35%
Coverage
What the policy actually pays for: limits, reimbursement, exclusions, chronic conditions, dental, and the waiting periods that decide real claims.
2026 Independent pet insurance analysis
The best-rated pet insurance.
One missed exclusion can cost thousands in vet bills. HelloPets reads the policy wording of every pet insurance company in your country, extracts the facts, and tells you which policy to pick, partner or not.
Reviews signed by Louise Smith,
12 years reading insurance contracts.
Independent media, not a broker Every insurer reviewed, partner or not Weightings published, never moved
01 The method
Most comparators compare marketing pages. We compare contracts.
Every insurer on HelloPets goes through the same four steps, whether it pays us or not.
01 Read
We read the policy wording
Every review starts with the contract itself: annual limits, waiting periods, deductibles, exclusions. Not the marketing page.
02 Extract
We extract the facts
Each clause that matters becomes structured data: reimbursement rates, look-back periods, per-condition caps, price points by breed and age.
03 Score
We score on four public pillars
Coverage, value, service and trust, with published weightings. Partners and non-partners sit on the same scale, always.
04 Pick
We tell you which one to pick
A ranking that follows the score, a clear verdict per insurer, and the clause to check before you sign. No hedging.
02 The score
Four pillars, published weightings, one scale for everyone.
The weighting is public and it never moves for a partner. An editorial adjustment of at most 0.7 points is the only human touch, and we say when we use it.
25%
Value
Price against what you get, priced across breeds and ages from our own database, not against a single quote screenshot.
25%
Service
Claim speed, direct vet payment, app quality, cancellation terms, and what thousands of public reviews say when a claim goes wrong.
15%
Trust
Who underwrites the policy, regulatory standing, price increase history, and how transparent the insurer is about its own wording.
Backed by the HelloSafe group
HelloPets is built on HelloSafe, which has helped people make insurance decisions since 2021.
people helped since 2021
03 What we read
The clauses that decide your claim
A policy is only as good as its wording. These are the lines we check on every product, the ones that decide whether a claim is paid or quietly refused.
Accidents & injuries Standard
Covered by almost every policy. The annual limit and any per-condition cap decide the real payout.
Illness & disease Standard
Standard on accident-and-illness plans. Excluded on accident-only cover, so confirm which one you are buying.
Hereditary & congenital Worth checking
Often limited or excluded by breed. This is where the fine print hides the most.
Chronic & long-term Worth checking
Covered while the policy runs, but watch per-condition caps and the right to refuse renewal.
Dental illness Often optional
Accidental dental is common. Dental disease usually needs an add-on and proof of yearly check-ups.
Pre-existing conditions Usually excluded
Almost always excluded. The look-back period decides what counts as pre-existing.
Common questions
Is HelloPets independent?
Yes. HelloPets is a media outlet that rates pet insurers on their policy documents and on public evidence. Some insurers pay us a commission when a reader buys through our links, and we label those partners clearly. The ranking always follows the score, never the commission.
How does HelloPets make money?
When a reader clicks through to a partner insurer and buys a policy, that insurer pays HelloPets a commission. It costs the reader nothing extra. Insurers that are not partners are still reviewed and ranked on the same scale.
How are the ratings calculated?
Every insurer is scored on four pillars: coverage (35 percent), value (25 percent), service (25 percent) and trust (15 percent). Each pillar is built from the contract itself, from pricing data and from public reviews. An editorial adjustment of at most 0.7 points can be applied to the weighted score. The full method is on our methodology page.
Who writes the reviews?
Louise Smith, lead pet insurance analyst at HelloPets, reads the policy wording and writes the reviews. She has spent 12 years comparing insurance contracts. Health content is written for review by a licensed veterinarian.
How we score, in full: our methodology.
Your pet cannot read the fine print.
We did it for you, clause by clause, for every insurer on the market.