Key takeaways
- Spot provides top-notch pet insurance coverage.
- There are superior customization choices to adjust monthly cost.
- Policy features provide good price-shock protection after claims.
Our expert take on Spot pet insurance
Summary
Base-plan generosity
Spot is notable for its superior coverage and policy features, including alternative therapies (such as acupuncture and hydrotherapy), behavioral therapy and vet-exam fees.
A big plus with Spot pet insurance is that if your pet has a curable pre-existing condition when you buy a policy, the condition will be covered after 180 days without symptoms or treatment. (This does not apply to ligament and knee conditions.) Some competitors exclude all pre-existing conditions, even if they’re temporary.
There’s access to 24/7 pet telehealth and no special long waiting periods for coverage for orthopedic problems.
Note that Spot has a bilateral exclusion: If your pet develops a ligament or knee condition before the policy starts or during the waiting period, both sides will be excluded from coverage. Spot also has many exclusions for prescription pet food, including whole-food and fresh-food diets, custom diets and sensitive-stomach diets.
Customization power
Spot has excellent policy-customization options that give you ample leeway to adjust your monthly premium. This includes an unlimited annual-coverage option and a wide range of deductibles.
Price-shock protection for claims
Spot has superior price-shock protection after a claim, mainly due to its customer-friendly claim-payment calculation: Spot first subtracts your deductible from the claim payment and then applies the reimbursement (co-insurance) percentage. In our analysis, this almost always results in a higher claim payment than the “reimbursement-first” system that some pet insurers use.
But Spot doesn’t have a system for paying a vet directly, unlike the similar pet insurance policy from ASPCA.
Premium stability
Our analysis found that Spot’s rate stability over time is OK, mainly because making claims won’t cause a rate increase at renewal time. However, its current price delta between puppies and senior dogs is higher than average: For unlimited coverage, there’s a difference of $87 a month between puppies and older dogs compared to a national average of $69—indicating that customers could see bigger rate increases as the pet ages.
Cost
Spot’s average rates for unlimited annual coverage are much higher than the national average for dogs and cats. Spot averages $94 a month for dog insurance compared to a $76 national average. Nonetheless, you get superior coverage with your money.
Spot has about-average rates for $5,000 in annual coverage for dogs and cats, making it worth a look considering the extensive coverage it includes.
There are discounts for AAA members (10%) and Sam’s Club members (15%).
Other notable features
- One of the best pet-wellness plans in our analysis.
- Spot, ASPCA and Pumpkin pet insurance are largely the same policy but have different pricing and specific features that vary.
What does Spot pet insurance cover?
One of the prime advantages of Spot pet insurance is that it covers an extensive range of treatments and you don’t need to spend extra money on add-ons to get excellent coverage. Spot’s policy includes coverage for:
- Alternative therapy
- Behavioral problems when treatment is performed by a veterinarian or with a written referral to a certified professional
- Cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation treatment
- Dental illnesses
- Diagnosis and treatment of injuries and illnesses, including examinations, consultations and lab tests
- End-of-life expenses: euthanasia, burial and cremation
- Pet-microchipping costs (but registration, monitoring and renewal fees are excluded)
- Poison-control consultation fees
- Prescription pet food and supplements, with exclusions for certain diets
- Prescription medications
- Stem-cell therapy
- Surgery and hospitalization, tooth extractions, medications and medical supplies (such as bandages and casts)
- Vet-exam fees
Accident-only policy
Spot also sells an accident-only policy that covers only emergency vet care for accidents, such as broken bones and cuts.
Pet-wellness plan
Spot has one of the best pet-wellness plans in our evaluation of preventive-care plans. Choose between Gold (up to $250 in annual benefits) and Platinum (up to $450 in annual benefits), depending on how much you’re paying for routine-care costs. The Platinum wellness plan adds spaying/neutering, flea and heartworm prevention and more.
What does Spot pet insurance not cover?
Like other pet insurance companies, Spot excludes pre-existing conditions that a pet developed before the policy or during the pet insurance waiting period. But Spot is notable for covering curable pre-existing conditions after 180 days of no treatment or symptoms. Spot pet insurance also has these and other exclusions:
- Administrative fees from the vet’s office
- Bilateral conditions that were pre-existing
- Boarding
- Breeding, pregnancy, whelping or nursing
- Cosmetic and elective procedures such as claw removal, ear cropping and tail docking
- Dental and cosmetic procedures
- Dental cleanings unless they’re needed to treat an illness
- Dental treatments that are aesthetic, cosmetic, endodontic or orthodontic (such as including caps, crowns and root canals)
- Experimental and investigational treatment and medication (including clinical trials)
- Grooming and grooming supplies.
- Herbal products, including cannabis and food products
- House-call fees
- Ligament and knee conditions that developed before the first effective date of coverage or during the waiting period
- Organ, tissue, bone marrow or heart valve transplants
- Prescription pet food such as dental diets, whole/fresh food diets, lightly cooked, custom or limited-ingredient diets
- Preventive care (but you can buy Spot’s wellness plan)
- Supplements and vitamins used for prevention or general health maintenance (including weight loss).
- Training and training devices
How much does Spot pet insurance cost?
Spot doesn’t have the cheapest pet insurance in our analysis—its rates tend to be high, although our evaluation found that its rates for $5,000 in annual coverage can be at or below average, depending on the pet’s age.
Dog insurance rates for $5,000 in annual coverage
Cat insurance rates for $5,000 in annual coverage
Dog insurance rates for unlimited annual coverage
Cat insurance rates for unlimited annual coverage
Spot pet insurance discounts
- 10% multipet discount, applied to the second (or more) pet
- 10% discount for AAA members plus an additional 10% multipet discount if insuring more than one pet
- Up to 15% every pet for Sam’s Club members in most states
- The Spot Pet Rx Program for Sam’s Club members offers discounted pet prescriptions and no out-of-pocket costs for specific flea, tick and heartworm prevention for cats and a specific heartworm preventative for dogs.
Methodology
We evaluated 16 pet insurance policies based on:
- Base-plan generosity (50%). The most important factor in a pet insurance policy is how much coverage you’re getting for your money. For this category, we looked at coverage included without add-ons, such as alternative therapies, vet-exam fees, dental illness, burial and cremation, and more. We also factored in whether curable pre-existing conditions are covered after a certain period.
- Cost (20%). We factored in average costs for plans with $5,000 and unlimited annual coverage for cats and dogs ages 4 months, 2 years and 8 years.
- Price-shock protection for claims (15%). No one wants an unpleasant surprise with a claim. For this category, we analyzed how claims payments are calculated, low-deductible options, condition-specific payment caps and direct-vet-payment systems.
- Premium stability (10%). When you find good pet insurance, you want to avoid being priced out of it in the future. We looked at the current cost spread between puppies and older dogs and whether making a claim can lead to a rate increase.
- Customization power (5%). It’s beneficial to have some control over your monthly premium. We looked at the range of annual coverage and reimbursement and deductible options available from each pet insurance company.
We use a curved-rating system: Scores are assigned relative to the top-performing product or company; providers that score the most points are assigned 5 stars, and other star ratings are assigned based on performance relative to the top performer. The lowest-scoring companies received 1 star.
