MetLife Pet Insurance California Review

From Pet Insurance Wiki · last updated 14 Oct 2026 from public rate filings

Part of the MetLife review · Pet insurance in California

MetLife inCACaliforniaChange state

Your dogBreedAge at enrollmentFrench Bulldog · puppy, under 115 years of cover

Prices and ratings on this page are for the French Bulldog, enrolled as a puppy. Turn on JavaScript to choose your dog's breed and age.

MetLife is administered by MetLife Pet Insurance Solutions LLC and underwritten in California by Metropolitan General Insurance Company. At filed rates the French Bulldog costs $248 a month at age 2 and $1,039 at age 12; the 15-year total is $103,536.^[1] The last approved increase was +36.9%, against +40.0% requested, effective 26 Mar 2026.^[1]

Coverage

Policy form PET21-01-V per the actuarial memorandum in filing 25-2234. Waiting periods from MetLife's FAQ (0 days for accidents, 14 days for illnesses); no separate orthopedic period is stated, so orthopedic illness follows the 14-day illness period. No upper enrollment age (memorandum, section 9), but the underwriting guidelines in 25-2234 limit dogs 12 or older at inception to a $500-$2,000 limit and 50-80% reimbursement; unlimited is offered to dogs 0-11 at inception (the guidelines do not define inception, and the memorandum, section 3, says each insured renews at the rates and options available on the renewal date). 100% reimbursement is offered only with limits of $5,000 or less. A pre-existing condition endorsement for pets switching from another insurer is offered only through the employer-group channel. Coverage flags are omitted: the California policy form and any exam waiver of the illness waiting period were not reviewed. Minimum enrollment age not stated in the sources.

Scores in California [sort by any column · click a brand for the breakdown]

Scores in California: scores A to F out of 10, weighted total, lifetime cost for the dog chosen above and coverage score. Column headers sort the table; brand buttons open the score breakdown.

1		3.1	2.4	10.0	0.0	7.0	n/d	3.8	$103,536	n/d
Score breakdown for MetLife A. Lifetime cost3.1 B. Age curve2.4 C. Generosity (loss ratio)10.0 D. Rate increases0.0 E. Price structure7.0 F. Customer treatmentno data Coverage (separate)no data Underwriter Metropolitan General Insurance Company Last filing 25-2234 · +36.9% Dog French Bulldog, 15-year cost Age 12 vs age 2 4.2× ($248 → $1,039/mo) No tenure factor; breed-and-age factor re-rated at every renewal; direct-to-consumer channel factor 1.184 against 1.000 for employer groups; $3 monthly installment fee and a one-time $12 enrollment fee; deductible drops $50 for each claim-free year and resets after a paid claim other than preventive care (2021 sample of form PET21-01-V); renewal increase capped at 80% for one year Full MetLife California review →

Re-weight the scales yourself · total is a weighted average over scales with data (methodology v1)

A Lifetime cost25%B Age curve20%C Generosity (loss ratio)15%D Rate increases20%E Price structure10%F Customer treatment10%

F (customer treatment) has no data yet for California, so its weight changes nothing until that data is in. Coverage is scored separately and never counted in the total.

Why these scores

D. Rate increases 0.0: Exhibit 20 of filing 25-2234 puts 50,855 of 87,526 California policies (58%) in rate-change bands of +30% or more under the approved +36.9%.
E. Price structure 7.0: The approved rate manual in filing 25-2234 has no tenure factor and a $3 monthly installment fee, and the Healthy Pet Incentive in the 2021 sample of form PET21-01-V (the form named in the 25-2234 memorandum) and in MetLife's FAQ cuts the deductible by $50 only after a claim-free year.
F. Customer treatment no data: Neither filing 25-2234 nor the other sources we reviewed show a mass non-renewal or a regulator penalty against Metropolitan General Insurance Company. The filing's statutory data count 4,817 non-renewed policies in 2024 against 69,825 in force at year end, without saying who initiated them.

How each scale is computed: methodology.^[2]

Price by age

From filing 25-2234, effective 26 Mar 2026, priced at the unlimited limit. 15-year total $103,536 at today's filed rates.^[1]

All numbers: MetLife, monthly premium by age

MetLife: monthly premium by age, french bulldog, male, enrolled at 0, $1,000 deductible, 90%, unlimited limit, filed rates effective 26 Mar 2026
Age	$/month	$/year
0	$273	$3,273
1	$248	$2,974
2	$248	$2,974
3	$248	$2,974
4	$251	$3,016
5	$315	$3,779
6	$379	$4,545
7	$472	$5,660
8	$584	$7,013
9	$667	$8,009
10	$774	$9,282
11	$897	$10,758
12	$1,039	$12,469
13	$1,091	$13,094
14	$1,143	$13,716
Total over 15 years	$103,536

Compared with other brands in California

Monthly premium for the French Bulldog in California at filed rates, before any future increases. Drag the slider to see what you pay at each birthday.

Pet's age: 8

Future rate increases

Filed rates: ASPCA, Pumpkin, Spot 25-613 · Embrace 26-812 · Fetch 25-2417 · Lemonade 23-3248 · MetLife 25-2234 · Trupanion 25-2461. Dashed: proposed, filed but not yet approved (Embrace, effective 1 Feb 2027). No rate pages read yet: Figo, Healthy Paws, Nationwide.

All numbers: monthly premium by age, French Bulldog, none (filed rates)

Age	ASPCA	Embrace	Fetch	Lemonade	MetLife	Pumpkin	Spot	Trupanion
0	$122	$195	$126	$86	$273	$122	$122	$196
1	$122	$137	$128	$77	$248	$122	$122	$196
2	$122	$158	$145	$75	$248	$122	$122	$196
3	$122	$181	$164	$75	$248	$122	$122	$196
4	$127	$209	$196	$85	$251	$127	$127	$196
5	$157	$240	$233	$102	$315	$157	$157	$196
6	$181	$276	$277	$120	$379	$181	$181	$196
7	$213	$317	$327	$148	$472	$213	$213	$196
8	$268	$364	$386	$179	$584	$268	$268	$196
9	$305	$418	$455	$217	$667	$305	$305	$196
10	$364	$482	$535	$258	$774	$364	$364	$196
11	$417	$554	$627	$306	$897	$417	$417	$196
12	$481	$637	$734	$330	$1,039	$481	$481	$196
13	$481	$732	$857	$330	$1,091	$481	$481	$196
14	$529	$842	$998	$330	$1,143	$529	$529	$196

Rate filings

MetLife's own figures where one filing sets different increases for different brands; the California page lists each filing's headline figures.

Filing	Effective	Status	Requested	Approved	Indicated	Loss ratio	Permissible LR	Source
25-2234	26 Mar 2026	approved	+40.0%	+36.9%	+41.4%	92% actual (2025)	66%	source [1]

Notes on these filings (1)

25-2234: California Department of Insurance file 25-2234 (SERFF META-134710068), submitted 20 October 2025, approved 24 March 2026, effective 26 March 2026 for new and renewal policies. MetLife asked for +40.0% on an indication of +41.1% (later +41.4%) using trend and development variances; CDI rejected the trend variance, computed a maximum of +36.9%, and MetLife revised its manual to that level. The actual loss ratio is from the CDI ratemaking data page: California direct earned premium $55,250,747 and paid losses $51,001,165 at 12 months of development (no DCCE reported) for the 12 months 2024 Q3 to 2025 Q2, 92.3% before loss development. Developed to ultimate in the filing's Exhibit 7 (factor 1.134, $57,856,246), the same year's loss ratio is 104.7%. Permissible loss ratio 66%: expenses 32% plus profit 2% (expense exhibit and manual). The previous change, +20%, took effect on 11 July 2025 (SERFF META-134410950). A later MetLife rate filing, CDI 26-1256 (+7.6% requested), appeared on WARFF and was not reviewed. Rates are from the approved manual (revised 26 February 2026). The illness and injury base loss cost rose from $59.41 to $81.26 (+36.8%); the area factor for ZIP prefix 900 rose from 1.002 to 1.132, and the French Bulldog breed and age factors were also revised. The price shown is for a dog bought directly from MetLife Pet (distribution channel factor 1.184). Employees who buy through an employer benefit, owners who adopt from a MetLife shelter partner and other channels get 1.000, and employees may also get a 10% employer group discount. Discounts are left out, including the $1-a-month internet purchase discount. The $3 installment fee is added to each monthly payment. The $12 enrollment fee is charged once, on the first 12-month policy, so lifetime totals leave it out. Unlimited cover is offered only to dogs 0-11 years old at inception; dogs 12 or older get $500-$2,000 limits and at most 80%. The filing does not say whether a dog enrolled young keeps unlimited cover and 90% after it turns 12: the underwriting guidelines tie the limits to the dog's age 'at inception', and the actuarial memorandum says each insured renews at 'the then current approved rates and options available to them on their renewal date'. Prices shown for ages 12 and over assume the original options continue. The manual also says renewal rates are capped for one year at 80% before moving to the full filed rate.

References

1.↑California Department of Insurance, WARFF. Metropolitan General Insurance Company, Pet Health Insurance Program, rate filing 25-2234. Effective 26 Mar 2026. Requested +40.0%, approved +36.9%, indicated +41.4%. source
2.↑Pet Insurance Wiki, Rating methodology, version 1. methodology

History

14 Oct 2026Clarified the 80% renewal cap in filing 25-2234: it limits a renewal increase for one year only, and any change to the policy cancels it. Corrected the Healthy Pet Incentive note: the policy sample and the visible FAQ give $50; only the FAQ's hidden search markup says "$25 or $50", and neither filing 25-2234 nor the Florida disclosure mentions the incentive.
14 Oct 2026Added BBB and Trustpilot ratings checked on 13 October 2026
13 Oct 2026Corrected the age rule for unlimited limits to the filing's "at inception" wording, added a source to every coverage fact, and explained the +41.4% indication, the 92.3% loss ratio, the family plan minimum premium and the employer group discount
13 Oct 2026First draft from California filing 25-2234 and the Florida disclosure PET-DISC-2023