With affordable pet insurance, you can ensure your dog or cat receives the care they need to recover from unexpected accidents and illnesses without the added financial stress. Circumstances can change instantly if your pet is hurt or becomes sick, and insurance gives you a chance to make the unpredictable a little less scary.
Pet insurance may be a no-brainer, but the perfect plan for your unique situation is rarely straightforward. Make the best decision for you and your pets by checking out 10 pet insurance plans in South Carolina.
A Quick Comparison of the Winners for 2024
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Best Overall
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Spot Pet Insurance |
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Best Value
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Lemonade |
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Fetch |
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Embrace |
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ASPCA |
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The 10 Best Pet Insurance Providers in South Carolina
1. Spot Pet Insurance – Best Overall
Spot Pet Insurance offers hassle-free and fast quotes, with generous customizability around the monthly premium and coverage amounts. Deductibles range from $100–$1,000. Annual limits go as low as $2,500 and as high as $10,000, but you also have an unlimited option.
Alongside the accidental and accidental + illness plans, you can choose between two levels of optional preventive care coverage. While it can be a little more expensive up front, Spot Pet Insurance makes their coverage easy to understand and comprehensive.
By automatically adding benefits like coverage for behavioral issues, dental disease, and end-of-life expenses, Spot thoughtfully prepares for those extra expenses we rarely consider. It’s an excellent value for one pet, but with a 10% discount for additional pets (sorry, no $25 gift card for South Carolinians), Spot Pet Insurance is a sound choice for any pet lover.
2. Lemonade – Best Value
Lemonade takes a tailored approach toward finding a budget-friendly option by giving you a base accident and illness plan with optional extended coverage. The basic policy covers testing, procedures, and medications. Add-ons include vet visit fees, physical therapy and alternative treatments, and behavioral conditions. You can also add one of two optional discounted care plans that help pay for routine care like wellness and fecal exams, vaccines, and flea and tick medication.
Lemonade does its best to save money for its customers by stripping down the plan to basics and letting you add your toppings. An annual payment option saves you a few extra bucks from a monthly perspective, and if you’re already a Lemonade customer, you can save another 10% by bundling. You’ll also get an extra 5% discount when you add more pets!
3. Fetch
Fetch is the best insurance plan for South Carolina residents trying to manage every “what if” situation involving their pet. The plans come standard with perks like comprehensive dental coverage, behavioral therapy, holistic treatments, and TeleVet services alongside the typical triad of medications, testing, and treatment. But Fetch goes one step further with protection for situations that don’t involve the vet whatsoever, including:
- Up to $1,000 reimbursement for the cost of advertising and reward for lost pets
- Up to $1,000 reimbursement for vacation cancellation fees due to ailing pets
- Up to $1,000 reimbursement for boarding fees if you become hospitalized
Fetch’s downfall is its lack of customization. You only have three tiers for annual limits, deductibles, and reimbursements. They also don’t cover any pre-existing conditions, and there’s no preventive care option. It’s an excellent plan if you want to cover any unexpected occurrence that could endanger your pet, but Fetch is missing critical options for routine vet tasks and flexibility for temporary ailments.
4. Embrace
Embrace offers a decent degree of customization to get you the rates and coverage levels that fit your needs to a tee. They have five reimbursement limits from $5,000 to $30,000 and five deductibles from $200 to $1,000. Sign-up is easy, and Embrace offers military and multi-pet discounts.
The Wellness Rewards system works much differently than other preventive care add-ons. Many add-on systems from other providers split an annual amount (e.g., $450) across several categories, like routine exams, vaccinations, flea and tick medications, and fecal tests. Each item has a maximum limit (e.g., $25 for a blood test), acting like a coupon for that service.
With add-ons like these, it’s a crapshoot as to whether you get value from your investment. But if you use your entire allotment across all the categories, you could save a couple of hundred dollars a year, depending on the plan.
By contrast, Embrace’s Wellness Rewards lets you pay a monthly premium for any of your pet’s routine needs, including items that are generally excluded, such as grooming. It’s like a health savings account for your pet. The plan is flexible and straightforward but lacks significant savings potential. Maxing out the plan, a South Carolina resident may only save around $25 or so a year on routine services.
5. ASPCA
While not quite as comprehensive as Spot Pet Insurance, ASPCA Pet Health Insurance is exhaustive in its pricing options and packages. They have a discounted accidents-only policy, five annual limit options from $3,000 to $10,000, and two preventive care plans. Like Spot, they have a 10% multi-pet discount and begin covering curable pre-existing conditions after only 180 days of your pet being symptom-free.
The only real places that the ASPCA plan comes up short are in the deductibles and annual limits. The $10,000 maximum limit doesn’t compete with most competitors, and the $500 max deductible limits the potential monthly savings.
6. Figo
Figo is an attractive blend of Spot’s pricing customizability and Lemonade’s build-your-own plan that doesn’t outmatch either in their respective niches. It starts with low annual premiums for accidental and illness insurance, offering four deductible options from $100 to $750 and an unlimited annual limit option. Prices start low, but adding the optional vet exam fee coverage, which many providers throw into their policies, makes it equal to or more expensive than comparable plans.
Figo offers a 5% multi-pet discount and two routine wellness options for coverage of $135 or $250, failing to match the value of similar plans from companies like Spot and ASPCA. But it does differentiate itself as one of the few insurers offering 100% reimbursement options. And with the optional Extra Care Pack, you have coverage for burial services, lost pet advertising, boarding fees, and even third-party property damage.
7. AKC Pet Insurance
The American Kennel Club wants to empower you to give your pet adequate care, no matter your budget. The company offers numerous pricing options and add-ons to build your accident and illness coverage as you see fit. It supplies eight deductibles from $100 to $1,000 and annual limits from $2,500 to $20,000 alongside an unlimited option.
Although exam fees and hereditary condition coverage are separate add-ons, the basic cheap plan is relatively exhaustive, handling surgeries, prescriptions, behavioral issues, and much more. The AKC plan also provides two wellness offerings, which are a bit more expensive than other plans but make up for the higher cost in better annual reimbursements for the various services included.
8. MetLife
MetLife takes a unique approach to pet insurance, presenting three tailored options and the choice to customize coverage. Among the three ready-made plans is a rare high-deductible option that gives you great benefits, like 100% reimbursement and a $10,000 annual limit, for a relatively low price. The catch is that the deductible is $2,500.
More reasonable packages are comparable to competitor prices, but customization is relatively limited. There are only three benefit options between $2,000 and $10,000, a max deductible of only $500, and one preventive care add-on option.
On the plus side, MetLife offers excellent discounts, including a 10% discount for military and first responders and another 10% discount for vets and shelter employees. If you have more than one animal in the house, MetLife may offer the best multi-pet discount of any provider.
9. Trupanion
It’s nice that pet insurers reimburse you after you pay the vet, but not everyone can cover an emergency bill upfront. Unlike most pet insurers in South Carolina, Trupanion works like a traditional insurance company to pay bills at checkout for you. It’s a pricier plan than most, but it offers peace of mind that other insurers can’t match.
Tailoring your plan to be more budget-friendly isn’t easy with Trupanion. While you have various deductibles on a scale from $0–$1,000, you can only select an unlimited annual limit with reimbursements fixed at 90%. They don’t offer a multi-pet discount but have price breaks for service animals.
Available add-ons include recovery care services, such as homeopathy, behavioral modification, and acupuncture, and a pet owner assistance option to help with travel cancellations, lost pet ads, and burial services.
10. Wagmo
Wagmo’s offers seem limited from the outset, and it’s not the best choice if you value help with pet emergencies over everything else. They set the annual limit for you, giving you three options for deductibles ($250–$1,000) and two for reimbursement (90% and 100%). The company offers up to $10,000 per incident and $100,000 for lifetime coverage. The 100% reimbursement is a nice feature that most providers don’t offer, but the customizability is relatively lackluster, with only six ways to build your package.
Wagmo’s pet insurance may not compete with the top choices, but the pet wellness plans are some of the most unique you’ll find. Wagmo is an excellent choice if you have a healthy pet that needs little more than routine vet visits. They also have one of the best turnaround times for reimbursement, getting you your money in days rather than weeks.
The service offers three tiers of routine wellness coverage, and it’s one of the rare options that allow you to choose only wellness services without insurance. Rather than offer a small payout for individual services, the programs pay the total for select services. For instance, the value plan (the cheapest) pays for two vaccines, among other things, each year. Upgraded services toss in high-value credits for items like heartworm and flea medications, grooming, and dental care.
Buyer’s Guide: Choosing the Best Pet Insurance Provider in South Carolina
What to Look for in Pet Insurance in South Carolina
Every pet is unique, and every owner has different financial and family needs. To accommodate a broader customer base, most companies offer various levels of customizability, with many taking a niche approach to corner a particular buyer. Several factors converge to determine your price and coverage levels, so considering how each can affect you and your pet is crucial.
Policy Coverage
Policy coverage is an annual limit the insurer will offer to pay for covered accidental and illness services. Total reimbursement amounts can be as low as $2,500 per year or as high as $100,000. Some insurers even offer unlimited coverage to ensure your pets are always covered, no matter how sick they get during the year.
Monthly premiums will increase as your annual limit increases. Before selecting the coverage level that suits your ideal threshold, always review the exclusions to see that your primary concerns have coverage. If you have an unlimited plan that doesn’t cover behavioral issues, you won’t get any help paying to treat your dog’s aggressive chewing habit, nor will you see the best value from your policy.
Customer Service & Reputation
Issues with claims and coverage are the norm with nearly all insurance companies, so your provider must offer the communication, accessibility, and responsiveness you need to avoid a frustrating experience. Before signing up, check customer reviews through services like Trustpilot.
Insurance policy fine print is challenging to read and interpret, but we generally assume it usually includes some undesirable terms. Reviews help you jump to many of the positives and negatives that don’t appear in the sign-up process. Check for recent patterns of complaints around claims processing times, service coverage nuances, and other critical aspects to better estimate how your experience will play out.
Claim Repayment
The reimbursement amount is how much your insurer reimburses you for covered incidents, with the most common options being 70%, 80%, and 90%. If you have an 80% reimbursement plan and a covered procedure costs $1,000, your insurer will pay you $800.
Higher reimbursement rates cost more but ensure you can better navigate unexpected costs. Some providers offer 100% reimbursements at the highest prices, but you can also find options on the other end of the spectrum, like Bivvy, which provides repayments of 50% to give you incredibly low monthly deals.
Repayment times are another essential consideration when comparing pet insurance plans. Since you have to cover vet bills upfront, you need to know how quickly your insurer will reimburse you. While a select few have turnarounds of only a few days or even 24 hours, many companies take at least a couple of weeks to pay you back.
Price Of Policy
Budgeting and shopping for pet insurance are straightforward if you want the best deal. Figure out how much you can afford, and shop multiple policies to find the company that gives you that price for the services you need.
While budgeting isn’t overly complex, a critical aspect of pricing is discounting, and providers can vary significantly in how they offer situation price breaks.
Depending on the plan, a “yes” to any of those questions could equal an extra 5% or more off your monthly premiums.
Plan Customization
The best insurance plan gives you the most customization. Needs change as you gain a better understanding of insurance and your pet’s age. Greater personalization makes it easier to adapt later on while ensuring you get the absolute best price for your unique situation today. With the optional accidental-only plan and countless coverage combos, Spot Pet Insurance earned our choice for South Carolina’s best pet insurance primarily because of its customizability.
FAQ
What Does Pet Insurance Not Cover?
No pet insurance company will cover incurable pre-existing conditions. These include:
Insurers will cover those conditions if they arise while you have insurance, following a specified waiting period. For instance, many insurers will only insure orthopedic problems after 6 months of having the plan. Many will waive or shorten the waiting period for various coverages, including accidental and illness if a vet performs an exam that clears your pet.
Providers vary on how they handle curable pre-existing conditions, such as ear infections, diarrhea, and vomiting. Many provide coverage if the condition clears and stays away for a certain amount of time. Spot Pet Insurance, for example, will cover a pre-existing curable condition after your pet goes symptom-free for 180 days. Some providers wait a year before allowing coverage, and most insurers won’t cover these conditions.
Do All Vets Take Pet Insurance in South Carolina?
Since pet insurance asks the consumer to pay for the costs at the time of checkout, companies focus more on the services rendered and not the agency performing them. You have free reign to choose your vets and groomers. If the plan covers the services, you shouldn’t have any issue receiving a reimbursement.
The exception to this is Trupanion. The company pays for services at checkout for you but only works with a select group of veterinarians.
Does Pet Insurance Transfer to a New State?
Pet insurers consider where you live in South Carolina when setting their rates. If you move out of state or even to a new zip code, there’s no guarantee that your provider will continue coverage in a different location. Most companies are nationwide, so you’ll typically be able to retain your plan. A follow-up before a move will ensure your pet has coverage in the new home.
What the Users Say
Customers with pet insurance enjoy relief from worrying about unexpected and impactful accidents or illnesses. Exams, procedures, and medication that come standard through most plans can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars without insurance. While there’s no promise that your investments will come back in full during the year, being able to avoid tough financial decisions at the vet is an enormous relief. Although most customers are happy with their pet insurance, some have mentioned that the claims process was too complicated, and others complained that their rates increased unexpectedly.
Which Pet Insurance Provider Is Best for You?
Our top ten list of the best pet insurance plans in South Carolina features the most customizable policies with the highest value. But there is no one-size-fits-all plan, meaning it’s up to you to prioritize your coverage details.
Maybe holistic care is essential for your pet, or you need help with behavioral issues like aggression. Perhaps your pet is aging, and you need to find a comprehensive plan for older animals.
One plan will likely not suit you for the long term. Even if you loved your policy when you first signed up, always review it with your provider and research new coverage with updated information at least once a year. Companies have their specialties, and personal situations change. Shop pet insurance annually, and you may discover that the worst pet insurance from last year is the best option right now.
Conclusion
Spot Pet Insurance is our pick for the best pet insurance in South Carolina because it offers loads of customization with some of the simplest yet most comprehensive coverage terms. Meanwhile, Lemonade comes in with the best value for anyone needing the most budget-friendly policies.
Every provider boasts distinct advantages for the right customer. Set your priorities and shop multiple plans, but start with this top ten list to find the best coverage with the least hassle.
Featured Image Credit: New Africa, Shutterstock
