Is pet insurance worth it?
Insurance is a bet on a bad year. This shows the size of vet bill at which a typical accident & illness policy pays for itself, using the industry's average premium adjusted for your state.
What a claim returns
| Vet bill | Insurer pays | Net of premium |
|---|---|---|
| $1,500 | — | — |
| $5,000 | — | — |
| $10,000 | — | — |
"Net of premium" is what you are ahead by in a year with that one claim. Most years have no large claim — that is the premium you pay for the years that do.
Reading the result
The average US dog owner reported about $474 a year on surgical vet visits in the APPA 2025 survey — below the break-even for most policies. But that average hides the shape of the risk: many owners pay nothing, a few pay thousands. Whether insurance is "worth it" depends on whether you could absorb a $5,000 bill without changing the treatment decision. If not, the premium buys that certainty.
The premium is NAPHIA's US average annual accident & illness premium for dogs ($836, 2025 data), multiplied by the state's services price level. Real quotes vary with the dog's age and breed and the insurer's rating; younger dogs of breeds with fewer recorded conditions quote lower. Pre-existing conditions are excluded by every insurer.