Chewy Pet Insurance Review 2025

CarePlus by Chewy is a newbie on the pet care market, with pet insurance and wellness plans offered through partner provider Trupanion and Lemonade Pet. American Pet Insurance Company underwrites CarePlus plans.

Business Insider compared Chewy to the best pet insurance companies and found it to lag behind the rest of the industry, lacking the flexibility necessary to cover a wide range of pet needs.

Pros and Cons

Chewy Pet Insurance Pros

• 100% prescription medicine coverage on some policies
• Free video consultations
• Trupanion policies can cover 100% of veterinary diet food for 120 to 180 days.
• Trupanion policies can pay vets upfront
• Trupanion policies have 14-day ligament issue waiting period
• 5-10% multi-pet insurance, depending on which pet insurance you choose
• Wellness plans can be purchased independent of insurance policies

Chewy Pet Insurance Cons

• Chewy does not offer its own policies
• Inflexible annual limits and coinsurance
• High premiums on Trupanion policies
• Wellness does not have coverage for spaying/neutering
• Lemonade policies only available in 37 states
• No curable pre-existing condition coverage for Trupanion policies

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Chewy Pet Insurance Overview

Chewy is a well-known online retailer for pet supplies and food. It branched out into pet insurance in 2022 through partnerships with Trupanion and Lemonade, more established pet insurance providers.

Chewy offers four plans that increase in coverage, two cheaper plans provided by Lemonade, and two more expensive plans provided by Trupanion. These plans aren't much different than plans you'd find by going directly to its partners. The main benefit that Chewy adds is free video consultations and 100% prescription medicine reimbursement on some of its plans.

The trade-off for these benefits is a lack of policy flexibility, which is unfortunate as policy flexibility is one of Lemonade's best features. Reimbursement levels and coverage limits are pre-set and customers can choose a deductible of $250, $500, or $1,000. Additionally, Chewy doesn't offer many of the optional riders available with its partners.

Chewy's policies also wildly uneven across tiers. Lemonade and Trupanion are extremely different services, on opposite ends of the cost spectrum. Shopping for a Chewy policy feels less like you're looking at one pet insurance option, but choosing between two very different insurance companies.

Ultimately, we found very little reason to buy pet insurance through Chewy instead of simply buying a policy directly with its partners.

Chewy Pet Insurance Plans and Coverage

Chewy pet insurance offers one accident-only plan and three accident and illness plans: Value, Essential Plus, and Complete. These plans are offered through partnerships with Lemonade and Trupanion, not Chewy itself. 

We'll go through Chewy's plans by focusing on policies offered by Lemonade and Trupanion separately, as policy details hinge on which partnership policy you choose.

Lemonade Plans Through Chewy

Lemonade pet insurance is known for its policy's flexibility and its discount options. Lemonade is responsible for Chewy's accident-only plan and Base and Value accident and illness plans. Plan availability varies based on your location and your pet's age and breed.

Customers have deductible options of $250, $500, and $1,000 for all Chewy policies. Additionally, all Chewy policies include free video consultations

Accident-only: Lemonade's accident-only plan through Chewy offers unlimited coverage with 100% reimbursements on accident-related prescription medicine and 80% reimbursements on accident-related surgeries, tests, and treatments.

Chewy Base: Lemonade's Base plan offers accident and illness coverage with a $20,000 annual limit and 70% reimbursement on medicine, treatments, tests, and surgeries. 

Chewy Value: Lemonade's Base plan offers accident and illness coverage with a $20,000 annual limit and 80% reimbursement on medicine, treatments, tests, and surgeries. It also offers coverage for vet exam fees.

Lemonade does not cover certain dental issues, therapy for physical or behavioral conditions, or prescription food. It also doesn't cover pre-existing medical conditions. However, certain curable pre-existing conditions are no longer considered pre-existing if your pet is treatment- and symptom-free for 12 months.

Trupanion Plans Through Chewy

Trupanion pet insurance is responsible for Chewy's upper-tier Essential Plus and Complete policies. Once again, all policies have deductible options of $250, $500, and $1,000 and video consultations.

Chewy Essential Plus: Trupanion offers accident and illness coverage with unlimited coverage and 90% reimbursement on surgeries, hospital stays, and tests. It offers 100% reimbursement on prescription medicine and coverage for dental illnesses. However, it lacks the vet exam fee coverage that Chewy's Value plan provides.

Chewy Complete: Like the Essential Plus plan, Chewy's Complete plan offers accident and illness coverage with unlimited coverage and 90% reimbursement on surgeries, hospital stays, and tests. It offers 100% reimbursement on prescription medicine and coverage for dental illnesses, vet exam fees, and therapy for behavioral and physical issues.

All Trupanion policies bought through Chewy offer 100% reimbursement for veterinary diet food for 120 days for Essential Plus and 180 for Complete. They also cover orthotic and prosthetic devices. 

On the other hand, Trupanion policies don't cover pre-existing conditions, regardless of whether they are curable or incurable. 

Wellness (Preventive Care) Plan

As the name suggests, wellness plans reimburse some of the costs associated with specific preventive procedures for your dog or cat, such as annual check-ups, vaccinations, blood tests, and pest prevention. Chewy offers two wellness plans through Trupanion: Wellness and Comprehensive. The policies offer $299 and $455 in annual benefits, respectively.

Benefits for these plans are as follows:

CarePlus vets can answer pet health questions via chat between 6 a.m. and midnight EST, seven days a week.

How Much Does Chewy Pet Insurance Cost?

Pet owners who purchase coverage for multiple pets can enjoy a 10% discount on CarePlus by Chewy premiums for either wellness or insurance plans.

To get a better idea of how much Chewy pet insurance costs, we'll look at how much a pet owner living in New York City would pay in pet insurance premiums. We chose New York City for our quotes because it is one of the most expensive places to receive vet care, which insurance premiums will reflect. Your premiums will likely be lower than the prices below.

Business Insider acquired the following dog insurance quotes for a Chewy Value plan with a $500 deductible, 80% reimbursement, and $20,000 annual limit:

Let's go over premiums for a New York City cat covered under a Chewy Value plan with a $500 deductible, 80% coinsurance, and $20,000 annual limit:

As you can see from the quotes above, pet medical coverage from Chewy can be affordable for younger pets. It's also worth noting that there is a sizeable gap between Chewy's Lemonade and Trupanion policies.

Factors Affecting Chewy Premiums

Pet insurance premiums depend on a variety of factors, both out of and within your control. Most significantly, your premiums vary based on where you live, your pet's breed, and your pet's age. If you live in a city where pet care is expensive, your premiums will be higher. 

You can also customize your policy by choosing lighter coverage, choosing a lower reimbursement level, coverage limit, and a higher deductible. Or, you can simply choose a cheaper pet insurance company. 

How to Purchase and Manage a Chewy Pet Insurance Policy

To purchase a Chewy pet insurance policy, you'll need to obtain a quote on its website. Be prepared to provide your pet's name, species, breed, age, sex, and whether your pet is neutered/spayed. If you have a mixed breed pet, you'll also have to provide your pet's weight.

You'll also provide several details about yourself, such as your birthday and your address, as your location is one of the most important factors when pet insurance companies calculate your premiums.

It's also worth noting that to choose a Trupanion plan, your pet must have been seen by a vet within the last 12 months.

Plans require you to wait a few days after enrollment before filing an eligible claim. Here's what you need to know about each type of plan and its associated waiting periods.

Chewy's wellness policies do not have a waiting period. Therefore, you can begin filing claims for eligible preventive care as soon as you enroll in the plan.

Chewy Pet Insurance Claims Process

CarePlus by Chewy's insurance partnership with Trupanion Pet Insurance can be a boon for pet owners since some veterinarians can accept payment directly through Trupanion. If your vet has a Trupanion account, you'll pay your portion of the vet invoice when leaving the office, and Chewy CarePlus will handle the rest.

If your vet doesn't have a Trupanion account, you can go to your member portal or mail a copy of your itemized invoice to Trupanion.

Member portal: Submit a digital claim through the My Pet Health dashboard

Mailing address:

Trupanion
6000 4th Avenue South
Suite 200
Seattle, WA 98108.

Coverage offered in partnership with Lemonade can be managed through the Lemonade app, which you'll be prompted to download after setting up your policy. To file a claim, choose "File a Claim" in the Lemonade app and upload your invoice. The company says about half of all claims are settled instantly.

If you have questions, you can reach Chewy's insurance customer service team 24 hours a day, seven days a week:

Phone: 1-800-672-4399 x44480 to reach the CarePlus insurance team

Email: Contact Chewy's customer service team through this link

Chat: Chewy's live chat team is very responsive and timely. You can either click on the "24/7 help" chat at the top right corner of the Chewy.com website or scroll to the bottom and click on the relevant icon.

Chewy Pet Insurance Customer Service and Claims Experience

Chewy has an average of 3.5 stars on its Trustpilot page. However, these pertain to Chewy's retail customer experience, not its pet insurance. 

Because Lemonade and Trupanion process claims from Chewy policies, it's best to look at how those companies are rated.

Lemonade, has overwhelmingly positive reviews on Trustpilot, receiving an average of 4.4 stars out of five. That said, it's important to note that reviews pertain to all of Lemonade's products, not just its pet insurance. Customers were happy with Lemonade's claims process, reporting fast claims processing and payouts. Lemonade was also quick to answer any questions that customers had. 

Lemonade's responsiveness to customer reviews is also encouraging. The insurance provider usually responds to reviews within a day or so, making it a reliable way to contact the company.

Similarly, Trupanion has mostly positive reviews on Trustpilot, receiving an average of 4.1 stars. Trupanion is known for its quick claims processing. On the other hand, most negative reviews pertained to increasing premiums and issues with pre-existing conditions. While Trupanion says that it doesn't increase premiums based on pet ages or policy usage, customers reported steep increases year over year. 

Numbers aside, Trupanion makes an effort to respond to negative reviews on its Trustpilot and BBB pages. A Trupanion customer service representative usually responds to negative reviews within one to two days, sometimes even within a few hours. 

Chewy Pet Insurance Alternatives

Below, see how Chewy compares to three other options for pet insurance coverage: Healthy Paws, Pumpkin, and Lemonade.

Chewy vs. Healthy Paws Pet Insurance

Comparing Healthy Paws Pet Insurance and Chewy can be difficult, as Chewy's benefits are completely different depending on which partner policy you choose. 

Generally speaking, both Chewy and Healthy Paws aren't very flexible. All Healthy Paws policies have unlimited coverage, which is helpful for pets that need a lot of care, though it drives up premiums. Chewy benefits and coverage levels are tied together. So if you want a lower annual limit and reimbursement level, you'll also have to choose a plan with fewer benefits.

With that said, Healthy Paws policies are more expensive than Lemonade policies through Chewy and cover more. However, it offer fewer benefits than Trupanion policies through Chewy, but costs far less.

Healthy Paws does not offer a wellness plan option, while Chewy does. However, Chewy's wellness plans may be more trouble than simply paying out of pocket since the payout limits for each covered activity are relatively low. Ultimately, you save money if you use the full benefits. But a claim must be filed, resulting in inconvenience every time you utilize one of the covered services.

Read our Healthy Paws pet insurance review.

Chewy vs. Pumpkin Pet Insurance

Pumpkin Pet Insurance and Chewy CarePlus offer multi-policy discounts for pet parents with multiple fur babies. Pumpkin offers a flat 90% reimbursement rate on all eligible claims, while Chewy CarePlus offers options with 70% or 90% reimbursement tiers. 

However, it also provides coverage for dental illnesses and behavioral issues. Pet owners can also get reimbursed for treatments like prescription medication and surgery. It also provides coverage for end-of-life services and prescription foods for covered conditions, which isn't common among pet insurance providers.

Once again, Pumpkin policies are more expensive than Lemonade policies through Chewy and cover more. However, it offers roughly the same coverage as Trupanion policies through Chewy, but costs far less.

Read our Pumpkin pet insurance review.

Chewy vs. Lemonade Pet Insurance

Lemonade Pet Insurance is one of the cheapest pet insurance companies in the industry. Lemonade and Chewy launched a partnership in Spring 2023. Buying a Lemonade policy through Chewy gives you access to Chewy's video consultation feature, which isn't available in standalone Lemonade policies.

However, when you buy a Lemonade policy directly, you have far more coverage options, such as various riders that offer benefits like dental issue coverage, wellness, physical therapy, and end-of-life coverage. Additionally, Lemonade offers a wide range of coverage levels, with annual benefits ranging from $5,000 to $100,000. 

Lemonade's wellness plan also offers more than Chewy's, with coverage for spaying/neutering and microchipping. Lemonade's wellness plan is also cheaper than Chewy's.

Read our Lemonade pet insurance review.

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Chewy Pet Insurance

To gather information for this Chewy review, Business Insider analyzed and compared similar pet insurance plans from dozens of providers offering this coverage in the United States. Factors we compared include annual and lifetime limits, per-incident limits, deductibles offered, and company perks. We also compared companies based on wellness plan offerings, when applicable.

In addition to facts gathered from pet insurers, we searched for user reviews and complaints to get a feel for the company's claims process. We rely on independent sites not connected to individual pet insurers to get the most objective perspective.

You can read more about Business Insider's pet insurance rating methodology. 

FAQs About Chewy Pet Insurance

Katherine Fan

Correspondent, Credit Cards

Katherine Fan is a personal finance expert, journalist, and public speaker with almost 10 years of industry experience. She began her career in tech before transitioning to journalism in 2015. Katherine currently serves as Personal Finance Insider's correspondent for credit card coverage. Before joining Business Insider as Senior Editor of Credit Cards, Katherine covered aviation, award travel, loyalty programs, and credit cards as a senior reporter for The Points Guy, and small business finances as a lead writer for Nerdwallet. Katherine has also freelanced for major media publications such as Bankrate, CreditCards.com, the Dallas Morning News, LendingTree, Upgraded Points, and Slickdeals Money. Her work has been syndicated by Nasdaq, MSN, and Yahoo. ExperienceKatherine has published more than 1,800 articles, guides, and reviews covering credit card benefits and rewards, small business finances, points and miles travel, loyalty programs, and real estate investing. Katherine has been a speaker at TravelCon and a guest on multiple podcasts including NPR Life Kit, Expedia's Out Travel the System, and The Points Guy's Miles Away. In her spare time, Katherine moonlights as a photojournalist covering Formula 1, Austin City Limits, and SXSW for the Austin American-Statesman and other media outlets. When she's not jetsetting around the world, you'll likely find her in Austin cooking up a batch of spicy Chinese food.ExpertiseKatherine's expertise encompasses:

• Small business finances
• Credit cards
• Points and miles travel
• Travel insurance
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Katherine's interest in personal finance extends to her own interests. Despite a salary of just $28,000 a year from her first full-time job, Katherine built an excellent credit score of 805 from scratch through hard work [and privilege], which allowed her to purchase her first home six years after graduating from college. She's since added five more doors to her real estate portfolio, although she plans to retire on her index fund investments.Thanks to credit card travel rewards, Katherine has flown well over one million miles visiting 44 countries across all seven continents. She's sailed with orcas in Antarctica, flown home in first class from Japan, photographed a wedding at Hobbiton in New Zealand, and gone on safari in South Africa. But her most meaningful trips always bring her home to loved ones in Taiwan. EducationKatherine holds dual degrees in photojournalism and Asian American studies from the University of Texas at Austin, and a certificate in business Chinese proficiency from National Taiwan University. She began her professional career in tech as a software sales executive for seven years before returning to her media roots. 

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Evelyn He

Compliance and Operations Associate

Evelyn He is a compliance and operations associate for Business Insider’s Personal Finance team. Evelyn ensures content accuracy and editorial independence so readers get the most up-to-date and objective financial advice, enabling them to make informed financial decisions.ExperienceAs part of the compliance team, Evelyn helps fact check Personal Finance stories and works to make sure that the language is clear, precise, and compliant with government regulations and partner guidelines. Previously, Evelyn worked as a compliance specialist for Apellis Pharmaceuticals and a legal assistant at the law firm Morrison Mahoney.ExpertiseEvelyn is an expert in the following areas:

• Compliance
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EducationEvelyn earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UMass Amherst and a master’s in marketing from Boston University.Evelyn has two dogs, Money and Tibber.

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