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Choosing pet insurance can be an overwhelming decision for pet owners. But it's wise to consider getting coverage for your furry family member, as vet expenses can add up quickly. Even a minor accident or illness could cost thousands. In addition, most vets want some assurance pet parents can pay before moving forward with surgeries and other costly medical care.
Embrace Pet Insurance offers pet owners customized coverage plans tailored to pets' health care needs and owners' budgets. Established in 2003, Embrace is also the primary pet insurance providerfor other well-known insurers like Allstate, GEICO, and USAA. American Modern Insurance Group, a part of Munich Re insurance group, underwrites all policies. If you buy through your auto or home insurance portal with companies like Allstate or GEICO, you'll be redirected to Embrace's site to complete the transaction.
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This review provides an overview of Embrace pet insurance, exploring the various coverage levels, pricing, and more. With this information, pet owners should be able to make informed decisions when shopping for pet insurance.
Pet insurance plans from Embrace
Embrace Pet Insurance keeps it simple by offering a single accident and illness plan with the option to add wellness coverage for an additional cost. Families enjoy coverage for common accidents and illnesses, hereditary conditions occurring later in life, surgeries, hospitalizations, and more. In most states, Embrace also offers $1,000 in dental illness coverage each year.
As with most other insurance providers, preexisting conditions aren't covered. However, Embrace differentiates between "curable" and "incurable" preexisting conditions. Embrace may cover "curable" diseases if asymptomatic for 12 months. This could include respiratory infections, UTIs, and gastrointestinal issues. Unfortunately, incurable conditions will not be covered even if your pet experiences no symptoms for 12 months.
When customizing your coverage with Embrace, you have options. You can personalize the plan with different choices for deductible, reimbursement, and annual limit.
- Policy coinsurance: Embrace pays 70%, 80%, or 90% of each eligible bill
- Annual deductible: Buyers pay up to $200, $300, $500, $750, or $1,000 per year before Embrace coverage kicks in
- Annual maximum: Embrace pays up to $5,000, $8,000, $10,000, $15,000, or $30,000 per year
Additional coverage options from Embrace pet insurance
As mentioned above, you can add a wellness plan to Embrace Pet Insurance's accident and illness policy. It isn't a policy but a budgeting tool. It allows you to save to cover wellness and preventative care items like grooming, spaying and neutering, and vaccinations.
Just note that any unused coverage from the wellness plan doesn't roll over from year to year. So you use it or lose it. For this reason, it may not be as competitive a savings option as you think.
How much does pet insurance from Embrace cost?
The price you'll pay depends on what levels of coverage you choose for your pet, along with your pet's breed, age, size, and location. Premiums are frequently under $50 per month for each pet, which is exceptionally affordable depending on how many pets you have. So while Embrace Pet Insurance is not the most expensive pet insurance company, it's also not the cheapest.
It's not just comprehensive coverage giving the company an edge, though. While Embrace does not offer unlimited coverage like Healthy Paws or other similar competitors, it does offer a diminishing deductible model. Your deductible goes down $50 every year you don't file a claim. So your premium would adjust with age, location, and other factors. But if you choose a $200 deductible on a new puppy and don't file a claim for four years, you could qualify for coverage without a deductible on your 4-year-old dog when they need veterinary care. So how much do real pet parents pay for Embrace?
First, we'll examine sample premiums for a medium-sized mixed-breed 3-year-old dog living in Colorado.
Meghan Hunter
If you go with the most popular coverage levels and limits, you will pay $35.69 per month. However, your premium would go up if you decided to buy more coverage.
For example, coverage for the same pet, but with higher reimbursements and percentages and a lower deductible, will cost you significantly more per month. As you can see, Embrace's website allows users to toggle between reimbursement levels, deductibles, and coinsurance rates to see the impact of any changes in seconds.
Meghan Hunter
Next, let's look at premium options for a 5-year-old male Tabby cat from Colorado. With the most popular reimbursement limits, coinsurance, and annual deductible, you'd pay $51.90 per month.
Meghan Hunter
Select higher levels of coverage, and you'll see the premium increase.
Meghan Hunter
How do I file claims with Embrace pet insurance?
Embrace Pet Insurance gives you lots of options when it comes to filing a claim.
Claims can be submitted through the app, as well as by email, fax, or mail through the following:
Email: claims@embracepetinsurance.com
Fax: (800) 238-1042
Mail:
Embrace Pet Insurance
P.O. Box 22188
Beachwood, OH 44122-0188
Claims are generally processed within 10 to 15 days. For the fasted payment possible, choose direct deposit instead of receiving a check in the mail. Embrace's website will prompt you through the steps necessary to set up your bank account for reimbursement.
Compare Embrace pet insurance vs. American Kennel Club pet insurance
Although both companies offer good pet insurance options, Embrace Pet Insurance and American Kennel Club Pet Insurance have some critical differences in the insurance plans.
For example, while both companies allow for reimbursement choices and have a similar range of deductibles, Embrace has an annual coverage limit of $30,000. On the other hand, American Kennel Club's reimbursement limits are unlimited. Furthermore, Embrace covers dental illness up to $1,000 per year, while the American Kennel Club only includes coverage for extractions related to accidental injury.
Lastly, Embrace offers coverage for hereditary and congenital conditions as a part of its standard package. The American Kennel Club doesn't. If you want this type of coverage for your American Kennel Club plan, you'll have to buy additional coverage and enroll your pet before their second birthday. Neither company restricts coverage based on breed (mixed-breed pets are also eligible for AKC pet insurance). Still, the discount AKC offers for registering your dog would only be available to AKC-eligible dogs.
Compare Embrace pet insurance vs. ASPCA pet insurance
Embrace Pet Insurance and ASPCA pet insurance both offer great coverage for the market. Coverage options are similar as the companies provide coverage for accidents and illnesses, like emergency care, cancer, chronic conditions, congenital conditions, and prescription medications. Neither covers preexisting conditions, but Embrace and ASPCA pet insurance define said conditions differently. As previously noted, Embrace differentiates between "curable" and "incurable" types. You can read more about preexisting condition definitions on each provider's website.
A key difference is Embrace doesn't cover illnesses if your pet is enrolled after its 15th birthday. ASPCA pet insurance doesn't have any upper age limit restrictions. Of course, because of preexisting conditions exclusion, we recommend pet parents register their pets early and choose a trustworthy pet insurance provider. But pet parents adopting senior pets (even those who aren't 15+) might prefer ASPCA pet insurance coverage.
As for claims processing times, Embrace provides a shorter-than-average turnaround time of five days. In contrast, ASPCA pet insurance can take between 15 and 30 days for claims processing. However, ASPCA pet insurance may also be able to pay qualifying vets directly, which could save you the hassle of waiting for a claim to be processed in the first place.
Lastly, ASPCA pet insurance's coverage options are less expensive for most pets. But considering Embrace's exceptional customer service record and plan customization options, it could be worth paying a little extra.
Methodology
When reviewing pet insurance companies, we look at various factors to determine the benefits and drawbacks of the provider and its plans.
Some of the factors we take into account are the customizability of the plans, reimbursement levels, wellness coverages, the ease of filing a claim, and claims processing times.
- Customization – How many options does a customer have regarding coverages, reimbursement levels, and annual maximums? Options are essential when building a plan to fit your needs and budget.
- Wellness coverage – Does the provider cover wellness and preventative exams and treatments? Are there add-ons available for this type of coverage?
- Claims process – How does the claims process work? Is it straightforward and efficient?
Understanding these aspects of an insurance provider will allow customers to make the most informed decision.
FAQs
How long does it take Embrace to pay a claim?
Embrace Pet Insurance normally processes claims within 5 to 10 days. But you must supply all necessary documentation to ensure your claim is paid efficiently.
Is Embrace wellness coverage worth it?
The Wellness Rewards option from Embrace could be better. Instead, you'd be better off opening a savings account to use for these types of expenses. That's because if you don't spend money on your pet each year, you don't get it back.
Does Embrace have a waiting period?
Embrace's waiting period for accidents is just 48 hours. Its waiting period for illnesses is 14 days. More specifically, coverage for a dog's orthopedic conditions is subject to a 6-month waiting period.
How long do you have to submit a claim to Embrace pet insurance?
Embrace allows you to submit a claim at any point during the policy year the incident occurred, plus 60 days into the subsequent policy term. This provides you plenty of time to gather the required documentation and submit a claim for reimbursement.
