Pet Insurance offers a wide range of coverage options for pets at a surprisingly affordable price. To help you figure out if MetLife Pet Insurance is a good idea for your dog or cat, we took a deep dive into this leading insurance company, what its pet insurance plans cover, what they don’t, and how planning for the unexpected can help your pet live a healthier, happier life.

What Is MetLife Pet Insurance?

MetLife has been insuring Americans almost as far back as the Civil War era. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company opened for business in 1868 and was one of the few early insurance companies to survive to this day. 

Over the years, MetLife forged a reputation as a leading provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance around the world. And, luckily for pet parents, MetLife now offers a wide range of best-in-class insurance options for our furry friends, too. 

In fact, MetLife Pet Insurance is such a standout in the highly competitive pet insurance marketplace, it was named “Pet Insurance of the Year” at the prestigious 2022 Pet Independent Innovation Awards. Which is definitely a good thing to consider when choosing coverage for your pet…and your peace of mind. 

MetLife Pet Insurance: Coverage and Costs

MetLife Pet Insurance plans operate just like many health insurance plans do for humans. Your rate depends on your pet’s species, age, breed, and the coverage options you select. 

What’s Covered (and What’s Not) 

All MetLife Pet Health Insurance plans cover care relating to unexpected accidents and  illnesses, including:

• hereditary, congenital & chronic conditions
• surgeries
• diagnostic tests
• many medications
• emergency care
• and more 

To keep its pet insurance affordable, MetLife does exclude some things from coverage, including:

• Elective Procedures
• Organ transplants
• pre-existing conditions that occur before your policy takes effect, which is why it’s so important to get insurance for pets when they are young

Things like your pet’s annual veterinary checkup and vaccines are not covered by basic MetLife Pet Insurance plans, but optional Preventive Care coverage is available for an additional fee to cover such costs.

How Much Does MetLife Pet Insurance Cost?

MetLife Pet Insurance offers a wide range of affordable coverage options. Best of all, you can customize your plan to meet your pet’s specific health needs…as well as your budget. 

Even if you’re not sure what kind of coverage is the best fit, MetLife makes it easy to figure that out. To get a custom pet insurance quote, you can call MetLife and speak directly to an agent, or DIY by answering a few simple questions about your pet online to fetch your quote. The whole process took me just about a minute or two!

Using the online quote generator, you can even customize your choices and see how that affects your quote in real time. In addition to choosing your coverage options (accident and illness only, or add-on Preventative Care), you can also adjust your annual benefit amount, deductible amount, and reimbursement rates to finetune your quote. Here’s what you need to know: 

• Annual Benefit: This is the maximum amount your policy will reimburse in a 12-month period. You can select a range of $2,000 to $10,000.
• Deductible: This is how much you will need to pay towards your pet’s care before your insurance will begin reimbursement. MetLife offers a deductible as low as $50, and up to $500.
• Reimbursement: This is the percentage of the cost of healthcare that your insurance company will reimburse. For example, with a policy that has a 70% reimbursement percentage, insurance will reimburse $70 of a $100 vet bill. MetLife offers reimbursement of 70% to 100%.

If you are a vet, in the military, or a first responder, you can receive a 10% discount on your monthly premium. A $1 discount is also given each month for those who complete the process online.

How MetLife Pet Insurance Works

When you land on a quote that works best for you, you can sign up for your MetLife Pet Insurance plan right away. Once you are approved and the policy is in effect, accident coverage begins immediately (as well as Preventative Care coverage, if you’ve elected that). However,  there is a short waiting period before your pet’s benefits kick in to cover any illnesses — 14 days from the start of your coverage.

In the event of an accident, injury, or any other covered event, MetLife makes getting the proper care for your pet and speedy reimbursement super simple, too. Here’s how it works:

• You take your pet to the veterinarian and pay in full for the cost of the visit, diagnosis, treatment, or surgery. 
• Then you submit your bill as a claim for reimbursement using MetLife’s hassle-free online claims process. 
• Depending on the type of plan you choose and what it covers, you’ll be reimbursed (by check or direct deposit) for the covered amount in less than two weeks. 

What Makes MetLife Pet Insurance Stand Out

Though MetLife was founded over a century ago, the experience of obtaining pet insurance was anything but dated. I found every step of the process —from retrieving a quote online to submitting a claim for reimbursement — to be simple, extremely fast, and 100% user-friendly. 

I found it super-helpful to make adjustments to my custom quote online and on my own time until it fit my budget. Although if you prefer the help of an insurance agent, you can also call the company for a quote.

Plus, when you need to submit a claim, you can do that digitally, too — either on the MetLife Pet Insurance website or using the MetLife app right from your smartphone. And you don’t have to be super tech-savvy to make either option work. Via the mobile app, you’ll have access to all your policy information, and you’ll also be able to submit relevant claim information and then track its progress. 

Things We Like

• MetLife Pet insurance makes it simple to get coverage for dogs and cats of every breed…even senior pets, who are often denied coverage by pet insurance companies.
• No veterinary exam or previous records are required to enroll. 
• You can take your pet to any licensed veterinarian, emergency clinic, or specialist you’d like.
• Speedy reimbursement. According to MetLife, about 80% of claims are processed in 10 days or under. 
• Though pre-existing conditions are typically excluded from coverage, MetLife makes an exception if you’re switching from another insurance provider and the condition was previously covered.
• MetLife offers a family plan option, where you can cover multiple pets under one policy.
• It’s very easy to customize your monthly premium based on what you can afford. For example, if you’d like to be reimbursed for 100% of your pet’s care but want a lower monthly premium, you can adjust your plan to a higher deductible. If you want your plan to cover annual wellness visits, you can add this, too. 
• Overall, MetLife has all the benefits of a large, reliable, insurance company while offering a superior, easy-to-use service that can make covering your pet’s health costs much more affordable.

Things to Consider

• Your plan won’t cover everything. Elective procedures, organ transplants, and grooming are a few of the items that insurance won’t cover. Be sure to read the fine print of your plan to make sure you understand what is and isn’t covered.
• There is a 14-day waiting period before illness coverage begins, however many pet insurance companies enforce mandatory waiting periods of 2-4 weeks before illnesses can be covered.

MetLife Pet Insurance Review: Our Verdict

If you’re looking for health coverage for your pet, MetLife Pet Insurance offers a convenient, modern, affordable, and highly rated solution to paying for health care. MetLife Insurance is a large, trusted company with award-winning service, and while their offerings are similar to some other pet insurance plans, their short waiting periods, easy quote process, and fast claim payout time make it a great option for covering your pet’s healthcare costs.