"Your new monthly premium: $59.40, effective December 1, 2025." The renewal notice for Hank's pet insurance came by email last Tuesday. I read it standing at the kitchen counter, then read it again sitting down, which is never a good sign.
This year we've paid $52.65 a month. The new number is $6.75 more, an increase of 12.8 percent. I've been rounding it to thirteen in my head, because thirteen feels more honest about how it landed.
What the notice actually said
Our coverage isn't changing. Hank's policy stays accident and illness, with a $500 annual deductible, 90 percent reimbursement and no annual limit, and still no wellness add-on. The policy year runs December 1 through November 30.
The notice gave two reasons for the increase. Hank is a year older (he turned five in April), and veterinary costs in our area have gone up. That's it. It didn't mention our claims, and when I called to ask whether this year's two vet visits played a part, the person on the phone said the change came from age and regional costs. I wrote that down. I can't tell you how every company sets its prices, only what ours told us.
Four years of premiums, side by side
Here's Hank's monthly premium since we enrolled him the week after the Thanksgiving twine surgery in 2022:
- December 2022 to November 2023: $41.80
- December 2023 to November 2024: $46.20 (up about 10.5 percent)
- December 2024 to November 2025: $52.65 (up about 14 percent)
- December 2025 to November 2026: $59.40 (up about 12.8 percent)
By the end of this month we'll have paid $1,687.80 in premiums. Over those same three years, the policy has reimbursed us $126, all of it in the first year, for a torn dewclaw and an ear infection. This year we had $498 in eligible bills, two dollars short of the deductible, which I wrote about in August with as much grace as I could manage.
At the new rate, a year of coverage costs $712.80. That's $81 more than this year.
The options we weighed
Raise the deductible. The notice showed what a higher deductible would do. Going from $500 to $750 would have taken roughly six dollars a month off, about $72 a year. In exchange we'd cover an extra $250 ourselves before any reimbursement in a bad year. Since we've only gotten past $500 once, I'll admit this one was tempting. What stopped me was the pet fund. After Mabel's dental and this summer's itchy-dog bills, it's sitting at about $1,570, well short of our $3,000 goal. If something big happens this winter, I'd rather the deductible be the smaller number.
Drop to 80 percent reimbursement. Cheaper every month, but on a big bill the difference is real. On a $5,000 surgery, the gap between 90 and 80 percent comes to roughly $450 out of our pocket. Big bills are what we bought the policy for, so we left this alone.
Switch companies. I looked. The trouble is that Hank isn't a new dog anymore. A new insurer would likely treat his itchy paws and ear infections as pre-existing, on top of the twine exclusion we already live with, and they'd be quoting a five-year-old instead of a two-year-old. We'd be paying a fresh premium for less coverage.
Cancel and self-fund. The pet fund would need to be a lot bigger before I'd sleep well on that plan. The twine surgery alone was $3,912.
What we decided
We're keeping the policy exactly as it is: $500 deductible, 90 percent, no annual limit, $59.40 a month. I changed the number on the pet tab last night and moved on to cheaper worries.
I won't pretend the math has favored us so far. It hasn't. We keep the policy for the year it does, and I'm perfectly happy if that year never comes. Your own notice will arrive with its own reasons and its own numbers, and if any of it is vague, the company can walk you through it line by line. That's a phone call worth making.
