How we determine your monthly cost

A premium, or monthly cost, is the amount a pet owner pays every month for their dog or cat’s medical insurance coverage. This number is determined by looking at a few different factors:

We’re proud to be a data-driven company with a team of licensed experts who ensure appropriate pricing for all pets. Our team of actuaries focus on pet medical insurance exclusively instead of also pricing human health or other types of insurance. This gives us a key advantage in understanding the cost of veterinary care. 

Trupanion is unique because we are one of the only pet medical insurance company to always use your pet’s age at enrollment to determine your policy’s price. Most other pet insurance companies use what is called “birthday pricing.”

Birthday pricing means that an insurer is likely to automatically raise your rates when a pet has a birthday, on top of any rate changes for inflation or other factors. Not our favorite way to celebrate.

In our eyes your pet will always be the age they were when they enrolled. For example, if your dog enrolls when they’re 8 weeks old, we’ll price them as a an 8-week old for their entire life. They’ll be a puppy forever—both in your heart and your insurance premium.

We’re driven by our mission to help pets. We never punish your pet for getting sick or hurt by raising rates. To reflect this, any claims you file will never affect your monthly cost.

Sure, just because we don’t use birthday pricing doesn’t mean your monthly cost will always stay the same. In fact, you can expect your premium to change due to the cost and use of advanced veterinary care in your area. This means that sometimes prices go up, sometimes they stay about the same, and sometimes they even go down.