Plan types
Accident-only vs accident-and-illness vs wellness
People mix these up and then discover the policy will not pay for the thing they bought it for. Read the product type before you compare deductibles.
| Accident-only | Accident and illness | Wellness / preventive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pays for | Unexpected injuries: broken bones, lacerations, toxin ingestion, swallowed objects, hit-by-car. Embrace also lists bloat on its accident-only FAQ. | Eligible new accidents and eligible new illnesses: infections, cancer, diabetes, allergies, hereditary conditions that are not pre-existing — after waiting periods. | Expected routine care: exams, vaccines, sometimes dental cleaning, spay/neuter, fecal tests. Often a schedule or allowance, not open medical reimbursement. |
| Does not pay for | Cancer, diabetes, arthritis, infections, BOAS surgery as illness. | Pre-existing conditions. Preventive care unless you add wellness. | ACL repair, cancer, ER surgery. Wellness is not medical insurance. |
| Typical wait | Accident wait only (0–14 days depending on carrier/state). | Accident wait plus illness wait (often 14–15 days) plus a longer orthopedic/cruciate wait at some carriers. | Often none. Lemonade preventative packages and Pets Best wellness: usable when the policy/add-on activates. Verify on the quote form. |
| When it shows up | Older pets (Embrace 15+), severe chronic pre-existing cases (Pets Best may default to Accident Only), or a cheaper injury-only budget. | The default product people mean by “pet insurance.” | Optional add-on. Embrace: not sold standalone. |
What each listed carrier actually offers
| Carrier | Accident-only | Wellness |
|---|---|---|
| Lemonade | Lemonade’s public pet pages describe accident-and-illness as the base plan, with optional preventative-care packages. We did not find a standalone accident-only product on the pages we fetched. Verify on the quote form. | Optional Preventative Care Packages. Lemonade says those benefits can be used as soon as the policy activates (no wait). |
| Embrace | Yes, for pets 15+ (and as a basic option). Embrace’s FAQ: $5,000 annual reimbursement, $100 deductible, 90% reimbursement — those parameters are not flexible. Covers events such as bloat, foreign-body ingestion, hit-by-car, poisoning, lacerations. | Optional Wellness Care / Wellness Rewards — a non-insurance membership plan, not available standalone. No waiting period for routine care with Wellness Rewards, per third-party summaries; confirm on the quote form. |
| Fetch | Fetch’s public pages we fetched describe accident-and-illness as the core plan plus optional wellness. We did not verify a standalone accident-only product. Verify on the quote form. | Optional Fetch Wellness endorsement (insurance, not a separate ‘wellness program’): annual exams, vaccines, dental cleanings, spay/neuter, flea/tick/heartworm prevention, per Fetch’s coverage page. |
| Pets Best | Yes. Pets Best Accident Only plans cover unexpected injuries, not illnesses such as cancer or diabetes. Pets Best says Accident Only plans start at $9/month for dogs and $6/month for cats regardless of age and breed ($10 / $7 in WA) — that is Pets Best’s published starting price, not a personalized quote. Wellness can be added to Accident Only. | Optional EssentialWellness or BestWellness. Pets Best: no deductible; coverage begins the day after you enroll. Routine exams, vaccines, teeth cleaning. |
| Trupanion | Trupanion’s public US pages we reviewed describe a medical insurance product (injury and illness) with no annual limit in marketing copy. We did not verify a separate accident-only plan. Verify on the quote form. | Trupanion does not market a wellness/preventive add-on on the pages we compared (Fetch’s public comparison states Trupanion does not offer wellness coverage). Verify on the quote form. |
| Spot | Spot offers accident-and-illness and accident-only products (both are named on the CA disclosure page). Details of accident-only limits: verify on the quote form. | Optional preventive-care endorsement. Spot’s CA notice lists Gold and Platinum preventive schedules (wellness exam, vaccines, dental cleaning or spay/neuter, etc.). Preventive benefits on that page are paid to a schedule, not as open medical reimbursement. |
Do not buy wellness for an ACL
A 9-year-old Frenchie with a prior cruciate does not get that surgery paid by wellness. Accident-and-illness will not pay it either if it is pre-existing. Accident-only will not pay a future illness. The remaining use of a new policy, if you buy one, is future unrelated accidents and (if you buy accident-and-illness) future unrelated illnesses after waits. That may or may not be worth a premium. We will not tell you which.
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Sources (fetched 30 August 2026)
Facts below come from official public carrier pages. Waiting periods, age caps, and premiums change by state and over time. Label anything operational as stale-prone: verify on the quote form.
- Lemonade: Lemonade — pre-existing conditions · Lemonade — waiting periods · Lemonade — Golden Retriever page · Lemonade — French Bulldog page
- Embrace: Embrace — coverage FAQ · Embrace — dog insurance · Embrace — waiting periods · Embrace — orthopedic waiting period
- Fetch: Fetch — pre-existing conditions · Fetch — coverage
- Pets Best: Pets Best — coverage · Pets Best — FAQ
- Trupanion: Trupanion — pre-existing conditions FAQ · Trupanion — get a quote (age copy on form)
- Spot: Spot — pre-existing conditions · Spot — CA insurer disclosure · Spot — older pets