How Does MetLife Pet Insurance Work? – All You Need to Know

How Does Metlife Pet Insurance Work

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MetLife Pet Insurance is one of the most popular, convenient, and effective options that pet owners across North America now have at their disposal. Some of the premiums asked by this company can be as low as $9 to $10 per month, but their overall value depends on several factors, such as the animal’s health and age.

In today’s article, we are looking at everything you should know about MetLife Pet Insurance – from how much you can expect a claim to last to what it covers, what it does not cover, and in case that’s what you need to do, how you can go about canceling it. 

How Does MetLife Pet Insurance Work? The Details

Getting pet insurance is a must in the United States and Canada especially, but also in the majority of other countries these days. 

Unfortunately, vet bills can be extremely expensive, and just because they want to offer the best to their pets, a lot of pet parents can actually go into serious debt in the event of a hospital or sudden illness. 

MetLife Pet Insurance can prevent all of that. The way it works is you pay at least a part of your veterinary hospital bill and then get reimbursed in accordance with your plan. Depending on your premium, you can get reimbursement rates of up to 100% of your covered expenses. 

All of the plans do come with limits, which can be either annual or per incident. As their name suggests, the annual ones refer to the amount that can be reimbursed in 12 calendar months. If you have reached the maximum limit as per your contract, you will have to cover your veterinary bills yourself without being able to claim any reimbursements from the company any longer. 

As for the per-incident limits, they refer to the maximum amount that can be covered in the event of an accident or illness. You have to submit claims for each of these incidents, and they come with a maximum that MetLife can cover based on each one’s nature and the value of the vet bill, too, along with your specific premium.

MetLife Pet Insurance

Getting Payments from MetLife Pet Insurance

The good thing about this type of insurance is that it comes with a mobile app, which you can conveniently utilize to submit a claim and then wait for a reply. 

You also have the option of doing the same via email, fax, or traditional mail, along with MetLife’s official website. 

It’s also worth noting that you need to send out your vet invoice to MetLife in the first 90 days after the incident has taken place – otherwise, the company is not going to be able to reimburse you. 

The payments are sent out either by paper cheque or direct deposit, depending on your personal preferences. You can even set up an automatic payment method from your bank from the mobile app or the account you create on the MetLife website.

What Does ‘Deductible’ Mean?

When it comes to insurance, in general, whether for pets or anything else, the deductible is the amount of money that you are supposed to pay out of pocket before the insurance company returns the rest of the money. 

With MetLife, for example, you can opt for deductibles ranging from $50 to $500. But where does the deductible make a difference? Well, first off, not a lot of people can afford to fork out $500 or more on a veterinary bill right away. 

However, those that can do so are likely to pay less when it comes to their premium, so their pet insurance plan is advantageous in that way. 

What Does ‘Premium’ Mean?

The premium is basically the amount you pay on a regular basis to be able to have your pet insured by MetLife. Depending on your exact plan, that could be just $9 per month for cats and $15 per month for dogs. 

Naturally, your premium will also depend on your pet’s health history as well as their age and any genetic health conditions they might be prone to developing, for example. 

The premiums that we mentioned above are just the minimums that you can expect. Unless your cat or dog is in perfect health, do not expect to pay that low of a premium. For a 3-year-old dog, for example, you can pay anything from $25 to $50, depending on your pet’s health.

Seniors are more expensive to insure, but that is the case for any insurance company you might be interested in. The way these firms look at it is that they are putting themselves at risk by ensuring geriatric patients, so that’s why the premiums in these cases can be higher (sometimes in the hundreds of dollars per month).

is MetLife Pet Insurance worth it for my pet dog

Claims and Reimbursement Times

While the company does claim that it takes just ten to fourteen days for it to process a claim, so in theory, at least, you’d get your money back in less than two to three weeks’ time, it also depends on the exact incident. 

You can control the tracking process through the mobile app. If the reimbursement is not possible in the time span that we have just mentioned, a company representative will get in touch and ask you for more information on the incident or for additional vet documents that you can get from the clinic – if they are truly necessary. 

If you do not want to use the mobile app or you feel that you’d get an answer quicker in this way, feel free to contact the brand through email or call MetLife at 1-800-638-6420, Prompt 2. 

What seems to make the difference between the services offered by MetLife and some of the other pet insurance firms we have analyzed in the past is that while the second category almost never covers orthopedic conditions such as cruciate ligament procedures or intervertebral disc disease, MetLife does offer coverage for them. 

However, you need to have been insured with the firm for at least six months, and the waiting period is also pretty long, too – but at least you do have this option at your disposal in this case.

Is MetLife’s Pet Insurance Worth It?

When it comes to getting pet insurance, there are always both pros and cons that need to be given some thought before you make your final decision. 

On the one hand, MetLife has a lot of experience processing claims, and given the reimbursement times, along with the fact that after six months, they cover orthopedic conditions, it seems like a solid choice. 

In the event of a pet’s death, the company even offers grief counseling. You also have access to telehealth services, and you can expect your pet’s coverage to begin immediately after you enroll – which is an advantage in itself and something that sets MetLife aside from the rest. 

As for the drawbacks, the company does not cover the vet bill directly, which means that you first have to pay for the invoice using your own money (whether you get into debt for that or not) and only then get it back once your claim is processed. This is something that you can commonly expect with any other insurance company, though. 

The long waiting period for intervertebral disc disease and cruciate ligament issues can be considered another disadvantage but do keep in mind that there are companies that do not offer any type of coverage whatsoever for these conditions, regardless of the waiting time. 

In general, we’d say that MetLife Pet Insurance is a good option if you want your pet to be protected in situations such as:

  • Poisoning
  • Surgery
  • Illnesses such as ear infections or indigestions
  • Diabetes or cancer
  • Hospitalization
  • Diagnostic tests 
  • Boarding 
  • Prescription food & more

If these don’t seem to be enough, you always have the option of getting in touch with a company’s representative and choosing an additional wellness plan, which can include procedures such as vaccinations or routine check-ups. Even flea and heartworm prevention can be a part of the plan if you don’t want to cover them yourself. 

Contact Information for Canceling MetLife Policies for Pet Insurance

If you haven’t used the mobile application before, we suggest installing it – it’s called Line, and you can use it to do anything from deleting your MetLife account to canceling a free trial, along with unsubscribing. 

As for the cancellation via phone, you should call 1-800-638-5000 and request to talk to someone, then give them your policy number and customer details and explain what you want to achieve.

Can You Cancel MetLife Pet Insurance?

Can You Cancel MetLife Pet Insurance?

Yes. 

While you can definitely do that through the mobile app, there’s also the option of you calling the company itself and speaking with a representative. You will have to supply them with some personal information just so that they make sure you’re the person who signed the contract.  

MetLife Pet Insurance FAQs

Yes, you are free to cancel your policy at whichever time of your convenience. You do not have to worry about the company creating any problems whatsoever. If you want to make sure you do not risk being billed for a service you are no longer going to be using, just cancel your recurring payments. 

Ideally, you should get in touch with a representative just to be on the safe side of things when it comes to paying for your premiums.

It depends on the exact moment you cancel your policy and the type you have. For example, if you’ve decided to go for the yearly plan and you’ve paid for it and have submitted a claim, you are not going to be eligible for a refund, even if the value of the veterinary services is lower than what you paid to MetLife. 

But every situation is different, so we suggest getting informed before deciding to cancel your plan, especially since, in most cases, you should not expect a refund. 

If you cancel your pet insurance during the first 14 days of your contract, you can get a full refund – but only if you haven’t yet submitted a claim. This is called a cooling-off period. Most pet insurance companies offer 14-day money back-guarantees anyway, so you should expect a refund.

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