Progressive Pet Insurance Review 2023: Pros, Cons, & Verdict
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In This Review: Our Review | Pricing & Plans | Coverage | Deductibles & Claims | FAQ | Conclusion
Progressive pet insurance is an insurance company that offers basic and more advanced plans for dog and cat owners, covering illnesses and injuries. They also provide an accident-only plan, which may suit some pet owners if their pet is older or has pre-existing conditions. Progressive has a parent insurance company known as Pets Best, and with no upper age limit and very flexible plans, Progressive is a good insurance choice for pet owners looking for a good deal.
Progressive provides comprehensive coverage on their base plan (named Best Benefit) but only covers exam appointment fees if owners purchase an optional add-on. The EssentialWellness and BestWellness plans are the two wellness add-ons offered by Progressive, which differ in price based on the amount of coverage they provide for preventative treatments, like spaying and neutering, teeth cleaning, and flea treatments.
We give Progressive Pet Insurance a rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars.
Progressive Pet Insurance Review
- No upper age limit
- Only one deductible per year
- 24/7 pet hotline
- Flexible coverage
- Exam fees not covered on most basic plan
- Wellness add-on adds little value
- Don’t cover exotic pets
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About Progressive
Progressive pet insurance offers comprehensive and flexible coverage, with no upper age limit and only one deductible payable per year. Their basic plan, Best Benefit, does have some drawbacks, however. The plan doesn’t cover exotics, and pet owners will have to pay for exam fees as they’re not covered under the first tier of the Best Benefit basic plan.
Progressive has a wellness add-on for exam fees and other wellness treatments, but these will increase the monthly price of the insurance. There is a 24/7 pet hotline available for all customers of Progressive pet insurance, and if you insure multiple pets with Progressive, you get 5% savings on each pet. Pet owners looking for a good deal should look at Progressive, as they strive to give you flexibility for your plan at an affordable price.
Progressive pet insurance is available in all states and covers most of the standard conditions you’d expect in pet insurance, such as accidents, illnesses (including cancer), poisoning, surgeries, and more. Like other pet insurance policies, there are some restrictions on what Progressive covers, including pre-existing conditions and any breeding-related conditions.
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Pricing & Plans (Updated in 2023)
Pet Insurance Cost Comparison
| Company | Sample Monthly Cost For Dogs | Sample Monthly Cost For Cats | Learn More |
| Lemonade | $54.21 | $23.42 | Get Quote |
| Spot | $30 | $20 | Get Quote |
| Wagmo | $20 | $25 | Get Quote |
| Trupanion | $50 | $30 | Get Quote |
| Fetch | $35 | $25 | Get Quote |
| Progressive | $36 | $21 | Get Quote |
Base Policy
The base policy (Best Benefit) covers accidents and illnesses and represents what most pet owners would think of when imagining pet insurance. This plan covers accidents and incidents such as:
- Emergency care
- Diagnostics such as x-rays
- Specialist vet visits
- Conditions including cancer
The cost of the Best Benefit policy depends on where you and your pet reside in the US. For example, our sample monthly cost for dogs and cats is based on the Best Benefit policy, with dogs being $36 a month and cats being $21 a month (without any wellness benefits added on top).
The base policy has three tiers: Essential, Plus, and Elite, which all add optional benefits. For example, the Plus plan includes coverage for exam fees, which the Essential Best Benefit plan does not.
The basic policy doesn’t offer any wellness benefits on its own, like benefits towards vaccinations or flea and worm treatment. The Wellness plans are optional and can increase the monthly price; however, the base plan is flexible and comprehensive and covers most conditions if they’re not pre-existing (within the waiting period).
The best benefit plan also offers pet parents a 5% discount on any additional policies they carry out for other pets in their home. This coverage allows pet owners to adjust deductibles, reimbursement amounts, and many other factors.
Customizations
Only the base policy (Best Benefit) is customizable with Progressive pet insurance. Their accident-only plan fixes their reimbursement amount, deductible, and annual limits, whereas the Best Benefit plan offers customizable options for all three factors.
Accident Only Plan
The accident-only plan covers accidents such as poisonings or broken bones.
This plan will not cover illnesses of any kind and isn’t customizable. The reimbursement percentage, deductible, and annual limit are set at:
- $10,000 annual limit
- $250 deductible
- 90% reimbursement
This plan is suitable for pets that might have medical conditions that make them ineligible for illness coverage or pet owners looking for more cost-effective coverage. For example, a 2-year-old mixed breed male dog weighing 20 to 55 pounds living in Florida will cost $9.18 per month to cover with the accident-only plan.
Best Benefit
The Best Benefit plan covers accidents and illness and is Progressive’s base policy. It’s fully customizable, with the annual limit, deductibles, and reimbursement level having multiple choices to allow you to tailor your monthly cost to your budget. The Best Benefit plan also has three tiers: Essential, Plus, and Elite, which cost slightly more for each level.
The annual limit is adjustable on the Best Benefit plan, with two choices: $5,000 and unlimited, meaning there’s no yearly limit to the cost of your pet’s treatment that you can claim on your pet insurance. The annual deductible can start at only $50 and has the options of $100, $200, $250, $500, and $1000 to choose from. The reimbursement percentage has three options, ranging from 70% to 90% reimbursement of your vet bill.
You can customize the Best Benefit plan to suit your and your pet’s needs. However, adjusting these limits and deductibles along with the reimbursement level will change the monthly cost of your policy.
Best Benefit Essential
The Best Benefit Essential plan covers:
- Cancer
- Hereditary and congenital
- Emergency care
- Surgery and prescription medications
- Hospitalization and surgery
- Diagnostics such as MRI, CAT scans, and X-rays
- Specialist and outpatient care
- Lab tests
It does not cover accident and illness exam fees, rehabilitation, acupuncture, and chiropractic care.
Best Benefit Plus
Best Benefit Plus covers everything the Essential plan covers, and it also covers exam fees, meaning if you take your pet to the vet, you can include the exam fee in your insurance claim if you choose Best Benefit Plus.
It does not cover rehabilitation, acupuncture, and chiropractic care.
BestBenefit Elite
Best Benefit Elite covers everything the Best Benefit Plus plan covers, as well as rehabilitation, acupuncture, and chiropractic coverage. For the fullest level of coverage, choose the Best Benefit Elite plan.
Take note that none of the above plans will cover:
- Pre-existing conditions
- Preventative care items such as flea and worming treatments
- Vaccinations
Most insurance providers will not cover pre-existing conditions. Progressive explains this on their website, saying that covering pre-existing conditions and issues related to pre-existing conditions would significantly raise the premium cost for everyone.
Essential Wellness
The Essential wellness plan is an additional, tag-on package you can include with your pet insurance policy. Essential wellness is the more basic of the two and costs $16 extra per month, and it pays up to a certain limit for wellness or preventative treatments per year with no deductible.
Best Wellness
The Best Wellness package is the next tier of preventative treatment packages you can add to your pet insurance. It costs $26.52 per month extra on top of your plan price and offers more payouts with higher limits.
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Progressive Price Comparison for Dogs
| French Bulldog | Large Mixed Breed | |
| Male or Female | Male | Female |
| Age | 2 years old | 7 years old |
| Location | Boston (zip code 02114) | Oregon zip code: 97006) |
| Reimbursement Level | 70% | 90% |
| Annual Deductible | $200 | $500 |
| Annual Max | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Price per month | $104.08 (Plus) | $55.69 (Plus) |
| Breed Name | Under 1 | 5 Years Old |
| Pug | $33.82 | $42.70 |
| Standard Poodle | $33.11 | $44.64 |
| Cocker Spaniel | $31.74 | $42.79 |
| Labrador | $41.58 | $56.05 |
| St. Bernard | $81.02 | $138.87 |
| Chihuahua | $21.68 | $27.36 |
Deductibles & Claims
Deductibles, maximum coverage, and the percentage of medical expenses you can claim on your pet insurance depend on your selection when you first sign up. The Best Benefit plan offers the most flexibility, as you can choose which percentage of reimbursement, annual deductible, and maximum coverage amounts you want for your pet, as well as see how these choices affect the premium.
If you sign your pet onto Progressive’s accident-only plan, you will not have the option to customize your plan since the reimbursement percentage, annual deductible, and maximum coverage are fixed. While the Progressive pet insurance plan has lots of flexibility, particularly with annual deductible rates ranging from $50 up to $1,000, the maximum coverage options are slim, with only two available: $5,000, which is a small amount, or unlimited.
| % of Medical Expenses | Annual Deductible | Maximum Coverage |
| 70% | $50 | $5000 |
| 80% | $100 | Unlimited |
| 90% | $200 | Unlimited |
| 90% | $250 | Unlimited |
| 90% | $500 | Unlimited |
| 90% | $1,000 | Unlimited |
What Does Progressive Cover?
Progressive has comprehensive coverage that includes accidents, illness, and wellness routine care, all under different tiers of coverage.
For example, the accident-only plan covers accidents such as toxin ingestion, foreign bodies, and broken bones. The Best Benefit plan has comprehensive coverage, including accidents and illness, cancer, hereditary conditions, emergency care, and surgeries.
The Essential tier of this plan doesn’t cover accident and illness exam fees, whereas most other insurance policies from other companies do. Only the Elite tier of the Best Benefit plan (the most expensive) covers rehabilitation, acupuncture, and chiropractic treatment.
Within the two tiers of wellness, the items covered and the amounts they are covered for are:
| Coverage Item | Annual Limit (EssentialWellness/BestWellness) |
| Wellness Exam | $50/$50 |
| Heartworm | $25/$30 |
| Fecal Test | $50/$70 |
| Microchip | $20/$40 |
| Flea and Tick Treatment | $50/$65 |
| Vaccinations | $30/$40 |
| Maximum | $305/$535 |
- Accidents
- Illnesses
- Cancer
- Hereditary and congenital conditions
- Emergency care
- Surgeries
- Medications
- Diagnostics including MRI, CAT scans, and x-rays
- Specialist and outpatient care
- Laboratory tests
- Accident and illness exam fees (Plus and Elite plans only)
- Rehab, acupuncture, and chiropractic coverage (Elite plan only)
- Pre-existing conditions
- Preventative care items such as vaccinations or wellness exams
- Cosmetic procedures, including tail and ear docking
- Claims for pets found to be healthy with no presenting symptoms
- Any prescription or over-the-counter medication not mentioned in the Progressive pet insurance formulary
- Breeding or breeding-related conditions
Pre-Existing Conditions
Pre-existing conditions are defined in the pet insurance world as any condition that presents symptoms, receives treatment, or is investigated before the time the insurance policy is undertaken. If a dog visited the vet’s office for lameness that turned out to be a cruciate injury a year before their insurance policy started, it would not be covered by the pet insurance policy if it happened again.
This includes not covering any treatment, diagnostics, or medications for this cruciate ligament injury. It can get complicated as to what pre-existing conditions are, particularly when it comes to ligament damage. However, most insurers will try to help you as much as they can in regard to pre-existing conditions.
Progressive pet insurance makes it clear that they do not cover pre-existing conditions, which is usually the case for all pet insurance providers. If unsure, approach their team and speak to them about your pet.
Waiting Periods
A waiting period is a defined period that pet insurance companies lay out in which pet owners cannot claim for accidents or illnesses if they fall within this period. For example, with Progressive pet insurance, the waiting periods are as follows:
- 14 days for conditions and illnesses
- Three days for injuries
- Six months for cruciate ligament events and related conditions.
Reviews from Customers
Pets Best writes and services Progressive pet insurance, so all reviews for both companies are given under Pets Best. Generally, there are many positive reviews for Progressive insurance’s simple claims processes, easy-to-use app, and quick payment times. However, some customers shared that they had trouble with claims taking longer than expected.
The customer service was praised as always helpful, but there were some negative reviews based on claims denials or the fact that Progressive needed more history to progress their pet’s claim further. The negative reviews were few and far between, and they usually focused on confusion about plan coverage.
To summarize, Progressive pet insurance was given high reviews and applauded for its customizable plans, reasonable prices, and transparency in regard to claiming, with an easy claim process that’s managed online.
FAQ
How Can I Upload Claims to Progressive Pet Insurance?
Progressive pet Insurance aims to finalize all their payments within five days, as their claims forms are digitized. You can also pay bills and view policies on this digital platform.
Claim forms need to be submitted to Progressive within 180 days of the treatment, along with all paid invoices for treatment. Customized claim forms can be downloaded from your account online, or you can contact the customer care center to have a physical copy mailed or faxed to you.
Are All Breeds Covered by Progressive Pet Insurance?
Yes, all breeds of cats and dogs are covered by Progressive pet insurance. However, no exotic species such as rodents, birds, or reptiles are covered.
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Our Verdict
We think that Progressive pet insurance is a good option for those who are looking for flexible, comprehensive coverage that won’t break the bank. The price of your pet’s plan will depend on your geographical location, your pet’s breed, age, and any conditions or problems they may have.
Ultimately, the flexibility of choosing different tiers of the basic plan and the wellness plan gives you complete control over how much you would like to pay each month and whether or not you want to include more or less in terms of coverage.
