We got the “first visit” special from Trupanion, which supposedly waives all pre-existing conditions (except for anything noted on that first day). First of all, if you read the TrustPilot reviews, you’ll notice they’re fairly high, but most are along the lines of “oh, the nice rep helped me understand what I was buying” (Spoiler: they did not).
We’ve had very few claims paid on our golden retriever. When we first got him, he chomped on a grass awn, and it got embedded, so he had to have it removed. They paid out a little, but it’s not much considering what we pay them. He’s up to $900 a year now at age 3. Last year, he had some hot spots, so they put a small amount toward his deductible (since they don’t cover visit costs either). This year, he got the same hot spots (it’s August, and he swims in the bay with the baby jellies), so back to the vet he went. This time, he also had a double ear infection because his ears never get cleaned after he swims (my husband’s dog).
We filed the claim, and a week later, it was rejected. Turns out, when we got him at 8 weeks old, he had brown gunk in his ears. The vet wrote “otitis externa,” and this was before we activated our policy. Now, Trupanion is claiming that because our 10-week-old puppy had gross ears, our three-year-old dog has a pre-existing condition (allergies), so his hot spots will never be covered! I pointed out that they covered them last year, but it didn’t make a difference. I filed a claim with the BBB, but I can see that Trupanion has a department dedicated to writing “we are sorry your pet is ill, but your claim was processed correctly.” Just because they write their deceitful policies doesn’t make it fair. Their “per condition” payout structure also works in their favor—you can spend hundreds of dollars on unrelated ailments and never see a dime back.
I bought PetsBest for my younger dog, and so far, I can’t complain (he’s two).
Please, for the love of all that is good, NEVER buy a Trupanion policy!