MetLife pros & cons
MetLife Pet Insurance won “Pet Insurance of the Year” in the Pet Independent Innovation Awards for both 2023 and 2022.
Here is an overview of what people like and dislike about MetLife’s plans.
MetLife pet insurance plans & coverage
MetLife only has one comprehensive Accident and Illness Plan for dogs, cats, and exotic species. However, you can customize this plan by tailoring the the reimbursement rate, coverage limit, and deductible level to meet your needs.
Additionally, MetLife offers an optional add-on known as the Preventative Care Wellness Plan which boosts your coverage and can pay for commonplace treatments like exams, vaccinations, and castration.
Here is a closer look at what each plan covers:
MetLife pet insurance exclusions
You can see all MetLife coverage and exclusions on its website. Below we have also listed the most noteworthy exclusions from MetLife’s plans.
MetLife Pet Insurance waiting periods & age restrictions
The waiting period refers to how long you must wait after buying your pet insurance before you can use it. Pet insurance waiting periods vary by provider and by the type of issue. Likewise, many insurance companies have age restrictions for older pets.
MetLife has very lenient policies for both:
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Lower age limit: eligible after 8 weeks of age
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Upper age limit: none, unlimited
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Waiting period for accidents: coverage starts after midnight on the day you purchase
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Waiting period for illness: 14 days after purchase
MetLife Pet Insurance has one of the shortest waiting periods in the industry when it comes to accidents and wellness costs. You just need to wait until midnight on the day you purchase your coverage. For illness coverage, the waiting period is 14 days. Alternatively, for some rare or breed-specific orthopedic issues, you may need to wait 6 months before coverage takes effect. However, this is common to most pet insurance providers.
Unlike many companies, MetLife has no upper age limit or breed restrictions, making it a great option for older pets. For newborn pets, keep in mind that you can’t enroll them in a MetLife plan until they are at least 8 weeks old.
How to get a plan that fits your budget
MetLife Pet Insurance offers a wide range of customizable options to allow you to fit your coverage to your budget. MetLife’s customizable coverage options include:
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Deductible options: $50, $100, $250, $500
The deductible is how much you have to pay before your insurance policy starts paying your veterinary expenses. For example, if you have a $500 vet bill and a $100 deductible, you have to pay $100 out of pocket before MetLife will cover anything.
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Reimbursement options: 70%, 80%, 90%
Your reimbursement rate is the percentage of each bill that MetLife pays. Assume you have a $1,000 bill, a $200 deductible and a 90% reimbursement rate. After paying the $200 deductible, you’d have a balance of $800. MetLife dog insurance would reimburse you $720 (90% of the $800 balance).
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Annual Limit: $2k, $5k, $10k
This is the maximum amount that your insurance company will pay once you’ve met your deductible. For example, MetLife has a maximum annual coverage limit of $10,000. If your pet has a tough year, you may exhaust your insurance benefits, leaving you with some large bills to cover out of pocket.
Every pet insurance policy has a deductible, a reimbursement rate and an annual coverage limit that you can combine for coverage that fits your needs. Your deductible and annual limit resets each year, so you opting for only what you need can help keep your policy affordable.
Ideally you should consider the age and breed of your pet and estimate the probability of needing to use your pet insurance policy each year.
How much does MetLife Pet Insurance cost?
Based on quotes we got on MetLife’s website, we found that MetLife dog insurance can cost as little as $15 per month and cat insurance can be as low as $9 per month.
To give you concrete cost examples, we got quotes for MetLife’s Accident & Illness plan for popular cat and dog breeds choosing a $5,000 annual limit 80% reimbursement level, and a deductible of $250.
Price quotes for MetLife dog insurance.
| Dog breed |
Monthly cost |
| French Bulldog |
$54 |
| German Shepherd |
$42 |
| Golden Retriever |
$49 |
Price quotes for MetLife cat insurance.
| Cat breed |
Monthly cost |
| Domestic shorthair |
$25 |
| Maine Coone |
$36 |
| Ragdoll |
$36 |
All quotes were for 3-year-old animals based in California (Zip Code 90001).
Keep in mind that these are example prices only and how much you’ll pay for pet insurance from MetLife depends on various factors, including:
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Pet type: Some pets tend to have lower medical expenses than others. For example, it typically costs more to care for a dog than it does to care for a cat. Therefore, the type of pet you have has a big impact on the cost of coverage.
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Your location: The cost of living in your area also affects your insurance rates. Vets in some cities have to charge a lot more for their services because it costs them more to rent office space, purchase supplies and cover the other costs of doing business. To prevent losses, insurance companies charge more for policies issued to customers in these areas.
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Your pet’s breed: Some breeds have a higher risk of developing serious health conditions. For example, a pug’s wrinkled face may look adorable, but it can actually make it more difficult to breathe. Some pugs even develop skin conditions due to those wrinkles. If you have a pet that’s prone to health issues, you may pay more for insurance.
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Your pet’s age: The risk of developing a serious illness increases with age. Therefore, it costs more to buy a policy for a 7-year-old dog than it does for a puppy.
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Your coverage options: This includes your reimbursement level, annual limit and deductible.
For more info, review our full article on the average cost of pest insurance.
Does MetLife Pet Insurance offer any discounts?
Many insurance companies offer a multi-pet discount, but MetLife takes it a step further by offering family plans. Rather than purchasing a separate policy for each pet, you can purchase a single policy that covers up to three pets in your home. That means you only have to pay one deductible each year. If you have multiple pets, you could save a significant amount of money.
MetLife also works with U.S. employers to give employees access to discounted pet insurance. Discounts are also available to healthcare workers, first responders and members of certain affinity groups. All policies are underwritten by MetGen.
MetLife Pet Insurance reviews
On Trustpilot, some users have left negative MetLife pet insurance reviews, but many of these reviews focus on circumstances outside of MetLife’s control.
For example, one customer wrote, “They wouldn’t accept a claim on my last policy because it was past 90 days.”
It’s common for pet insurance companies to set a limit on how long you have to file your claims. If you miss the deadline, the insurance company won’t reimburse you.
Satisfied reviewers note that MetLife “pays the claims very well” and “covers almost everything.”
How does MetLife Pet Insurance compare to other providers?
The following table shows how some features of MetLife compare to those of other popular pet insurance providers.
| Category |
MetLife |
Healthy Paws |
Paw Protect |
| Accident waiting period |
Midnight on the date you purchase your policy |
15 days |
2 days |
| Illness waiting period |
14 days |
15 days |
14 days |
| Wellness plan available? |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
| Reimbursement options |
70/80/90% |
50/60/70/80/90% |
70/80/90% |
| Deductible options |
$50, $100, $250, $500 |
$50, $100, $250, $500, $750, $1,000 |
$100, $250, $500 |
| Annual limit |
$10,000 |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
MetLife exotic pet insurance
Although MetLife offers comprehensive dog and cat insurance policies in all 50 states it is also one of the few pet insurance companies that offers coverage for exotic pets like reptiles, amphibians, birds, rabbits, small rodents, ferrets, opossums, hedgehogs, pigs, and goats.
MetLife exotic pet coverage is only available for purchase via telephone at (855) 421-7227.
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