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Why Don’t More People Have Pet Insurance?
By Liliana Hall MONEY RESEARCH COLLECTIVE
New survey data from Money and Healthy Paws Pet Insurance found that cost isn’t the main reason owners are skipping coverage. Here’s what is.
Pet insurance is more common than it used to be, but it’s still the exception, not the rule. More than 95% of pets are uninsured, according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association. That leaves most owners paying vet bills out of pocket, even as those bills keep climbing.
For the youngest pet owners, though, price isn’t the biggest barrier. In a 2026 survey from Money and Healthy Paws Pet Insurance, 28% of uninsured Gen Z pet owners said they hadn’t gotten around to considering coverage, and 22% didn’t know it existed. Only 18% pointed to expensive premiums.
Cost still matters. But for Gen Z, it’s one piece of a complicated equation that looks different for every household.
Why pet owners go without insurance
For pet owners, deciding whether to buy coverage means weighing the cost of insurance against the risk of an expensive vet bill — and deciding how much financial uncertainty they’re willing to take on. The need for pet insurance can feel far off for owners with a young, healthy pet. Paying a monthly premium might not seem to make financial sense. But as veterinary costs continue to rise, an unexpected illness or injury can quickly turn into a significant expense.
They expect to self-insure
Some pet owners may be comfortable skipping insurance and setting money aside themselves.
“If you are a disciplined saver and are confident that you can contribute on a regular basis to an emergency fund, self-insuring can work,” says Bobbi Rebell, chief financial education advisor at Accredited Debt Relief. “But keep in mind, it only works if the money is there before you need it.”
That can be hard for owners who are starting from scratch. Setting aside $100 a month, for example, would give you $1,200 after a year, but it would not protect you from a $5,000 or $10,000 veterinary bill during that first year. Keeping those savings in an interest-bearing account can help the balance grow while that money is unused, but it still takes time to build a substantial cushion.
Pet insurance, by contrast, can provide coverage for medical emergencies before you have had time to build a comparable savings balance.
They think they have more time to decide
Waiting to get coverage can create affordability obstacles, Rebell notes.
“A young, healthy pet with no history of ailments is going to be a lot more affordable to insure,” she says. Premiums rise with age, so waiting until your cat or dog is considered “senior” — typically eight years old for dogs and 10 years for cats, depending on the breed — might not be the money-saver you think it will be. Some insurers also place age limits on new policies, meaning waiting too long could shrink your options for coverage.
Waiting periods and exclusions can further complicate the picture. A policy may not cover an illness or injury that occurs during its waiting period, and certain conditions may be excluded based on a pet’s health history or breed.
Once a condition is considered pre-existing, a new policy generally won’t cover treatment related to it. That can leave pet owners paying for coverage while still footing the bill for the condition that prompted them to seek it.
“Every policy has its own specifications, so all the small print matters, and has to be read and understood,” Rebell says.
Policies can be hard to compare
Pet insurance works differently than health insurance for people, so figuring out what a policy actually covers — and how much it would pay toward a vet bill — can be difficult.
“How and when it pays varies widely, so there is a lot of room for misunderstanding,” Rebell says. “The premium is the most visible number, [but] ironically, not the most useful in comparing policies.”
Owners need to understand how the policy deductible works, how much of a covered bill the insurer will reimburse and whether the policy has annual or lifetime limits.
The reimbursement rate is the percentage of a covered veterinary bill the insurer pays after you’ve met your deductible. Reimbursement rates of 70%, 80% or 90%, for example, can significantly affect what hits your family’s bottom line.
With many policies, owners pay the veterinarian upfront and then submit a claim to their insurer for reimbursement. That means having insurance doesn’t necessarily eliminate the need for some emergency savings or another way to cover the initial bill.
A young or healthy pet can make insurance feel unnecessary
When a pet is young and healthy, there may be little reason to expect a major veterinary bill, making a monthly insurance premium feel unnecessary.
But a young pet can still have a costly accident or illness. Unexpected emergencies can get expensive quickly. The average emergency veterinary visit can cost anywhere from $250 to $8,000, according to data from medical financing company CareCredit.
Treatment costs for foreign-body ingestion — the kind of emergency that can happen when a curious puppy swallows something it shouldn’t — have increased about 45% since 2020, according to Healthy Paws claims data. An intestinal blockage can cost up to $10,000 to treat.
Peace of mind can be difficult to measure
“Pet insurance… is more [of] an investment in peace of mind,” Rebell says.
That can be difficult to put a dollar value on, especially if your pet stays healthy and you never have to file a claim. But for owners who would struggle to cover a large veterinary bill, knowing that some of those costs could be reimbursed may be worth the monthly premium.
Money and Healthy Paws found that pet parents report being stressed when faced with unexpected costs. Almost 1 in 5 of those surveyed said a surprise vet bill of any amount would create a major strain.
“This is really more of a risk tolerance question than a purely financial one,” Rebell notes.
Your pet paw-sitively needs Healthy Paws
More from Money
Is Pet Insurance Worth It in 2026? What the Data Shows
More Pet Owners Are Going Into Debt to Pay Vet Bills. Here’s Why That’s Risky
How Breed and Age Impact the Cost of Pet Insurance
Liliana Hall is an Austin-based reporter for Money, where she covers a range of topics, including financial news, policy, banking, investing, passive income, financial planning and student loan debt. Passionate about accessibility and financial literacy, she’s dedicated to helping readers navigate the complexities of money management and feel empowered to make informed decisions about their financial futures. Previously, Liliana covered all angles of personal finance as a writer and editor at CreditCards.com, Bankrate and CNET. Before she ever wrote about money, she worked in a handful of newsrooms across Austin, Texas, covering everything from the Texas Legislature to SXSW and the 2019 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Her work has been featured in The Daily Texan, Austin Chronicle and KUT. A Texas native, Liliana graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. When she’s offline, you can probably find her paddle boarding on Lady Bird Lake, riding her moped around town or reading for her book club.