Pets Best | Pet Insurance Review

I'm not exaggerating when I say that Pets Best is hands-down the WORST company I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. After several claims, I have NEVER had a SINGLE claim resolved without an astonishing level of incompetence and significant commitment of my time and effort to resolve. Pets Best has a strategy of deliberate negligence and incompetence that is designed to dodge their responsibilities and discourage customers from pursuing legitimate claims. Here are some examples of the kinds of experiences you can expect from Pets Best: *Mixing up the details of claims that were submitted separately, and being unable to separate them again, leading to a chain of subsequent mistakes, lost threads and erroneously closing claims without payment *Losing claims *Not responding to claims in the period of time required by state insurance regulations nor the timeframes set out in PetsBest's own documents *Strict refusal to put anything in writing when explicitly requested *Refusing to tell customers what documentation is needed to resolve a claim to make it easier to decline payment *Giving different information in writing than what was unambiguously stated on the phone *Not responding to requests for additional information *Multiple other practices that qualify as acting in bad faith according to California insurance regulations Here is just one of many stories that give you a sense of how this company operates: Six weeks after submitting a claim (PB promises claims take 15-30 days to process), I received an email notifying me that Pets Best was having trouble reaching my vet for medical records. I called my vet (a small practice with only 2 doctors and an office manager), and found out that the office person was on vacation. I made arrangements to call back, and didn't notify PB of the steps taken because I know from experience that they don't read their emails and the phone queue is in excess of 1 hour. A little over a week later, ON THANKSGIVING DAY, I got another email from PB again requesting my assistance in reaching my vet. I responded the same day with a description of the steps I'd taken, the reason for the delay, and when they could expect a response. The following night (i.e. the Friday after Thanksgiving) at 9:58pm Pacific time, I got notification from PetsBest that they had closed the case and wouldn't be honoring my claim on the grounds of lack of response. I called them first thing Monday (by which time I had the documentation they needed), and it took 90 minutes on hold plus another hour on the phone to get them to reopen the case. Then it took them more than two weeks (more time than they gave me) and a threat of legal action to get them to approve the claim. Every single claim I have submitted has met with similar levels of incompetence, poor business practices and negligence. The people on the phone are sweet as pie and slick as used car salesmen. I would NOT recommend PetsBest to anyone under any circumstances. Pass it on. Edit: In response to the the comment below - You expect me to share personal info over the public internet?! Are you joking? Do you want my SSN and mother’s maiden name too? Boneheaded judgement and lack of common sense like this is what leads you to be such an ineffective company that can’t solve basic administrative problems. The above is a real complaint from a real customer; I couldn’t make this stuff up. You can verify the circumstances by searching support emails using this (my maiden) name, or ask Gina Carter or Penny, who should both be familiar with the situation.

I submitted my claim and it was approved fast. thank you Pets best

This is the first time using a pet insurance. We recently adopted our puppy and wanted to get a policy. Reviewed many options and chose this plan. I submitted our first claim for her wellness visit and was very pleased with the response and reimbursement. We are very happy with this plan.

We are a first time pet owner and adopted our cat Zelda from a rescue. She had no medical issues or concerns upon our adoption. After 6-7 months of ownership, we took Zelda to the vet for a regular checkup. While at the vet we asked the vet regarding cats vomiting habits the vet informed us about hairballs and frequency of vomiting on an average cat. We also asked her about what cat food she would recommend (the foster parent had given us the remaining food when we adopting her purina kitten food) . This questioning was written on her medical records. we purchased pets best insurance after the regular checkup but prior to changing her food. We introduced the new cat food to zelda and soon after zelda began vomiting much more frequently, we took her to the vet and the vet stated that zelda probably has a food sensitivity to the new food and recommended a different cat food (this was noted on her records as well). We introduced the new food and her condition got worst and in addition to the vomiting she was lethargic, developed diarrhea and she lost weight. The vet suggested an ultrasound (august 4th) with results showing no issues. she again suggested a different food, this new food has worked so far and zelda hasnt had the issues that she experience with the other two foods. During this entire time we filed each of the pet bills with petsbest and they issued credit for all of them except for the ultrasound which was close to $400 they denied the claim citing " preexisting condition", after speaking with them they stated that there was a record prior to us purchasing insurance that mentioned "vomiting" and as a result they are denying the claim. We appealed the claim and had the vet provide a detailed letter stating the reason for the "vomiting" being mentioned in a prior record. After 2 months of waiting we just got a letter denying the appeal. We felt cheated! they based their entire denial on a record that had nothing to do with any medical condition. The ultrasound was merely a diagnostic test and it was clear that Zelda's "condition" was a result of a change in food and not a serious medical condition, the Vet agreed with that, the ultrasound proved it and most importantly the medical records clearly spoke for itself considering the change in her condition as a direct result of the change in her food. We cancelled our policy immediately with petsbest after the denial of our appeal. We have spoken to a several other insurance companies since and here is what we found. 1. it is best to purchase the pet insurance IMMEDIATELY after obtaining the pet, as long as no medical records exists for the said pet the insurance company will have 0 basis to point towards an existing condition. 2. If the above is not possible best to go with an insurance company that requires an examination prior to issuing the policy ( Healthy Paws Pet Insurance, Embrace, Pet Plan, Nationwide, Figo, Trupanion) as long as your pet is healthy and any preexisting conditions is mentioned on the report then the insurance company will base their decisions from that report. 3. If your still considering petsbest please note of the lengthy claim/appeal process (over 1-4 months, we filed our report on August 5th for the ultrasound, was denied on sept 17th and our appeal was not answered until December 14th), If we knew of this from the get go we would have immediately gone with another company.

I loved the variable coverage. I was also able to chose to cover ruitine and preventative care and it still didn't break the bank. Prompt and easy to understand.