Trupanion Pet Insurance Review 2025

Trupanion was set up in 2000 by Darryl Rawlings, who was inspired to do so by the tragic death of the family Poodle, Mitzy, during his childhood — his parents couldn’t afford the surgery costs to treat her twisted stomach and sadly had no choice but to put her down.

Parents with a Trupanion policy don’t have to worry about their pets not having access to the best veterinary care available. Trupanion can pay vets directly for medical care thanks to their Vet DirectPay ™ software, which is a life-saver for the many pet parents who can’t afford to pay a big vet bill up-front – over 10,000 US vets have this software and lots more are added every month. There’s no annual limit on the amount that Trupanion will reimburse, either.

It’s for this reason that more than 2.5 million pets are enrolled on a Trupanion pet insurance policy.

Our Trupanion rating

Pros & Cons of Trupanion pet insurance

How does Trupanion pet insurance work?

Trupanion offers accident-and-illness plans for cats and dogs aged over two months. There’s no upper age limit when it comes to coverage, but pets cannot be enrolled after their 14th birthday.

To get coverage, parents need to share details about their pet and select the policy’s terms. Once covered, they can make claims for veterinary expenses and if eligible, reimbursements will be sent to a parent’s bank account directly or a check will be posted in the mail.

Parents should note that Trupanion pet insurance is also sold via State Farm — this is exactly the same coverage, but operating under a different name.

The benefits of Trupanion pet insurance

One of the key perks is the possibility of Trupanion paying a vet directly for veterinary treatment, saving parents having to temporarily find money to pay bills while they’re waiting for reimbursement. This service is currently available at more than 10,000 veterinary clinics across the USA, with more being added each month.

Aside from this, the absence of extended waiting periods is advantageous if your pet is unlucky enough to be diagnosed with an orthopedic condition shortly after a policy starts — many rival providers operate six-month waiting periods for these sorts of injuries.

The unlimited annual limit may act as peace of mind if a pet suffers from a chronic illness that requires regular reimbursements. And don’t worry if you’re forced to make claims — your premium won’t automatically increase the following year, which can’t be said of other providers.

Trupanion Pet Insurance plans explained

There’s an element of simplicity to Trupanion Pet Insurance. There’s no accident-only plan for a start, so parents can only enrol on an accident-and-illness policy. With this, there’s no customizable annual limit or reimbursement percentage, although parents are able to pick the deductible they wish to pay. 

And there’s only one supplementary plan available for parents seeking to broaden their coverage — the Recovery and Complementary Care package, which will provide reimbursements for alternative treatments, such as acupuncture, hydrotherapy and behavorial modification.

What does Trupanion pet insurance cover?

With the accident-and-illness policy available through Trupanion, parents can receive reimbursements for veterinary costs linked to all stages of treating a pet’s medical ailments, from initial diagnostics and hospitalization to surgery and specialist treatment. 

This includes dental illness, although only if parents take their pets for an annual dental exam — the cost of which is not included within Trupanion’s coverage.

If parents choose to pay for the additional Recovery and Complementary Care package, they will receive reimbursements for alternative treatments that go beyond medical care, such as homeopathy, naturopathy and chiropathy.

Trupanion coverage vs. other insurers

How does Trupanion stack up against America’s other providers? Have a look in our handy table!

Is Trupanion pet insurance good value for money?

Here are a few example pet insurance quotes — along with how much the same pet would cost to insure with a competitor — so you can get an idea of how much you’d be paying each month.

How good is Trupanion’s customer service?

Trupanion has good reviews on Trustpilot, with many satisfied with the customer service and the speed at which reimbursements are received.

Unlike some pet insurance providers, those enrolled on a Trupanion plan don’t have access to 24/7 vet telehealth.

How do I contact Trupanion?

Parents can speak to a Trupanion representative on the phone at 888-733-2685, by email at info@trupanion.com or via live chat at trupanion.com.

What is Trupanion’s claims process?

If the veterinary clinic in question accepts Trupanion Direct Vet Pay, there’s no need to file a claim — instead, the clinic will submit the invoice straight to Trupanion and the costs will often be processed and paid within seconds.

However, sometimes this method won’t be possible and parents will need to file a claim with Trupanion themselves. The fastest way to do this is online at trupanion.com. All parents need to do is upload an itemized invoice and a short summary of a pet’s medical problems.

There’s also the option to do this by email, fax or even mail — parents need to download a claim form, fill it out and send it to Trupanion along with any invoices to be reimbursed.

Once approved, the reimbursement can be sent straight into a parent’s bank account via direct deposit or in the post as a check.

How much will Trupanion pay for my claim?

Trupanion doesn’t offer policyholders the option to select a desired reimbursement percentage, which is the proportion of an eligible claim that an insurance provider will reimburse. Instead, Trupanion will only ever reimburse 90% of an eligible claim, with parents covering the remaining 10%.

The deductible also needs to be taken into account. This is a specified amount that parents have to pay before receiving reimbursements. 

While many insurance providers operate an annual deductible policy — i.e. parents pay a deductible every year before receiving reimbursements or not at all if they don’t make a claim — Trupanion operates a lifetime per-condition deductible. This means parents only have to pay a deductible once for each medical condition with which a pet is diagnosed and they’re covered for the rest of a pet’s life.

For example, a pet is diagnosed with arthritis. A parent pays a deductible after making their first claim related to the medical condition but doesn’t have to pay the deductible again when making future claims linked to arthritis. If a pet has one chronic condition, this would work out cheaper than paying the deductible each year.

The amount of this lifetime per-condition deductible can be chosen by a parent, but it must fall between $0 and $1,000. Generally, a higher deductible will lead to lower premiums, but it might mean parents have to spend a lot on deductibles if their pet develops multiple conditions.

Are there any coverage exclusions?

Yes. Trupanion doesn’t include pre-existing conditions within its coverage — these are defined as any medical condition or symptom diagnosed by a vet in the 18 months before a policy’s start date. Unlike some other pet insurance providers, Trupanion doesn’t make a distinction between curable and incurable pre-existing conditions.

In addition, Trupanion will not provide reimbursements for vet exam fees, routine treatments, and any condition that it deems to have been preventable — examples would include parasites or dental illness when a pet has not received any routine teeth-cleaning.

What are the waiting periods for conditions?

As with all pet insurance providers, Trupanion operates waiting periods for its coverage — these are specified amounts of time after a policy has begun during which parents are unable to make claims. 

Trupanion’s waiting period is 5 days for injuries and 30 days for illnesses. Any medical conditions diagnosed during this period would be considered a pre-existing condition and treated as such under the policy.

There are no extended waiting periods for orthopedic conditions.

How quickly does Trupanion pay claims?

With VetDirect Pay, Trupanion will pay vets for medical costs, rather than parents doing so first and waiting for reimbursement. In 60% of cases, this process takes less than 60 seconds.

If the vet’s clinic in question isn’t one of the 10,000 or so that can perform VetDirect Pay, parents have to pay the veterinary bills first, submit the invoices to Trupanion and wait for reimbursements. This is still quick, with Trupanion stating that 70% of claims are reimbursed within 24 hours. ¹

Can I customize my Trupanion Pet Insurance?

Yes, but not as much as you can with other pet insurance providers.

Often, parents have a choice when it comes to the deductible, annual limit and reimbursement percentage. With Trupanion, however, the annual limit is set as unlimited and the reimbursement percentage is fixed at 90%. Parents can choose the deductible amount though, but this must be an amount between $0 and $1,000.

Likewise, there isn’t a huge amount of choice when it comes to add-ons. Parents can pay extra for the Recovery and Complementary package, which provides reimbursements for alternative treatments, such as acupuncture, physical therapy and chiropathy. However, there’s no wellness plan or option to include vet exam fees within coverage.

State availability for Trupanion

Trupanion is available in all 50 US states and Washington D.C., as well as Canada and Puerto Rico. Parents can use any licensed vets in these territories as well.

Verdict: Is Trupanion pet insurance good?

It won’t be right for everybody, but Trupanion is fairly unique in the pet insurance world. The option of Trupanion paying vets directly for treatment and the unlimited annual limit could both prove invaluable in the event of a pet suffering from a particularly costly medical condition. 

What’s more, there’s no long waiting period for orthopedic conditions, which, again, might save parents a lot of money if a pet is unfortunate enough to suffer from one soon after a policy starts.

Trupanion offers a per-condition deductible, which isn’t very common in the pet insurance industry. This will work out cheaper for pets with one or two chronic conditions, as parents won’t have to pay the deductible each year. However, this method might prove more expensive when it comes to pets with several conditions.

There are a few other drawbacks. Some parents might not appreciate the lack of choice when it comes to the annual limit and reimbursement percentage, especially as this gives them less opportunity to shape the premium to their liking.

Some key features are missing, too — there’s no 24/7 vet telehealth, multi-pet discount or supplementary wellness coverage. These might not be deal-breakers for some parents, but others might look to a provider which includes one or more of these.

Our Trupanion rating