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PET INSURANCE

Your Guide to Pet Insurance Through Your Employer

4 min read

Aug 07, 2024

Woman on the phone in front of a computer while holding a poodle

Considering getting pet insurance through your employer? The good news is this is becoming a more common benefit — right alongside your own dental and vision insurance — and MetLife Pet Insurance has your furry family protected from nose to tail.

Read on to learn how pet insurance works as an employee benefit, why it might be a good option for your family, and what to do if your employer doesn’t offer it.

Why Do Employers Offer Pet Insurance?

According to MetLife Pet’s research with CivicScience, 70% of full-time employees have at least one pet, and almost 25% of these employees plan to get a pet within the next year.¹ Given so many pet parents in the workforce, it’s not surprising employers want to offer pet insurance as a voluntary benefit.

By offering pet insurance as an employee benefit, employers are able to provide financial options that:

Help lower the cost of pet care for owners
Typically provide a discount on pet insurance plan premiums
Give pet parents the ability to choose the coverage they want so it fits their pet’s needs and their budget
Ease worries about affording emergency vet expenses

Our research showed 79% of pet parents would experience a negative impact on their finances if their pet needed a $5,000 emergency surgery.¹ Having pet insurance can mean getting your pet the medical care they need for a healthy and happy life.

Do Your Employee Benefits Include MetLife Pet?

You May Get a Discount

How Pet Insurance Works as a Benefit

If your employer offers pet insurance as an employee benefit, enroll in a policy per your employer’s instructions. Your premiums will likely be paid by automatic deduction from your paycheck like other types of insurance benefits. Talk with your human resources (HR) department for more details.

Once enrolled, the process for using the insurance is the same as if you’d enrolled on your own. With MetLife Pet as your provider, you can take your pet to any licensed veterinarian in the country, pay the bill, and submit a claim to us for reimbursement. We’ll process your claim in less than 2 weeks and reimburse you for any covered expenses by check or direct payments. Policies are subject to some exclusions, but getting a pet insurance plan could save you hundreds or thousands each year — like these MetLife Pet families that enrolled through their employers:

Rich, a young dog from Delaware, and his family were reimbursed over $160 on his regular environmental allergy treatments that cost nearly $180.²
Coop, a senior cat from New York, has asthma and needs regular medication. His family was reimbursed more than $120 on his $140 prescription.³
A senior cat, Trista, and her Arizona family were reimbursed over $270 on her nearly $340 neuropathy exam.⁴

What’s Covered by Your Pet Insurance?

Your coverage will vary based on the provider your employer partners with and your exact policy. If your employer chooses Metlife Pet as their pet insurance provider, some of the pet expenses we can typically cover include:

✅ Accidents

✅ Illnesses (including hereditary, congenital, and chronic conditions)

✅ Hospitalizations

✅ Surgeries

✅ Exam fees

✅ Diagnostic tests (like X-rays and ultrasounds)

✅ Prescription medications and food

✅ Holistic care and alternative therapies

Here’s another real-life story from MetLife Pet policyholders about Skip — a senior dog from Virginia — who had coverage for his exam and diagnostic fees.

Skip started getting sick and losing weight. After being diagnosed with protein-losing enteropathy, he needed regular exams and diagnostics to monitor his condition. One of his exams cost around $470, but since his pet parents had enrolled in a dog insurance policy through their employer before Skip got sick, that vet bill was reimbursed more than $420.⁵

Why Should You Get Pet Insurance Through an Employer?

If you’re wondering whether to buy a policy on your own or enroll through the provider your employer partners with, it might help to think about your budget and what kind of coverage you need.

You can typically take advantage of group discounts available through your employer, which may result in a lower monthly premium. By enrolling in MetLife Pet Insurance through your employer, you can get a 10% discount,^6,7 and coverage of previously covered pre-existing conditions when switching pet insurance providers.⁸ This provides a chance to continue saving money if your pet’s health conditions would otherwise be excluded from coverage when getting a new policy.

Other reasons to choose MetLife Pet

Choosing MetLife Pet to help protect your furry family comes with even more benefits. You can customize your plan’s reimbursement rate (get up to 90% on covered expenses), deductible, and annual limit.^9,10,11 Plans can start at $16 per month for one dog and $7 per month for one cat.¹² Plus, you can put multiple pets on one policy with our family plan and have them share a deductible — the only one offered on the market.^13,14

Some additional reasons MetLife Pet may be a great provider for you include:

A free 24/7 vet telehealth chat¹⁵ in our mobile app for policyholders
A 0-day waiting period on accidents and Preventive Care¹⁶
An optional Preventive Care plan you can add to your insurance to help cover routine and wellness expenses
A healthy pet incentive that can get you a deductible discount¹⁷

How Can You Get Pet Insurance Through Your Employer?

Check your benefits package, or speak with your HR representative to learn if your company offers pet insurance as a benefit. For more information about pet insurance in general, explore some frequently asked questions.

What To Do if Your Employer Doesn’t Offer Pet Insurance

If your employer doesn’t offer pet insurance, ask if they’d consider adding it to their benefits package. About 52% of employees report their employer doesn’t offer sufficient benefits for their pet,¹ so it’s surely worth asking about. And if you’re an employer looking for more information on how to offer pet insurance to your employees, visit MetLife.com.

If you like what you see and your employer doesn’t offer MetLife Pet policies as a benefit, you can always get a quote directly from us and enroll on your own!

Sign Up for MetLife Pet & Save With Your Employee Benefit Program

Get Coverage for Your Pet

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**As with any insurance policy, coverage may vary. Review our coverage and exclusions.

¹ Internal MetLife CivicScience Research data, October 2022

² All claims paid amounts are based on MetLife Pet internal claims data from July 2023. This example is for illustrative purposes only. This is based on a policy with a $250 deductible and 90% reimbursement. The pet policy issued by Metropolitan General Insurance Company is the governing document with respect to all matters of insurance. The specific facts of each claim must be evaluated in conjunction with the provisions of the applicable Policy to determine coverage in each individual case.

³ All claims paid amounts are based on MetLife Pet internal claims data from September 2023. This example is for illustrative purposes only. This is based on a policy with a $50 deductible and 90% reimbursement. The pet policy issued by Metropolitan General Insurance Company is the governing document with respect to all matters of insurance. The specific facts of each claim must be evaluated in conjunction with the provisions of the applicable Policy to determine coverage in each individual case.

⁴ All claims paid amounts are based on MetLife Pet internal claims data from August 2023. This example is for illustrative purposes only. This is based on a policy with a $250 deductible and 80% reimbursement. The pet policy issued by Metropolitan General Insurance Company is the governing document with respect to all matters of insurance. The specific facts of each claim must be evaluated in conjunction with the provisions of the applicable Policy to determine coverage in each individual case.

⁵ All claims paid amounts are based on MetLife Pet internal claims data from June 2023. This example is for illustrative purposes only. This is based on a policy with a $250 deductible and 90% reimbursement. The pet policy issued by Metropolitan General Insurance Company is the governing document with respect to all matters of insurance. The specific facts of each claim must be evaluated in conjunction with the provisions of the applicable Policy to determine coverage in each individual case.

⁶ The Affinity Group Discount is not available on policies issued to residents of MN or TN. The Employer Group Discount is not available on policies issued to residents of TN. These discounts are only available to individuals who are eligible members or employees of an entity that has arranged for MetLife Pet to offer pet insurance (the discount is 10% for Employer Groups and 5% for Affinity Groups). In MN, the Employer Group Discount is called an “Employee Affinity Discount." In AK, Employer Group must be > 2+ employees and the employee must enroll through employer’s voluntary benefit or employee discount program via URL and/or toll-free number. In AK, for Affinity Groups, the policyholder must enroll through the affinity group's discount program via URL and/or toll-free number.

⁷ When using multiple discounts, discounts cannot exceed 30%. Each discount may not be available in all states. Please contact MetLife Pet for further details.

⁸ We do not cover all pre-existing conditions; just those covered by the previous provider.

⁹ Reimbursement options include: 50%, 70%, 80% and 90%. Pet age restrictions may apply.

¹⁰ Deductible options range include: $0 – $750 in $50 increments and $1,000, $1,250, $1,500, $2,000 and $2,500.

¹¹ Annual limit options range from $500 - $25,000 in $1,000 increments. Unlimited benefit option subject to availability. Pet age restrictions may apply.

¹² Calculation based upon select plans and coverages. Actual rates may vary based on pet age, breed, location, deductible, reimbursement rate, and annual limits you choose.

¹³ Family plan policies are limited to dogs age 12 and under and cats age 14 and under. Multi-policy discount is not available with Family Plans.

¹⁴ Based on a March 2024 review of publicly available summary information. Competitors did not furnish copies of their policies for review. If you have questions about a particular competitor's policy or coverage, please contact them or their representative directly.

¹⁵ Virtual veterinary services are available through the MetLife Pet App and are provided entirely by AskVet, a third-party partner; MetLife Pet is not responsible for any pet guidance or advice provided or taken. Veterinarians providing virtual veterinary services cannot prescribe medication or answer questions about the pet policy.

¹⁶ Accident and optional Preventive Care coverage begins on midnight EST of the effective day of your policy compared to a wait time of 2 to 15 days for many competitors; Illness coverage begins 14 days from the effective day of your policy compared to 14 to 30 days for many competitors. Based on a March 2024 review of publicly available summary information. Competitors did not furnish copies of their policies for review. If you have questions about a particular competitor's policy or coverage, please contact them or their representative directly.

¹⁷ Your pet’s deductible automatically decreases by $50 each policy year that you don’t receive a claim reimbursement.

Coverage issued by Metropolitan General Insurance Company, a Rhode Island insurance company, headquartered at 700 Quaker Lane, Warwick, RI 02886. Availability is subject to regulatory approval. Coverage subject to restrictions, exclusions and limitations and application is subject to underwriting. See policy or contact MetLife Pet Insurance Solutions LLC (“MetLife Pet”) for details. MetLife Pet is the policy administrator. It may operate under an alternate or fictitious name in certain jurisdictions, including MetLife Pet Insurance Services LLC (New York and Minnesota), and MetLife Pet Insurance Solutions Agency LLC (Illinois).

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