Pet Insurance Methodology


Updated: April 24, 2026

Advertising & Editorial Disclosure

Our Pet Insurance Methodology Process

Our pet insurance editorial team researched providers across the United States with AI assistance.

  1. 1
    Direct quote gathering

    We manually gathered quotes from every U.S. pet insurance provider to identify factors that affect pricing, including:

    • State (including Washington, D.C.)
    • Pet ages from under 1 to 20 years
    • Pet types including dogs, cats and exotic pets (guinea pigs, reptiles, amphibians, etc.)
    • 159 dog breeds and 29 cat breeds
    • All coverage options for annual limits, deductibles and reimbursement, specific to each provider

    To isolate pricing, we set a standard base of a $5,000 annual limit, $500 deductible and 80% reimbursement, with a reference age of 6 for dogs and 7 for cats (both representing middle-aged pets). Three providers required different base profiles due to their coverage structures: Trupanion, Healthy Paws and Prudent Pet. We assigned exotic pets ages based on their species' life expectancy to represent middle age.

  2. 2
    Pricing extrapolation and affordability ranking

    Using our isolated costs, we worked with AI assistance to extrapolate pricing across all factor combinations to cover over 5 million pet insurance profiles. We maintained provider-specific extrapolations to accurately represent each company's coverage options.

    We ranked and scored each insurer for affordability within every combination, then aggregated those scores by factor profile. We adjusted base profiles for each factor being rated, such as a specific state or pet type.

  3. 3
    Analysis of customer experiences

    We gathered customer reviews from forums, review sites and Google Business profiles to rate each provider. To screen for bias, we analyzed language patterns manually and with AI assistance, focusing on which reviews were most credible, particularly negative ones. Detailed reviews with clear reasoning for satisfaction or dissatisfaction carried more weight, while vague reviews were weighted less or excluded.

  4. 4
    Sample policy analysis

    We downloaded sample policies from pet insurance provider websites, including state-specific versions where regulations differ, and used AI tools to parse them into plain language alongside our own manual review. This let us compare inclusions, exclusions, waiting periods, payment and reimbursement terms, add-ons and condition definitions. Providers with broader coverage, shorter waiting periods and better pre-existing condition terms scored highest.

  5. 5
    Overall score aggregation

    We combined pricing, customer experience and coverage scores into an overall model:

    • 50% affordability
    • 30% customer experience
    • 20% coverage

    Affordability scores are localized by state, given the transparent and quote-based nature of pet insurance pricing. Customer experience and coverage scores are national unless a specific rating category, such as pet type or a particular coverage condition, could be meaningfully differentiated by provider.

  6. 6
    Continuous score and pricing updates

    To keep scores and pricing current, we repeat this process twice a year to capture shifts in pricing, coverage and customer experience.

What Pet Insurance Factors and Groups Did We Study?

Our research covered these factors and groupings:

Contact Us About Our Research

Contact our pet insurance editorial lead at connor@moneygeek.com with any questions about our methodology.

About Connor Bolton


Connor Bolton, Senior SEO and Content Manager (Business & Pet), MoneyGeek

Connor Bolton is Senior SEO and Content Manager at MoneyGeek, where he leads the business and pet insurance editorial teams. As editorial lead for both verticals, Connor sets the research framework, data standards, and content structure that his writers execute, directly authoring in-depth guides himself and reviewing all team content for accuracy and practical value before it goes live. With over four years evaluating insurance products across personal, commercial, and specialty lines, he brings cross-vertical knowledge to every guide the team produces.

Connor architected MoneyGeek's insurance research infrastructure across all major verticals including auto, home, renters, life, health, business, and pet, building systems for pricing analysis, provider-level research, customer experience evaluation, and coverage analysis with AI support. The infrastructure includes over 6 million data points for business insurance across 408 industry areas, all 50 states, and 16 vehicle types, and over 5 million pet insurance profiles across 18 major providers and hundreds of breed and age combinations. Connor's insurance cost research and his team's work has been cited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, CBS News, Forbes and LegalZoom.

Beyond the data, Connor stays connected to how the market actually operates, drawing on direct conversations with underwriters and carrier liaisons at Ethos, The Hartford, NEXT Insurance, Nationwide, and State Farm, and monitoring business and pet owner communities including Reddit, to inform how he interprets findings and frames guidance for real buyers.

He is the direct editorial contact for methodology questions at connor@moneygeek.com and can be found on LinkedIn.