---
title: "Accident-Only Pet Insurance: What It Covers, What It Costs and Who It's For"
canonical: "https://www.simplyinsurance.com/accident-only-pet-insurance/"
description: "Accident-only pet insurance averaged $190 a year for dogs and $112 for cats in 2025. Here's what it pays for, what it skips and who should buy it."
silo: "pet"
published: "2026-09-24"
updated: "2026-09-24"
author: "sa-el"
source: "Simply Insurance"
---
Accident-only pet insurance pays vet bills when your pet gets hurt, and nothing when your pet gets sick. It's the cheapest kind of pet insurance you can buy. In 2025 the average accident-only plan cost $190 a year for a dog (about $16 a month) and $112 a year for a cat (about $9 a month), according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA), the industry group that tracks what pet owners pay.

That low price comes with a big trade-off. Illness is where most of the everyday claims are, and an accident-only plan won't touch it. Below you'll find what counts as an accident, what's left out, how the price compares with a full accident and illness plan, and who it actually makes sense for.

## What accident-only pet insurance covers

NAPHIA defines accident-only coverage by example: "Foreign body ingestion, lacerations, motor vehicle accident, ligament tears, poisoning, etc." In everyday terms, that's the kind of vet visit you never saw coming:

- Your dog swallows a sock, a toy or a corn cob and it gets stuck (foreign body ingestion).
- Your cat cuts a paw on broken glass and needs stitches (a laceration).
- Your dog gets hit by a car.
- Your pet tears a ligament jumping off the couch or chasing a ball.
- Your pet eats something toxic, like rat poison or a household chemical.

When a claim like that is approved, the plan pays back part of the vet care the injury needs. Depending on the policy, that can include the exam, x-rays, surgery, medication and a hospital stay. What you get back depends on three numbers you choose when you buy, which we cover further down.

One knee-shaped wrinkle is worth knowing about. NAPHIA lists ligament tears as an accident, but the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Pet Insurance Model Act, a template law that states can adopt, lists ruptured cranial cruciate ligaments (the dog version of a torn ACL) as an orthopedic condition. Under that model law, a policy can put a waiting period of up to 30 days on orthopedic conditions that don't result from an accident. So whether a knee injury gets paid as an accident can come down to how the policy words it and what your vet's records say happened. Ask how the policy handles knee injuries before you buy.

## What accident-only pet insurance doesn't cover

The short answer is illness, which covers far more than it sounds like. NAPHIA describes accident and illness plans as paying for "Accident benefits plus illnesses such as cancer, infections, digestive problems, etc." Everything in that second half is off the table with an accident-only plan.

Look at the conditions insurers paid claims for most often in 2025, per NAPHIA:

| Rank | Dogs | Cats |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Stomach and digestive problems | Stomach and digestive problems |
| 2 | Ear infections | Dental disease |
| 3 | Skin conditions | Urinary tract infections |
| 4 | Anxiety, behavioral and neurological issues | Anxiety, behavioral and neurological issues |
| 5 | Allergies | Respiratory problems |
| 6 | Growths and masses | Kidney disease |

Nearly every one of those is an illness. An accident-only plan wouldn't pay a cent toward any of them.

It also skips the biggest bills. The largest single claim NAPHIA recorded for a dog in 2025 was $66,600, for a 3-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog with a chronic illness nobody could diagnose. For a cat it was $51,600, for a 4-year-old American Shorthair with cancer. Those are extremes, not typical bills, but both were illnesses. Accident-only coverage would have paid nothing on either.

A few other things are usually outside an accident-only plan too:

- Routine care like checkups and vaccines. That's what wellness add-ons are for.
- Injuries that happened before your coverage started. Those count as pre-existing, the same as with any pet insurance. Our guide to [pet insurance and pre-existing conditions](https://www.simplyinsurance.com/pet-insurance-pre-existing-conditions/) explains how insurers decide.
- Dental problems that aren't from an injury. State regulators list "dental care not associated with an accident or injury" among the things not all pet plans cover. More on that in [does pet insurance cover dental](https://www.simplyinsurance.com/does-pet-insurance-cover-dental/).

## How much accident-only pet insurance costs

Here's how the two main plan types compared in 2025, using NAPHIA's national averages:

| Plan type | Dogs, per year | Dogs, per month | Cats, per year | Cats, per month |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Accident only | $190 | about $16 | $112 | about $9 |
| Accident and illness | $836 | about $70 | $435 | about $36 |

For a dog, accident and illness coverage costs about 4.4 times as much as accident-only, or $646 more a year. For a cat it's about 3.9 times as much, or $323 more a year.

The more interesting story is the trend. Accident and illness premiums have climbed a lot since 2021, while accident-only prices have stayed flat or even dropped:

| Year | Accident only, dogs | Accident and illness, dogs | Accident only, cats | Accident and illness, cats |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2021 | $192 | $625 | $121 | $370 |
| 2022 | $201 | $640 | $122 | $387 |
| 2023 | $204 | $675 | $116 | $383 |
| 2024 | $193 | $749 | $110 | $386 |
| 2025 | $190 | $836 | $112 | $435 |

Between 2021 and 2025, the average accident and illness plan went up about 34% for dogs and about 18% for cats. The average accident-only plan went down about 1% for dogs and about 7% for cats. In 2025 alone, accident and illness prices jumped 11.5% for dogs and 12.6% for cats.

Your quote will depend on your pet's species, age and breed, where you live, and the coverage settings you pick. Our guide to [how much pet insurance costs](https://www.simplyinsurance.com/how-much-is-pet-insurance/) walks through each of those.

## Who accident-only pet insurance makes sense for

Accident-only coverage fits a few kinds of owners well.

### You're on a tight budget

At about $16 a month for a dog or $9 for a cat, accident-only coverage is a way to have something rather than nothing. You'll pay for illnesses yourself, but a swallowed toy that needs surgery or a car accident won't land entirely on you. If a full accident and illness plan would stretch your budget to the point where you might cancel it in a few months, a plan you can keep paying is worth more.

### Your pet is older

Illness coverage gets harder to get and more expensive as pets age. The NAIC notes that some insurers won't accept pets after a certain age. The model law also requires insurers in states that adopt it to tell you whether they raise premiums based on your pet's age, so look for that disclosure when you compare. And an older pet usually has more medical history, so more of what could go wrong may already be excluded as pre-existing.

An accident is new by definition. Even if your senior pet's existing conditions are ruled out, an accident-only plan can still pay when they fall down the stairs or eat something they shouldn't.

### You only want protection from a sudden, big injury bill

Some people are happy to pay for ear infections and allergy flare-ups out of pocket and just want a backstop for the injury that comes out of nowhere. If that's you, and you've got savings set aside for the illness side, accident-only coverage fills that one gap cheaply.

## Who should skip it

Accident-only is a poor fit if what worries you most is a serious illness. NAPHIA's two largest claims of 2025 were a chronic illness nobody could diagnose and cancer, and illnesses like those are exactly what it leaves out.

It's also a weak deal if your pet is young and healthy and you can afford accident and illness coverage. Young pets have less medical history to exclude, so this is when full coverage leaves out the least. If you buy accident-only now and switch later, anything your pet develops in the meantime will count as pre-existing under the new policy.

And if you've already got enough savings to cover a surprise surgery without flinching, you may not need insurance for accidents at all. Our guide to [whether pet insurance is worth it](https://www.simplyinsurance.com/is-pet-insurance-worth-it/) walks through that math.

## How to shop for accident-only coverage

Accident-only plans use the same basic settings as other pet insurance. Compare them side by side so you're comparing the same thing.

### Deductible

The deductible is what you pay before the plan pays anything. A higher deductible lowers your premium. Just don't set it higher than you could actually pay on a bad day, since an accident is the one bill you can't plan for.

### Reimbursement rate

This is the share of a covered bill the plan pays back after the deductible. A higher rate means a higher premium and a smaller share of each bill on you.

### Annual limit

This caps what the plan pays in a year. Accident claims can be big, especially if surgery and a hospital stay are involved, so don't pick a limit so low that one bad day blows through it.

### Waiting period

A waiting period is the time between buying the policy and when coverage kicks in. The NAIC model law bans waiting periods for accidents entirely, so in states that have adopted it, accident coverage can start right away. If your state hasn't adopted it, look for any accident waiting period in the policy before you count on coverage from day one.

### How you get paid and which vets you can use

Many plans have you pay the vet in full and then reimburse you for the covered amount. Some policies also require you to use a specific network of vets. Check both, since an emergency is the worst time to find out your nearest animal hospital isn't in the network.

When you're ready, you can [compare pet insurance quotes](https://www.simplyinsurance.com/compare-pet-insurance-quotes-online/) for your pet and ZIP code. For more on plans and costs, head to our [pet insurance hub](https://www.simplyinsurance.com/pet-insurance/).

## Frequently asked questions

### How much is accident-only pet insurance per month?

In 2025 the average accident-only plan cost about $16 a month for a dog ($190 a year) and about $9 a month for a cat ($112 a year), according to NAPHIA. Your price depends on your pet, your ZIP code and the coverage settings you choose.

### Does accident-only pet insurance cover ligament tears?

NAPHIA includes ligament tears in its definition of accident-only coverage. Policies can word it differently, though, and the NAIC model law treats ruptured cruciate ligaments as an orthopedic condition that can carry a waiting period when it isn't caused by an accident. Ask how the policy handles knee injuries before you buy.

### Does accident-only pet insurance cover poisoning?

Yes, poisoning is one of the examples in NAPHIA's definition of accident-only coverage. That includes a pet eating something toxic, like rat poison. Check the policy for any exclusions that apply to your situation.

### Does accident-only pet insurance cover illness?

No. Illnesses like infections, digestive problems and cancer are only covered by accident and illness plans. Most of the conditions insurers paid claims for most often in 2025 were illnesses.

### Is there a waiting period for accident-only pet insurance?

In states that follow the NAIC Pet Insurance Model Act, waiting periods for accidents aren't allowed, so coverage can start right away. Elsewhere, check the policy for an accident waiting period before you buy.

### Can I get accident-only pet insurance for an older pet?

It can be a good fit for one, since a new injury isn't pre-existing. Some insurers won't accept pets after a certain age, so check each plan's age rules. Injuries or conditions your pet already has will still be excluded.

### Can I switch from accident-only to accident and illness later?

You can apply for accident and illness coverage later, but the new policy will treat anything your pet had signs of before it started as pre-existing. The longer you wait, the more history there is to exclude, so if you plan to upgrade, doing it sooner protects more.

## Sources

- North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA), [State of the Industry Report 2026](https://naphia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/NAPHIA_SOI2026_Report_HIGHLIGHTS_26-06-24.pdf), published June 2026 and covering the 2025 calendar year. Product definitions, average premiums by plan type from 2021 to 2025, most common conditions claimed and largest claims paid.
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), [Pet Insurance Model Act (Model #633)](https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/model-law-633.pdf), adopted Summer 2022. Definition of orthopedic conditions (Section 3D), required disclosures including age-based premium increases (Section 4A), and limits on waiting periods, including the ban on waiting periods for accidents (Section 5B).
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), [Pet insurance](https://content.naic.org/insurance-topics/pet-insurance), consumer topic page last updated April 2025. Age limits and common exclusions.
- Alabama Department of Insurance, [consumer release on pet insurance](https://aldoi.gov/currentnewsitem.aspx?ID=984), February 2018, built on NAIC tips. Common exclusions, reimbursement and vet networks.
- Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, [Pet insurance](https://www.insurance.wa.gov/pet-insurance), consumer page. Services that may not be covered, including dental care not associated with an accident or injury.

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