Progressive Pet Insurance Review 2024

Progressive, which has been selling auto insurance policies since 1937, teamed up with Pets Best in 2007 to create Progressive Pet Insurance.

Progressive’s pet insurance policies cover cats and dogs who are at least 7 weeks old (a little older than the industry standard of 6 weeks).

The company offers three customizable plans. Many providers offer one plan for illnesses and accidents and one for wellness. If your pet is younger, active, and unlikely to suffer a severe illness, you could save money with Progressive’s third option, an accident-only plan.

Progressive also extends a 5 percent discount to policyholders who insure multiple pets, making this company an excellent choice for families with numerous four-legged family members.

The best pet insurance policy for you will have the right mix of coverage options, premiums, benefit limits, claims filing tools, and access to customer service. There’s a good chance you can find the right balance with Progressive.

Let’s take a closer look.

Basic Facts About Progressive Pet Insurance Plans

• 3 Plans: Accident-Only; BestBenefit Accident + Illness; Wellness Routine Care Plan.
• Waiting Periods: 3 days for accidents; 14 days for illnesses; 6 months for cruciate ligament injuries.
• Deductibles: Range from $50 to $1,000 a year.
• Reimbursement Levels: Choose from 70%, 80%, 90% reimbursement of covered procedures.
• Maximum Annual Benefits: Choose $5,000 or Unlimited
• Age Limit: 7 weeks minimum to enroll; no maximum age limit.
• Discounts: Multi-pet, military, bundled policy (with Progressive’s home or auto insurance).
• How to Buy: Start at Progressive’s website or app.

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Progressive Pet Insurance Coverage Options

Unlike many pet insurance providers that offer two insurance plans that reimburse for medical or wellness exam fees, Progressive provides three options.

Customers can choose pet insurance coverage for accident and illness care, accident-only care, or wellness care for dogs or cats of any breed.

Accident and Illness Care

Progressive’s BestBenefit Accident and Illness Plan is its most popular choice. This plan provides comprehensive coverage for all types of pet injuries and illnesses.

Coverage includes small and large illnesses from allergies and skin infections to chronic conditions or diseases such as cancer or diabetes.

These policies also cover hereditary conditions and congenital conditions, both of which are excluded by some insurance providers. These conditions can include common ailments such as heart disease, glaucoma, kidney disease, epilepsy, and hip dysplasia.

This plan also covers treatment for accidental pet injuries, including broken bones, lacerations, and unplanned ingestions.

Other valuable treatments and services covered under this plan include:

• After-hours emergency care
• Alternative care
• Behavioral therapy
• Diagnostic testing, including MRI, CT scans, and X-rays
• Hospitalization
• Prescription medications (excluding prescription food)
• Prosthetics and mobility aids
• Specialty care
• Surgery (excluding cosmetic)

Accident-Only Care

This policy is designed for pet owners on a tight budget. Progressive’s accident-only plans offer the lowest cost option to cover emergency care for your pet following an unexpected accident.

While these plans don’t include any illness coverage, you’ll receive a flat monthly rate on cost-effective coverage for all kinds of accidental injuries, including bite or claw wounds, and broken bones or lacerations caused by being hit by a car or similarly traumatic event.

If you’re getting pet insurance only to insulate your wallet from unexpected vet bills, this accident-only option will be worth it. This kind of insurance can give you the peace of mind you’re looking for.

Wellness Care

Progressive’s wellness or routine care plans are available as stand-alone policies or as an add-on to its other two pet insurance products. These plans cover routine and preventative care, including:

• Annual wellness check-ups
• Blood work
• Dental cleanings
• Preventive treatment for fleas, ticks, and heartworms
• Vaccinations

Details About Progressive Pet Insurance

Like all pet insurance plans, Progressive’s have waiting limits, age limits, and exclusions. That’s just the way pet insurance works. Here are the details:

Waiting Periods

Waiting periods for covered treatments and procedures do apply. Often called a medical exclusion period, a waiting period is the amount of time you must wait before your new insurance policy becomes active and begins paying for pet care.

Many insurance providers require a 15-day wait before accident coverage kicks in, but Progressive’s waiting period is only 3 days. Progressive’s waiting period for illness coverage is 14 days, which is relatively standard industry-wide, though some companies make you wait as long as 30 days.

Exclusions

Like most pet insurance providers, Progressive pet insurance plans won’t cover preexisting conditions or elective, preventive, or cosmetic procedures.

Networks

As is common for most pet insurers now, Progressive lets you choose your own vets rather than requiring you to stay within a network of providers.

Age Limits

To buy a new policy, some insurance providers require that pets be at least eight weeks old, but others insure pets as young as six weeks. Progressive falls in the middle with policies available for pets seven weeks old and up.

Progressive is one of the few pet insurance providers that do not set an upper age limit. You can buy a policy even if your dog or cat is 15 years old. But you might not want to: Policies on older pets will cost a lot more, and a geriatric pet is much more likely to have a pre-existing condition which would be excluded from your policy’s coverage.

Read more: Best Pet Insurance for Dogs

Progressive Pet Insurance Costs & Benefit Limits

Pet insurance is very similar to its human equivalent, with some of the same variables affecting the overall cost of your policy. When buying insurance for your pet, apart from the type of policy you’re buying, six factors significantly affect the price.

1. Location: Like other types of insurance, where you live can impact the cost of insuring your pet. Typically, insurance costs are higher in large cities as compared to rural communities.
2. Pet species: Policies for cats are typically noticeably lower in price than those for dogs.
3. Pet breed: Some cat and dog breeds are predisposed to certain medical conditions based on size for dogs, and genetics for either species. Hereditary conditions are especially common in purebred animals, so breeds with a higher potential for future health issues typically affect insurance policy prices.
4. Pet age: As pets age, illness becomes more likely, and senior dogs are more apt to suffer an injury. Most pet insurance policy prices increase as your pet ages, even when renewing an existing policy, and some insurance companies won’t insure pets over a certain age. As noted above, Progressive has no upper age limit.
5. Deductible level: Pet policies come with either an annual or a lifetime-per-incident deductible, which is the amount you must spend out-of-pocket before the insurance company pays out on claims. Insurance providers offer a variety of deductible levels: the higher your deductible, the lower your policy cost.
6. Reimbursement level: Once you meet your deductible, your pet insurance company will reimburse you for eligible expenses up to the amount of your reimbursement level, which is always expressed as a percentage. Some providers offer a single level, while others provide a range. The higher your reimbursement rate, the higher the cost of your policy.

While you can’t alter the first four factors, you do have some control over the final two. Progressive’s customizable plans let you adjust coverage to lower premiums. You choose from a wide range of annual deductibles between $50 and $1,000 and reimbursement rates from 70 to 90 percent.

Why do pet insurance companies reimburse? Unlike human health insurance, your pet insurance company won’t pay your vet directly. Instead, you’ll pay for everything and then file a claim for reimbursement.

Read more: Average Pet Insurance Rates

Is Progressive Pet Insurance Affordable?

Under certain circumstances, a BestBenefit Accident and Illness Plan from Progressive can cost as little as $1 a day, even with a 90 percent reimbursement option. While this is Progressive’s most comprehensive policy, consumers on a tight budget should consider the accident-only coverage.

The minimum monthly premium for a Progressive pet insurance policy is $30.06 for dogs and $16.52 for cats — quite a bit lower than nationwide averages. (For more information, read our “Best Pet Insurance for Cats“).

According to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association, premiums for dog insurance average $44.66 while cat owners average $27.93 a month. Opting for accident-only lowers those averages: $15.84 for dogs and $12.72 for cats.

When looking at Progressive pet insurance, you should also pay attention to benefit limits or coverage caps, which limit the dollar amount you can claim on your policy. It’s common for a pet insurance policy to have an annual coverage cap, but some providers include a lifetime benefit limit.

When you reach your annual cap, you must wait until the next year before making more claims. Reaching a lifetime cap means you’re not allowed any more reimbursements and your policy is effectively terminated.

Progressive offers adjustable plan limits with coverage caps on Essential and Plus plans at a generous $5,000 per calendar year, and unlimited benefits available on Elite plans.

Progressive Pet Insurance Claims Process & Customer Service

New York-based Pets Best, which is the actual provider of Progressive Pet Insurance, has an A+ rating with the BBB.

They have complaints on file, but most complaints come from non-payment of claims that, after further investigation, were denied due to standard coverage stipulations. The reasons for denials on these claims were either pre-existing conditions or failure to complete the 14-day waiting period for illness coverage.

Pet insurance policies clearly state that preexisting conditions, as well as injuries or illnesses directly related to the pre-existing condition, aren’t covered by the policy.

All complaints received a very detailed response from Pets Best (Progressive), explaining why the claim was denied and often encouraging the issuer to contact the company directly for further assistance.

You can avoid this kind of frustration by reading your policy terms before buying coverage and filing a claim. This is true whether you choose Healthy Paws, Trupanion, Progressive, or another company.

Customer Support

While Progressive does not offer 24/7 customer service, policyholders have several options. Progressive provides a mobile app for paying your bill, viewing or updating your policy, and starting the insurance quote process. It also has an online portal for requesting a quote, buying a new policy, or submitting claims.

As part of your Progressive pet insurance policy, you also get free 24-hour access to veterinary experts for answers to all your pet health-related questions.

Progressive Phone Number & Contact Information

Progressive is a member of the North American Pet Health Insurance Association. Visit Progressive’s website to learn more about the customizable plans available that provide affordable pet insurance coverage.

• Homepage URL: www.progressive.com/pet-insurance/
• Company Phone: 855-347-3939
• Headquarters Address: 6300 Wilson Mills Road, Mayfield Village, OH 44143
• Year Founded: 1937