Farmers Pet Insurance Review

What’s New in 2021 for Farmers Pet Insurance

How Has Covid-19 Affected Farmers Pet Insurance 

Farmers Insurance has weathered COVID with limited disruptive business practices. They have primarily expanded their home insurance options with new partnerships and acquisitions. 

The pet insurance market and pet ownership rates grew during the COVID pandemic. Pets Best, the pet insurance company with which Farmers contracts to insure its customers’ pets continued to operate and perform as normal over this time. 

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New Products or Changes

Farmers primarily expanded their other insurance offerings and partnerships. They continue to offer pet insurance through Pets Best. Pets Best offers the standard care options: accident-only, accident and illness, and wellness benefits (Investopedia). 

Farmers Pet Insurance In the News

Farmers Insurance recently made headlines with its philanthropic efforts. They received the Corporate Impact Award from the Los Angeles Fire Department (PRNewswire).

Farmers Exchanges and Zurich Insurance also bought MetLife’s U.S. property and casualty business for $3.94 billion in April of this year (Insurance Journal).

2021 Latest Farmers Pet Insurance Reviews

Pets Best holds an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), but only a 1.16/5 star customer rating on BBB. In May 2020, BBB highlighted a pattern of complaints among customers. This pattern regarded long and unclear claims processing times.

On average, Yelp reviewers rate Pets Best 2/5 stars. Other review sites have higher ratings for Pets Best. It gets 9/10 ‘paws’ on PetInsurance.com. On TrustPilot reviewers rated Pets Best an average of 3.9 stars out of 4. However, even high ratings noted challenges with customer service and claims processes, but it didn’t affect their overall opinion of the company.

Our team reviewed Farmers Pet Insurance for their coverage, customer satisfaction scores, and cost.

Our Grade: B+

Farmers Insurance is known for having life, auto, and even home insurance and recently ventured into pet insurance. But, it’s not exactly, Farmer’s pet insurance, but they have partnered with Pets Best, one of the more reputable pet insurance providers.

Farmers pet insurance, through Pets Best, is underwritten by American Pet Insurance Company and it has an A+ rating from the BBB.

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Farmers Pet Insurance Coverage Options

Farmers offer 3 different types of comprehensive accident and illness coverage for your pets:

• The Essential Plan
• The Plus Plan
• The Elite Plan

Farmers also offer an Accident-Only plan and two additional wellness plans.

The Essential Plan

This is a basic accident and illness plan that covers up to only $5,000 of your pets’ medical bills. While this is a less expensive plan, you can reach $5,000 pretty quickly in a year and then you would pay the rest out of your own pocket.

Related: 10 Things You Must Know Before You Buy Pet Insurance

The Plus Plan

This plan offers more coverage with benefit limits up to $10,000. The Plus plan even includes the exam fees when you take your pet to the vet. Alternative therapies are also included in the Plus Plan which is always a, well, plus!

The Best Benefits Plan (The Elite Plan)

This plan is their top-tiered plan. It has unlimited annual coverage which is always the best choice. This plan covers all accident and illnesses, testing, and vet visits, prescription medication.

Accident Only Plan

Farmers also offer an Accident-Only Plan which includes coverage for any accident that might occur and include snake bites, a broken leg, and swallowing of foreign objects.

While this plan is less expensive, it does not cover any kind of illness.

Wellness Plans

Farmers also offer two different wellness plans that can be added to any of the insurance plans at an additional cost:

• The Essential Wellness Plan
• The Best Wellness Plan

The Essential Wellness Plan

This is the pet insurance that covers spaying and neutering, blood work and other wellness exams, heartworm testing, and routine items with an annual limit of up to $305.

Related: 10 Things You Must Know Before You Buy Pet Insurance

The Best Wellness Plan

This wellness plan covers the same treatments and exams as the Essential Wellness but also adds a $150 allowance for teeth cleaning.  You can get reimbursed up to $535 each year.

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Hereditary and Congenital Conditions

Farmers pet insurance will cover hereditary and congenital conditions like:

• Elbow dysplasia
• Glaucoma
• Patella issues
• IVDD
• Cancer
• Diabetes

Other Coverage and Treatments

Farmers also include the coverage of treatments similar to the best pet insurance companies such as:

• All Surgeries
• Emergency Hospital Care
• Behavioral Therapy
• Alternative Therapy (under the BestBenefits Plan)
• Physical Therapy
• Mobility Devices
• Prosthetics

Benefit Limits

As mentioned above, the benefit limit levels depend on the plan you choose.  The most basic plan has a limit of up to $5,000 and their Elite/BestBenefits Plan offers unlimited benefits.

We always recommend unlimited benefits as that is why you want pet insurance for the guarantee of good coverage.  Healthy Paw offers unlimited benefits even in their most basic plan.

Of course, the higher the benefit level, the more your monthly premium will be.

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Reimbursement Method

Farmers pays on the actual vet bill – always our preferred choice.

The reimbursement levels offered range from 70% to 90%.

Farmers doesn’t use a per-incident schedule which limits the benefits for each incident or illness that your pet might encounter. Most of the best pet insurance companies don’t use benefit schedules.

The higher the reimbursement level you choose, the lower your premium will be each month.

Deductible Types

Farmers uses an annual deductible model which means you only need to reach your deductible once each policy year.

The deductible choices range from $50 to $1000.

The lower the deductible you choose, the higher you pay out of pocket.  But, because they offer many choices, you can budget accordingly.

There is no deductible when you enroll in their wellness plans and you get reimbursed on your first vet visit or routine procedures.

What Is The Average Cost Of Farmers?

Farmers lower level plans are competitively priced with the average monthly premium for dogs starting at $29 and the plans for cats average $18 a month.

The Best Benefits Plan while including a lot of treatments and unlimited benefit limits are more expensive than most other pet insurance companies we have reviewed. Dog insurance starts at $60 and cat insurance starts at $50.

The Accident only plans are very inexpensive but only offer coverage for accidents.

The pricing starts at $9 a month for dogs and cat accident plans start at $6 a month. This plan is a good supplement if you have an older cat or dog that might not otherwise get insured.

The Wellness plans are $16 a month for the EssentialWellness Plan and $29 a month for the BestWellness plan.

A 5 % discount is offered if you enroll more than one pet and for military service pets.

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Claims Process

Claims are processed quickly and usually within five days and easy to process.

Policyholders can submit their claims through Pets Best online portal.  You can actually see the status of the claim in real time.

Direct deposit is also available and you can even have them pay your vet directly.

There is also a veterinary support line that is there 24/7 for its customers for any questions or advice you need for your pet.

You can ask behavioral questions or simple concerns about your pets from their vet experts via email, chat or by phone.

Enrollment and Waiting Periods

Farmers allows pets of any age.

The waiting period is 14 days for illness and 3 days for accidents. There is a 6-month waiting list for cruciate ligament injuries or patella-related injuries.

Puppies and kittens can be enrolled at 7 weeks.

There is a 30-day free period which gives you essentially 30 days to decide if you want to enroll.  This can be helpful if you have a pet that has an illness or condition that you aren’t sure is pre-existing.

Questions about Farmers Pet Insurance?

Why enroll in Farmers Pet Insurance when you go directly to Pets Best?

The real advantage is if you already enrolled in a plan by Farmers insurance and just feel like having all your insurance coverage with the same provider.

And as with most insurance companies, more discounts are available if you enroll in multiple plans.

Can you get pet insurance if your pet has an illness like diabetes?

If your pet has diabetes than he won’t be covered for diabetes because that would be considered pre-existing and is typical of all insurance companies.

Your pet would be covered for any other future illness or accident that might occur.

Can you take your pet to any vet of your choice?

Yes.

Similar to the best plans, you can take your dog or cat to any vet or medical hospital of your choice.

How do their premiums compare to other pet insurance companies?

Their prices are competitive in the lower tiered plans but a little more expensive in their higher end plan.

Our pet insurance comparison chart can help you gauge their prices compared to similar pet insurance companies.

Are there any limitations on coverage with Farmers?

Any pre-existing conditionor illness won’t be covered, preventative care, spaying, and neutering, (unless you choose the additional wellness plan) nail trimming, de-worming, and grooming.

Holistic plans are not covered or any parasite control.

Are dental cleanings included?

The higher end, Best Benefit plan will include treatment of dental issues and periodontal disease.

If you want dental cleanings covered, you would need to enroll in the higher end wellness plan.

Does the price increase as your pet gets older?

Yes.

Similar to all pet insurance and even human health insurance, the older we are the more prone we are to more illnesses.

Therefore the price will increase but of course, the health of your pet will also be a factor in pricing.

Will the premium rates increase if you make multiple claims for your pet?

No.

Your premiums are not affected by the claims filed for your pet. Age, as mentioned above, can sometimes cause a premium increase.

Does Farmers pet insurance use a benefit schedule?

No.

The bills are paid on the actual vet invoices and not on a pre-determined estimate. And you can choose your reimbursement and deductible to help adjust your monthly premiums.

Do you need to re-enroll your pet each year?

Every year on the policy enrollment date, you will be automatically enrolled.

And, of course, if you don’t want to renew, just call or email them and let them know you would like to cancel your policy.

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Learn More About Farmers Pet Insurance

And, there you have it.

If you want to learn more about Farmers Pet Insurance, make sure to go Farmers site or give them a call at 1-877-464-6542.

You can also go to the Pets Best site directly to enroll with them directly.

If you aren’t satisfied with the quotes offered or their service, make sure to take a look at our top 10 pet insurance companies to give you more options for your pets.

 

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