Why Cancel Pet Insurance
Question: Why cancel pet insurance? Short answer: Because it now costs way too much for my budget
As of mid-September 2025, I canceled our pet insurance renewal — after having policies on all 3 dogs since the day we adopted them (11 years ago for Clover, as an example). A 65% increase up to $556/month premium is too much. I wrote the following at the time. As a pro writer in the veterinary / pet space for 30 years, as someone who understands more than most about the true costs of providing veterinary care, as one of the best Dog Moms you’d want as a veterinary client, I say this … if/when you lose me, that’s a bad sign. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the whole pet insurance situation these days.
Cancel Pet Insurance FAQ
Why are the costs of pet insurance going up so much?
Well, I’m definitely not the only person in my network of dog lovers facing steep pet insurance premium increases recently, so it’s a widespread problem — across states, across companies, etc.
I think the causes of pet insurance costs rising for me are three fold:
- My dogs are getting older.
- Costs for veterinary care are also going way, way, way up, which means pet insurance companies pay out more for claims.
- Private equity groups now own many veterinary hospitals and likely several of the pet insurance companies. And, in my opinion, they care about profits not pets.
Couldn’t you adjust your policy to make it cost less?
That is an option, but I’d done that in the past to try and keep costs down. For example, years ago I doubled our annual deductibles and lowered our percentage of reimbursement. This time, I did call and ask about options like that, and they simply did NOT lower the monthly premium costs enough to make a real difference.
Can’t you just switch to another company?
I could, but here’s the problem with that. Absolutely everything my dogs had ever received veterinary care for in the past would be considered a pre-existing condition and would be excluded from coverage. It’s very, very hard to switch pet insurance companies, especially for older pets.
Be careful about inaccurate information out there. I had someone tell me that MetLife did not have those pre-existing condition exclusions. That is not true for the vast majority of people. The only situation where that might be true is if you’re changing companies and you happen to work for a preferred employer who offers MetLife pet insurance as an employment benefit.
Is it because you started with one of the cheapo plans?
No. Others have assumed that and said some incredibly insulting things to me along those lines. I went with a full-service reputable, never exactly cheap pet insurance company.
Are you worried?
Yes, I’m very worried. But, the financial reality is all too real. For now, I’m putting about $350 per month into savings for dog stuff. That’s a bit more than the $337 per month we’d been paying for insurance on Clover, Tori, and Mr. Stix in the 2024-2025 policy year. I’m definitely worried that if something really big happens, then I’m super screwed.
I don’t regret what we did for Lilly, our original canine heroine, who did have terrible / very limited pet insurance, but if faces with staggering veterinary costs like that again, I probably would have to make a different decision. It breaks my heart, but I need to keep us all afloat — with food and housing, etc.
I’m frugal anyway, so there aren’t many places in my budget I can cut, but I’m spending as little as possible to squirrel away dollars in case any of us need them for health stuff (human and canine alike).
How do you feel about the pet insurance money you paid for all those years?
Like I got conned, honestly. I ended my cancellation letter to the pet insurance company with the following message … “The *only way I can make myself feel less like I’ve been conned all these years is to remember the other pets who did get some $$ help because of the premiums I paid since all 3 of my dogs were puppies.”