The best alternative to pet insurance: Pawp

Health insurance is a tricky thing to navigate for both us and our pets. After spending hours sifting through various plans and pricing options to settle on a policy, we still get hit with unforeseen loopholes when emergencies strike. Subsequently, we end up paying all kinds of costly medical bills. This keeps many owners from getting their pet the treatment they need to recover—and makes insurance alternatives like Pawp all the more important.

Pawp isn’t your traditional pet insurance plan, but it can be a useful alternative for anyone needing continuous professional care for their dog or cat. The platform’s stand-out feature is its telehealth service, available to all members for a flat rate of $99/year. This gives you access to professional advice 24/7, which can be life-saving in situations where you’re unable to take your pet to a traditional vet clinic.

The most important thing to keep in mind with Pawp is that it’s not pet insurance. Unless you pay an additional $19/month for a $3000/year emergency fund, Pawp will not cover any of your pet’s medical expenses. Even with the add-on, the company only covers one emergency per household per year, and they have relatively strict terms on what constitutes a true medical emergency.

Overall, we think Pawp is a great resource for pet owners if and when accidents pop up—but it should only supplement in-person vet visits, not replace them.

Unlike traditional pet insurance providers, Pawp doesn’t offer insurance plans. The standard membership covers the 24/7 telehealth services and, for an additional $19/month, the emergency fund. This benefit can be used once per year, following a mandatory 14-day waiting period after signing up. Other key features of Pawp membership include:

• 24/7 digital vet clinic. Whether your pet is sick, healthy, or somewhere in between, Pawp membership grants owners unlimited telehealth consultations with veterinary professionals.
• Coverage for multiple pets. Each membership covers up to six pets in the same household (dogs and cats only).
• $3,000 emergency fund. For an additional monthly fee, Pawp members receive a $3,000/year emergency fund for the pets in their household. This money can help cover the cost of vet bills related to one emergency situation per year.
• Digital health history. Pawp makes accessing your pet’s medical records and health history easy through the accompanying smartphone app.
• Reminders and recommendations. Members receive regular care reminders tailored to their pets’ needs through the Pawp app, as well as recommendations for medically-backed products and resources.

Pawp is totally unique among pet insurance options. As such, it comes with a unique set of advantages and drawbacks that are important to consider before signing up.

Pros

• Affordable, flat-rate membership. While traditional insurance plans come with monthly deductibles based on factors like your pet’s age and breed, Pawp’s digital vet clinic service is available to everyone at a fixed rate of $99/year. Similarly, the $3,000 emergency fund is available to all members for an additional $19/month.
• Personalized healthcare anytime, anywhere. Pawp’s unlimited video call service is incredibly useful to owners whose pets require constant veterinary care. Many accidents also happen late at night, which makes Pawp especially useful when in-person vet clinics are closed.
• Direct payments to vets. Once you’ve submitted a request to use your annual emergency fund, Pawp pays the vet directly instead of reimbursing you after paying out-of-pocket. Note that not all veterinary services will extend billing privileges like this, so make sure to ask your local vet to make sure your payment is processed accordingly.
• Coverage for multiple pets. While standard insurance plans only apply to individual pets, a single Pawp membership covers up to six dogs and cats in the same household.
• Free trial. Users can try Pawp for the first month free of charge before committing to the paid annual subscription.

Cons

• No in-person care. Telehealth services are a useful tool for pet owners to have on hand, but they’re no substitute for in-person check-ups with a local vet.
• No coverage for routine care. Pawp membership only covers one emergency per year, but doesn’t cover routine check-ups or costs related to preventative care.
• Limited emergency fund usage. Customers have reported that the company tends to deny claims that don’t meet their specific definition of what constitutes an emergency.
• Approval required for emergency fund use. Before using the Pawp emergency fund, owners must consult one of the company’s licensed vets over video chat to confirm the situation qualifies as an emergency. Owners must visit an in-person vet clinic within four hours of approval.
• Fewer customization options than other providers. Traditional pet insurance companies offer multiple plans to accommodate different health needs, while Pawp offers a single service to all pets, regardless of individual circumstances.

It can be tricky to make direct comparisons between traditional pet insurance companies and services like Pawp since they’re not subject to the same rules and conditions. When making this table, we looked at the factors most important to pet owners. Still, it’s worth looking further into each provider individually to better understand the services and coverage they offer.

Online reviews of Pawp vary drastically, depending on where you look. It’s always best to take customer feedback with a grain of salt, but it’s still well worth considering when deciding on something as important as your pet’s health care.

Overall, users find Pawp useful for getting professional advice on potential health problems as soon as possible. On the other hand, many users feel the terms of coverage could be a little broader, and that the emergency fund could apply to more than just one situation per year.

Below, we break down the specifics of Pawp feedback across multiple review sites:

Better Business Bureau (BBB)

Pawp reviews on the Better Business Bureau are overwhelmingly negative, though most center on the terms of their emergency fund. Many customers on this site claim their pets didn’t receive the care they needed because the terms were so limited—which is why it’s so important to remember that Pawp doesn’t work like traditional pet insurance. If your pet requires in-person care multiple times a year, a traditional policy would be better suited to their needs.

TrustPliot

Reviews are better on TrustPilot, but overall mixed with an average rating of 3.2 out of 5. Negative reviews complain about not being reimbursed for emergency services, being denied for emergency services, and the company’s lack of customer support over the phone. However, 74% of these reviews give Pawp a perfect 5 out of 5, particularly for the service’s ability to provide owners with immediate feedback on potential health crises as they pop up.

Pawp website

Naturally, Pawp’s own website only displays positive reviews. Much of this praise goes towards the utility of the service. More specifically, members love the fact that they can ask a licensed vet questions on any issue with their pet at any time of day. Users also find that Pawp saves them a ton on in-person trips to the vet’s office.