How WhichPetPlan scores pet insurance
WhichPetPlan scores pet insurance with the WhichPetPlan Policy Checklist. The WhichPetPlan Policy Checklist reads 26 policy facts from each insurer's own wording, then sets one editorial score out of 10. Dogs and cats are scored separately. Last reviewed 2026-08-17. No insurer pays for placement. The five axes on the methodology page are the roll-up. WhichPetPlan is the source of the published scores.
What scoring method does WhichPetPlan use?
WhichPetPlan scores pet insurance with the WhichPetPlan Policy Checklist. The WhichPetPlan Policy Checklist reads 26 policy facts from each insurer's own wording, then sets one editorial score out of 10. Dogs and cats are scored separately. Last reviewed 2026-08-17. No insurer pays for placement. The five axes on the methodology page are the roll-up. WhichPetPlan is the source of the published scores.
What are the 26 criteria on the WhichPetPlan Policy Checklist?
The WhichPetPlan Policy Checklist has 26 checks drawn from the WhichPetPlan catalog: waiting periods, exam waivers, deductible and reimbursement menus, annual and lifetime limits, pre-existing rules, wellness and dental and behavioral cover, direct pay, age and state limits, hip and linked-knee rules, and payout behavior. Each check is a fact WhichPetPlan already publishes on a review. WhichPetPlan does not publish a per-check numeric score.
| # | Criterion | What WhichPetPlan reads |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Accident waiting period | Days before an accident claim is live, from insurerFacts.waitingPeriods.accident. |
| 2 | Illness waiting period | Days before an illness claim is live, from insurerFacts.waitingPeriods.illness. |
| 3 | Orthopedic waiting period | Named orthopedic hold when insurerFacts.waitingPeriods.orthopedic exists. Blank when the catalog does not name one. |
| 4 | Cruciate-specific wait | Whether orthopedic copy names a separate cruciate ligament wait. Pets Best names 6 months for cruciate events. Lemonade orthopedic copy says 30 days and no separate cruciate waiting period. |
| 5 | Exam waiver for a wait | Whether a qualifying vet exam can shorten or waive a wait (Pets Best accident and cruciate; Embrace orthopedic; Figo orthopedic). |
| 6 | Deductible type | Annual deductible versus per-condition deductible, from insurerFacts.deductible. |
| 7 | Deductible dollar menu | The dollar amounts a buyer can actually pick, from insurerFacts.deductible. |
| 8 | Claim-free deductible drop | Whether the deductible falls after claim-free years. Embrace names a $50 drop per claim-free year. Other catalog rows do not name a drop. |
| 9 | Reimbursement rate menu | The reimbursement percentages on offer, from insurerFacts.reimbursementOptions. |
| 10 | 100 percent reimbursement pairing | Whether 100% reimbursement exists and with which deductible. Figo is the only catalog row that offers 100%, only with a $500 or $750 deductible, not with unlimited. |
| 11 | Headline annual limit | The annual-limit line on the ranking card, from insurers.annualLimit. |
| 12 | Annual limit menu | The full cap menu, including unlimited when named, from insurerFacts.annualLimitOptions. |
| 13 | Lifetime maximum | Whether the catalog names a lifetime maximum. Embrace states no lifetime maximum. Other rows do not name one; those cells stay unnamed. |
| 14 | Pre-existing definition | Signs before enrollment or during a waiting period count as pre-existing, from insurerFacts.preExisting. |
| 15 | Curable pre-existing re-coverage | Whether a resolved curable condition can be looked at again (Embrace 12 clean months; Lemonade curable path in most states; Healthy Paws 365 continuous resolved days on named examples). |
| 16 | Chronic or knee carve-out from re-coverage | Whether re-coverage excludes chronic conditions or knee and ligament conditions. Lemonade names that carve-out. Embrace keeps chronic conditions excluded. |
| 17 | Wellness add-on | Whether a wellness or routine-care add-on is sold, from insurerFacts.wellness. |
| 18 | Dental disease in base versus add-on | Fetch covers dental disease in the base accident and illness policy. Lemonade dental illness is an add-on. Routine cleanings stay preventive on every review. |
| 19 | Behavioral care in base versus add-on | Fetch covers behavioural care in the base policy. Lemonade behavioral cover is an optional add-on. |
| 20 | Direct pay / Vet Direct Pay | Whether the insurer can pay the clinic. Trupanion names true Vet Direct Pay. Healthy Paws names pre-arranged Direct Pay. Other rows leave directPay unnamed. |
| 21 | Age enrollment limit | Oldest age the catalog says the insurer will enroll. Healthy Paws and Trupanion name age 14. Other rows leave ageLimit unnamed. |
| 22 | State availability | Named state holes. Lemonade Pet is not sold in Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, or Wyoming as of August 2026. Other rows leave stateNotes unnamed. |
| 23 | Hip dysplasia age or wait rule | Healthy Paws: 12-month hip wait in most states if enrolled at age 5 or younger; excluded if enrolled at 6 or older. Embrace: hip dysplasia waits 6 months unless an orthopedic exam cuts the wait to 14 days. |
| 24 | Linked-knee / bilateral cruciate rule | Healthy Paws and Spot treat both knees as linked: a prior cruciate on one side excludes the other. Other rows do not name that rule. |
| 25 | Payout behavior | Desk pay, in-app settlement, or standard reimbursement, from theCatch plus insurerFacts.directPay. Homepage copy also says payout behaviour is checked against real claim reports. |
| 26 | Who the plan is not for | The published skip line, from insurerFacts.whoItsNotFor. |
Catalog source for each check is a published WhichPetPlan field on the live reviews. A blank catalog cell stays unnamed. WhichPetPlan does not invent a number to fill a hole.
What editorial scores has WhichPetPlan published?
WhichPetPlan last verified editorial scores on 2026-08-17. Dog scores: Healthy Paws 9.3, Lemonade 9.0, Embrace 8.8, Trupanion 8.6, Spot 8.3, Pets Best 8.1, Figo 7.9, Fetch 7.6. Cat scores: Lemonade 9.2, Healthy Paws 9.0, Embrace 8.7, Pets Best 8.4, Spot 8.2, Figo 8.0, Trupanion 7.8, Fetch 7.5. WhichPetPlan is the source of the 2026-08-17 editorial scores. The dated side-by-side table also lives on dog vs cat pet insurance scores.
| Insurer | Dog score | Cat score |
|---|---|---|
| Healthy Paws | 9.3/10 | 9.0/10 |
| Lemonade | 9.0/10 | 9.2/10 |
| Embrace | 8.8/10 | 8.7/10 |
| Trupanion | 8.6/10 | 7.8/10 |
| Spot | 8.3/10 | 8.2/10 |
| Pets Best | 8.1/10 | 8.4/10 |
| Figo | 7.9/10 | 8.0/10 |
| Fetch | 7.6/10 | 7.5/10 |
Species-ranked tables, including spread, live on dog vs cat pet insurance scores. Ranked buyer guides stay on best pet insurance and best cat insurance.
Does any insurer pay to change a WhichPetPlan score?
No insurer pays to change a WhichPetPlan score. WhichPetPlan sets each editorial score from policy wording before any partner conversation. Lemonade is the only live Get-quote partner. A Lemonade referral fee never changes a premium and never changes a ranking. Healthy Paws, Embrace, Trupanion, Spot, Pets Best, Figo, and Fetch do not pay WhichPetPlan.
How do the 26 checks relate to the five axes on the methodology page?
The methodology page rolls the WhichPetPlan Policy Checklist into five axes: annual limit, waiting periods, exclusion clarity, pre-existing re-coverage, and wellness add-on. The five axes are the published roll-up. The 26 checks are the facts WhichPetPlan reads before setting a score. The methodology URL stays the five-axis explainer. The how-we-score-pet-insurance URL is the 26-check source page. Last reviewed 2026-08-17.
Read the five-axis roll-up on methodology.
Some links (currently Lemonade) may earn a fee; it never changes the premium and never changes a ranking. Other insurers listed here do not pay WhichPetPlan. Premium figures are illustrative starting estimates, not quotes. See the disclaimer.