The best pet insurance for dogs covers the problems your dog is most likely to have, pays enough when something big goes wrong, and stays affordable as your dog gets older. No single company does all three best for every dog, so this guide doesn’t rank insurers. Instead, it shows you what the strongest plans have in common, what dog insurance really costs, and how to read a policy well enough to pick the right one yourself.
Here’s the number to start from. The average accident and illness policy for a dog cost $836 a year in 2025, or about $70 a month, according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA). That’s 11.5% more than the year before. Your own quote depends on your dog’s breed, size and age, where you live, and the settings you choose, and we’ll go through each one below.
What the best dog insurance plans have in common
Once you get past the marketing, the plans worth buying look a lot alike on paper. Here’s what they share:
- They cover accidents and illnesses, including hereditary and congenital conditions, since a lot of what dogs get sick with runs in breeds.
- The annual limit is high enough to pay for a major surgery and the rechecks that follow it.
- The deductible is an amount you could pay tomorrow without borrowing.
- Waiting periods are short, and the orthopedic one can be waived after a vet exam.
- The policy defines pre-existing conditions narrowly and lets curable ones back in after a wait.
- There’s no bilateral exclusion, or it’s written narrowly.
- The exam fee for a sick visit is covered.
- The policy explains how it works out a claim payment and tells you whether your premium goes up as your dog ages.
- Your dog is comfortably inside the enrollment age limits.
Apps, discounts and extras matter far less than those lines in the policy. We’ll take each one in turn below, with the exact words to look for.
How much does dog insurance cost?
NAPHIA’s 2026 report covers the 2025 calendar year and about 99% of the pet insurance premium written in the U.S. and Canada. Here’s what the average dog owner paid for each kind of plan:
| Plan type | Per year | About per month |
|---|---|---|
| Accident only | $190 | $16 |
| Accident and illness | $836 | $70 |
| Accident and illness with wellness built in | $1,414 | $118 |
Accident and illness is what most people mean when they say dog insurance, and it’s gotten pricier every year:
| Year | Accident and illness, per year | Accident only, per year |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $625 | $192 |
| 2022 | $640 | $201 |
| 2023 | $675 | $204 |
| 2024 | $749 | $193 |
| 2025 | $836 | $190 |
That’s a 34% rise for accident and illness coverage in four years, while accident-only prices went nowhere. The gap tells you where the cost pressure sits: in illness care, which is what most of the conditions in the next section are.
For comparison, the average accident and illness plan for a cat cost $435 in 2025, so dogs cost almost twice as much to insure. Our guide to how much pet insurance costs goes further into what moves the price and how to pay less.
What dogs actually claim for
Insurance pays for the bills you actually get, so it helps to know what those usually are. NAPHIA lists these as the most common medical conditions in dog claims across North America in 2025, in the order its report gives them:
- Stomach and digestive (GI) problems
- Ear infections
- Skin conditions, including infections and dermatitis
- Anxiety, behavioral and neurological problems
- Allergies
- Growths and masses
- Eye and vision disorders
- Diarrhea
- Urinary tract infections
- Musculoskeletal problems
- Exams and wellness
- Vomiting
Two things jump out. Almost everything on that list is an illness rather than an injury, so an accident-only plan wouldn’t have paid for most of it. And most of it is everyday stuff: an itchy dog, a sore ear, an upset stomach. Problems like those can come back again and again, which is why the deductible type and exam fee coverage matter more than most people expect.
Then there’s the rare bill that insurance is really for. The largest single dog claim NAPHIA recorded in 2025 was $66,600, for a 3-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog with a chronic illness nobody could diagnose. Most dogs never get close to that, but it’s exactly the case your annual limit has to handle.
How breed, size and age change the price
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) says the price of a policy depends on the species, breed, sex, age and location of the animal, plus the coverage and deductible you choose. For dogs, breed, size and age do most of the work, with location close behind because vet prices vary from place to place.
Breed
Insurers price on how often a breed ends up at the vet and for what. A breed with a known run of inherited joint, breathing, skin or heart trouble is more likely to claim, so it usually costs more to cover than a mixed-breed dog of the same size. It’s also why the hereditary and congenital wording in a policy matters most if you have a purebred.
Size
Bigger dogs cost more to treat. Drug doses and anesthesia go by body weight, so the same surgery or prescription costs more for a 90-pound dog than for a 15-pound one.
Size also changes how fast a dog ages. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) says larger breeds tend to have shorter life spans than smaller ones, and that experts suggest treating a dog as a senior once it reaches the last 25% of its breed’s expected life span. On average, the AVMA says, that works out to these ages:
| Dog size | Weight | Senior at about |
|---|---|---|
| Small or toy | Under 20 pounds | 8 to 11 years |
| Medium | 20 to 50 pounds | 8 to 10 years |
| Large | 50 to 90 pounds | 8 to 9 years |
| Giant | Over 90 pounds | 6 to 7 years |
So a giant-breed dog reaches its senior years, and the bigger premiums that tend to come with them, sooner than a small dog does.
Age
Premiums usually rise at renewal as your dog gets older, because older dogs see the vet more. The AVMA recommends that senior pets see a vet twice a year or more. The NAIC’s Pet Insurance Model Act (more on it below) says insurers should tell you up front whether they raise premiums or reduce coverage based on your pet’s age, its claim history or a move to a new area. Find that disclosure before you buy, because the price you start at is rarely the price you’ll pay once your dog is older.
The features that separate a good plan from a weak one
This is where two plans with the same monthly price can turn out very different. We’ll refer to the NAIC’s Pet Insurance Model Act a few times. It’s a template law that NAIC members adopted in 2022 for states to pass in their own form, so the exact rules depend on your state. Even where it hasn’t been passed, it makes a handy checklist of what to ask.
Annual limit
The annual limit is the most the plan will pay in a policy year. Some plans also cap what they’ll pay for one condition, or over your dog’s whole life, and those smaller caps can hurt more than the annual one. The Model Act lists annual and lifetime limits among the things insurers should disclose, and the Alabama Department of Insurance notes that policies typically spell out lifetime or per-illness maximums.
In the policy, look for “annual limit,” “maximum benefit,” “per condition,” “per incident” and “lifetime.” A strong plan has one annual limit and no smaller cap on a single condition. To choose a number, ask your vet what a big orthopedic surgery, like a torn cruciate ligament repair, costs at their clinic, then pick a limit that covers it with room left for follow-up care. With a large or giant breed, lean higher.
Reimbursement rate
This is the share of a covered bill the plan pays back after the deductible. A higher rate costs more each month and leaves you less to cover when you claim.
How the rate gets applied matters just as much. According to the NAIC, some insurers reimburse a percentage of what you actually spent, while others use a benefit schedule that pays based on the illness or injury and the coverage level you chose. The Model Act adds that an insurer capping payments at “usual and customary” fees has to explain how it works those fees out. A plan that pays a percentage of your actual vet bill is the easiest to predict. Check the claims section for “benefit schedule” and “usual and customary,” and make sure you understand what you’d get back on a real invoice.
Deductible type
The deductible is what you pay before the plan pays anything. How much it is matters, and so does how often it resets.
An annual deductible is paid once per policy year, however many things go wrong. A per-condition deductible (some policies say per incident or per illness) is paid again for each new problem. Look back at what dogs claim for: ear infections, skin flare-ups, stomach upsets. For a dog that has a few of those a year, an annual deductible usually works out better. A per-condition deductible can make sense if you mainly want cover for one big bill. Either way, check whether an ongoing problem like allergies needs a fresh deductible each policy year.
Waiting periods, especially the orthopedic one
A waiting period is the time after you buy before some or all of your coverage starts. It matters twice over. Under the Model Act’s definition, anything that shows signs during a waiting period counts as pre-existing, the same as if it had started before you bought the policy.
Orthopedic problems are the ones to watch. The Model Act defines them as conditions of the bones, skeletal muscle, cartilage, tendons, ligaments and joints, and names hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, disc degeneration in the spine, kneecaps that slip out of place (patellar luxation) and ruptured cruciate ligaments. Some policies give these a separate waiting period that’s longer than the one for other illnesses.
The Model Act caps waiting periods at 30 days for illnesses and for orthopedic conditions that don’t come from an accident, and it bans waiting periods for accidents altogether. Insurers that use a waiting period have to let you waive it once your dog has had a vet exam, which you pay for unless the policy says the insurer will. Waiting periods also can’t be applied again when you renew.
If you’re not sure your state follows those rules, find the orthopedic waiting period by name, note how long it is, and ask whether a vet exam can waive it. With a large breed, or one known for joint trouble, this is the first clause to read.
Exam fees
A sick visit usually starts with an exam fee, before any tests or treatment. Some plans pay that fee along with the treatment. Others pay for the treatment and leave the exam to you. The Alabama Department of Insurance even puts “Is there a dollar limit for office fees?” on its list of questions to ask.
Since the most common dog claims are things like ear infections, skin trouble and upset stomachs, that fee comes up again and again. Look for “exam fees” or “examination fees” in both the covered list and the exclusions. Routine checkups are a different thing: they fall under wellness coverage, which the NAIC treats as its own category, separate from accident and illness.
Hereditary and congenital conditions
The Model Act defines a hereditary disorder as an abnormality passed genetically from parent to offspring that may cause illness or disease. A congenital condition is one present from birth, whether inherited or caused by the environment. The NAIC’s consumer page says most pet insurers exclude pre-existing conditions and hereditary or congenital conditions, and the Alabama Department of Insurance notes that some plans pay only a limited benefit for them.
For a purebred, this is where a cheap plan can turn out to be close to useless, because the condition your breed is known for may be the one the policy leaves out. The Model Act says insurers should tell you if a policy excludes hereditary, congenital or chronic conditions. Search the exclusions for “hereditary,” “congenital,” “chronic” and “breed-specific.” A strong plan covers them as long as there were no signs before you enrolled or during a waiting period.
Pre-existing conditions
Most policies exclude pre-existing conditions, so the definition is what counts. Under the Model Act, a condition is pre-existing if, before coverage starts or during a waiting period, a vet gave medical advice about it, your dog was treated for it, or verifiable records show your dog had signs or symptoms of it. The insurer has to prove the exclusion applies, and a condition the policy covered can’t be treated as pre-existing when you renew.
That renewal rule matters. The Alabama Department of Insurance has warned that some companies may treat a condition your pet was treated for during the policy term as pre-existing at renewal, and stop covering it. Check how the policy handles renewals before you buy.
The Alabama department also splits pre-existing conditions into curable ones, which a company may cover after a waiting period, and incurable ones like diabetes or cancer, which may be excluded or covered on a limited basis. See whether the policy has a curable category, and how long the wait is before one of those conditions is covered.
Bilateral conditions
Some policies have a bilateral clause. If a problem that can affect both sides of the body, like a knee, hip, elbow or eye condition, shows up on one side before you enroll, the matching problem on the other side is excluded too, even if that side is healthy today. For dogs, the clause matters most for knees and hips, which both fall under the Model Act’s orthopedic definition. Look for “bilateral” in the definitions and exclusions. A strong plan either has no bilateral clause or limits it to a short list of named conditions.
Direct vet pay
The NAIC says most policies pay on a reimbursement basis. You pay the vet, send in the claim, and get paid back for the covered amount. Some companies can pay your vet directly instead, which helps a lot when the bill runs into the thousands. If that matters to you, ask whether the policy offers it and whether your vet will take it.
While you’re at it, ask two more questions from the Alabama department’s checklist: “Can I choose any veterinarian?” and “How long do you take to pay claims?” Some policies require you to use a specific network of vets.
Age limits at enrollment
According to the NAIC, some insurers won’t accept pets past a certain age. Check the maximum age for a new dog, the minimum age for a puppy, and whether coverage changes as your dog gets older, which the Model Act says should be disclosed. If your dog is getting close to a cap, apply sooner rather than later. Once your dog is covered, the Model Act says an insurer can’t require a vet exam for you to renew.
The checklist in one table
| Feature | What a strong plan looks like | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Annual limit | High enough for a major surgery plus follow-up care | Per-condition or lifetime caps |
| Reimbursement | A percentage of your actual vet bill | Benefit schedules or “usual and customary” caps |
| Deductible | Annual, at an amount you could pay tomorrow | A per-condition deductible that resets with every new problem |
| Waiting periods | Short, and the orthopedic one can be waived after a vet exam | A long, separate orthopedic waiting period |
| Exam fees | Covered for sick and injury visits | Treatment covered but the exam fee excluded |
| Hereditary and congenital | Covered when there were no signs before enrolling | Listed in the exclusions |
| Pre-existing | Narrow definition, and curable conditions can come back in | Conditions treated during the policy excluded at renewal |
| Bilateral | No clause, or a narrow one | A broad bilateral exclusion |
| Direct vet pay | Offered, and your vet takes it | Reimbursement only, if a big bill would strain you |
| Age limits | Your dog well inside them | A cap your dog will hit soon |
How to compare two dog insurance quotes
Here’s a quick way to put two quotes side by side. The dollar amounts below are made up to keep the math simple.
- Line up the settings. Set both quotes to the same annual limit, reimbursement rate and deductible, or as close as each one allows. If they don’t match, the cheaper quote is often just the one with less coverage.
- Run a big bill through both. Say your dog tears a knee ligament and the bill comes to $4,000. Quote A has a $250 annual deductible and pays 80%. Quote B has a $500 annual deductible and pays 90%. Quote A pays 80% of $3,750, which is $3,000, so you pay $1,000. Quote B pays 90% of $3,500, which is $3,150, so you pay $850.
- Run a small bill through both. An ear infection visit comes to $300. Quote A pays 80% of $50, which is $40. Quote B pays nothing, because $300 doesn’t clear its $500 deductible.
- Add the premiums. For each quote, add a year of premiums to what you’d pay out of pocket in a quiet year and in a bad one. The lower monthly price doesn’t always win.
- Check the clauses that change the answer. Compare the orthopedic waiting period, the bilateral clause, hereditary and congenital coverage, and exam fees. If Quote B leaves out exam fees or makes you wait longer for a knee claim, the $150 it saved you in step 2 can disappear.
- Read how the price will change. Look for the disclosure on whether premiums rise with age or claims, and for how the claim payment is worked out. The Model Act says insurers should sum up their key terms in a document called the “Insurer Disclosure of Important Policy Provisions,” which makes this step much faster when there is one.
- Use the free look. The Model Act gives you 15 days after you receive a policy to review it and return it for a full refund, as long as you haven’t filed a claim. Check the first page of your policy for its return window.
When you’re ready, compare pet insurance quotes for your dog and ZIP code, then run them through the steps above. If you’ve got more than one pet, our guide to the best pet insurance for multiple pets covers how insuring them together works.
When accident-only coverage makes sense
NAPHIA describes accident-only plans as covering things like “foreign body ingestion, lacerations, motor vehicle accident, ligament tears, poisoning,” so a swallowed sock, a deep cut, getting hit by a car or eating something toxic. Accident and illness plans add illnesses such as cancer, infections and digestive problems. At $190 a year on average for a dog in 2025, accident-only cost less than a quarter of what accident and illness did.
It can make sense when:
- Your budget stretches to accident-only or nothing at all.
- Your dog already has enough pre-existing conditions that an illness plan would leave out most of what’s likely to go wrong.
- You’ve got savings set aside for everyday illnesses and mainly want help with a sudden, expensive injury.
- You want some cover in place while you compare full plans.
For most dogs it’s the weaker choice, though. Almost everything on NAPHIA’s list of common dog claims is an illness, and the biggest dog claim of 2025 was an illness too. One more thing to check: NAPHIA lists ligament tears under accidents, but the Model Act treats orthopedic conditions that don’t come from an accident separately, so read how an accident-only policy handles a knee that gives out on its own.
Puppies vs senior dogs
Insuring a puppy
Puppyhood is the simplest time to buy. There’s nothing in the vet records yet that could count as pre-existing, and premiums start lower when a dog is young.
Congenital conditions are present from birth, so they can surface early. Make sure the plan covers congenital and hereditary conditions that hadn’t shown signs before you enrolled, and check the minimum age the insurer will take.
Puppies also need a run of vaccines and checkups, which is where wellness coverage comes in. NAPHIA’s average for a dog policy with wellness built in was $1,414 a year in 2025, against $836 for accident and illness alone. Add up what your vet charges for the first year of routine care and see which side comes out ahead. Under the Model Act, buying a separate wellness program can’t be a condition of buying pet insurance, and its cost and terms have to be kept separate from the policy.
For teeth, see our guide to whether pet insurance covers dental care.
Insuring a senior dog
Check the AVMA table above to see when your dog counts as a senior. For a giant breed, it’s as early as 6. Older dogs need more care. The AVMA lists heart disease, kidney or urinary tract disease, liver disease, diabetes, joint or bone disease, obesity, and vision or hearing loss among the most common problems as pets age, and says cancer is the cause of death in almost half of dogs over 10 years old.
Insurance gets harder at this stage for three reasons. Some insurers won’t take a new dog past a certain age. Anything already in your dog’s records can be excluded as pre-existing. And premiums rise as your dog gets older. The best move is to get coverage in place before those years and keep it. Under the Model Act, a renewal can’t require a new vet exam, waiting periods can’t be applied again, and a condition the policy covered can’t turn into a pre-existing one.
If your dog is already a senior and uninsured, compare what’s still on offer, see whether accident-only is the realistic option, and weigh it against putting the premium into savings each month. Our guide to whether pet insurance is worth it walks through that math. For every other pet topic, from cats to coverage basics, head to our pet insurance hub.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best pet insurance for dogs?
The best plan for your dog covers accidents and illnesses, including hereditary and congenital conditions. It should have an annual limit high enough for a major surgery, an annual deductible you could pay tomorrow, an orthopedic waiting period that’s short or can be waived, and no broad bilateral exclusion. Get two or three quotes with the same limit, deductible and reimbursement rate, then read the exclusions before you choose.
How much is dog insurance a month?
The average accident and illness policy cost about $70 a month for a dog in 2025 ($836 a year), according to NAPHIA. Accident-only plans averaged about $16 a month, and plans with wellness built in averaged about $118. Your dog’s breed, size, age and ZIP code can move your quote well above or below those numbers.
How can I get cheap dog insurance?
Accident-only coverage is the cheapest kind, at about $190 a year on average in 2025. If you want illnesses covered too, the cheapest way in is an accident and illness plan with a higher deductible and a lower reimbursement rate, bought while your dog is young. Just don’t set the annual limit so low that one surgery blows through it.
Does pet insurance cover hip dysplasia in dogs?
It depends on the policy. Hip dysplasia is on the Model Act’s list of orthopedic conditions. Check three things: whether the policy covers hereditary conditions and how it classifies hip dysplasia, how long the orthopedic waiting period is, and whether a bilateral clause applies. It won’t be covered if signs showed up before your coverage started or during a waiting period.
Does dog insurance cover dental care?
It depends on the plan and on why your dog needs the work. Not every plan covers preventive care or dental care that isn’t tied to an accident or injury, the Alabama Department of Insurance notes. Our guide to whether pet insurance covers dental goes through what to look for.
Can I get insurance for a dog with a pre-existing condition?
Usually, yes, but the policy most likely won’t cover that condition. The NAIC says most pet insurers exclude pre-existing conditions. Some treat curable conditions differently and may cover them after a waiting period, according to the Alabama Department of Insurance, while incurable ones like diabetes or cancer may be excluded or covered only on a limited basis. New problems are covered as normal once any waiting periods end.
Is dog insurance worth it?
It comes down to whether you could cover a big vet bill tomorrow. Only about 6% of U.S. dogs were insured in 2025, according to NAPHIA. The average accident and illness policy cost $836 that year, and the biggest single dog claim was $66,600. If a four-figure bill would force a hard choice, insurance deserves a close look. Our guide to is pet insurance worth it runs the numbers.
Can I use any vet with dog insurance?
It depends on the policy. The NAIC notes that some companies let you choose your vet, and the Alabama Department of Insurance warns that some policies require a specific network. Most policies reimburse you after you pay the vet, so ask about direct payment if a large bill up front would be hard to manage.
Does dog insurance go up every year?
It often does. The average accident and illness premium for dogs rose every year from 2021 to 2025, according to NAPHIA, and your own premium can also climb as your dog ages. Insurers that follow the Model Act have to tell you whether they raise premiums based on age, claims or where you live, so check that before you buy.
Sources
- North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA), State of the Industry Report 2026, published June 2026 and covering the 2025 calendar year. Product definitions and market coverage (Section 1), average annual premiums per dog and per cat, 2021 to 2025 (Section 4), most common medical conditions and top claims paid (Section 6), and the share of U.S. dogs insured, which NAPHIA bases on the American Veterinary Medical Association’s 2025 Pet Owner Survey.
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Pet insurance, consumer topic page last updated April 16, 2025. Coverage categories, common exclusions, age limits, pricing factors and reimbursement methods.
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Pet Insurance Model Act (Model #633), adopted Summer 2022. Definitions of hereditary, congenital, orthopedic, pre-existing and waiting period; required disclosures; waiting period limits and waivers; renewal rules; the 15-day free look; and wellness program rules.
- American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), Caring for senior cats and dogs. Senior ages by dog size, vet visit frequency for senior pets, common age-related problems, and cancer as a cause of death in dogs over 10.
- Alabama Department of Insurance, consumer release on pet insurance, February 13, 2018, built on NAIC tips. Curable and incurable pre-existing conditions, renewal exclusions, limited benefits for congenital and hereditary conditions, vet networks, and its checklist of questions to ask.
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