Pet insurance in New Jersey

What changes on 1 January 2027

Until the end of 2026 pet insurance in New Jersey falls under the general insurance laws: no state law caps its waiting periods or defines a pre-existing condition. On 12 January 2026 the governor signed the Pet Insurance Act (P.L. 2025, c. 224, N.J.S.A. 17:46D-3 to 17:46D-11). It takes effect on 1 January 2027. It follows the NAIC Pet Insurance Model Act, a template law that state regulators wrote for states to copy. The Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) enforces it.

From 1 January 2027:

• No waiting period for accidents. Illnesses and orthopedic conditions not caused by an accident can wait at most 30 days.
• Coverage starts by 12:01 a.m. on the second calendar day after purchase. The exceptions are individual underwriting of the pet, setting up payment, and employer plans. A policy with no illness waiting period can start up to 15 days later, but only if no premium is charged for that time.
• One definition of a pre-existing condition (an illness the pet had before the policy). It is a condition for which, before the policy started or during a waiting period, a vet gave advice, the pet was treated, or the pet had signs or symptoms “directly related” to the condition claimed. To deny a claim as pre-existing, the insurer must prove that the exclusion applies.
• A covered condition does not become pre-existing at renewal. A renewal is a new policy from the same or an affiliated insurer with similar coverage. The insurer cannot require a vet exam to renew.
• A disclosure document. The insurer links an “Insurer Disclosure of Important Policy Provisions” from its home page and gives you a copy in 12-point type or larger with a new policy. Waiting periods must be disclosed before you buy. The document says whether the policy excludes pre-existing, hereditary, congenital and chronic conditions; what the waiting periods, deductible and limits are; whether the premium rises with age, after claims or when you move; and which company is the insurer if a brand sells the policy.
• 30 business days to return the policy. If you have not filed a claim, you get the whole premium back. Florida gives 30 calendar days.
• How claims are paid. The insurer describes its payment formula in the policy and on its website. If it caps bills at “usual and customary” local fees, it must explain how it sets them.
• Wellness is not insurance. A wellness plan cannot be sold as insurance, and you cannot be required to buy one to get a policy. Its price, payment and terms are separate.
• Agents are trained. An agent can sell pet insurance only after training on pre-existing conditions, waiting periods, hereditary and chronic conditions, rating and renewal.

The act has no separate rule for policies bought before 2027. Ask your insurer when your policy moves to the new terms.

What the law does not protect

• No exam waiver. Florida and the NAIC model require the insurer to waive the waiting period after a vet exam. New Jersey’s act does not. A wait of up to 30 days stays even if a vet confirms that the pet is healthy. Healthy Paws, Figo and PetPartners waive waiting periods after an exam on their own in the policies they filed for the new law, but those policies are not approved yet.
• No limit on exclusions. The act says it does not “prohibit or limit the types of exclusions” an insurer may use. Rules that cover a cured condition again after a symptom-free period are the insurer’s own choice.
• No time limit on the look-back. The insurer can use the pet’s whole vet history. One recorded symptom can be enough.
• Switching insurers starts from zero. Renewal protection works only with the same or an affiliated insurer. A new policy means new waiting periods and a new review of the history.
• No cap on rate increases. The act only makes the insurer disclose whether the premium depends on age, claims and address. A 25% annual cap does exist, but DOBI applies it when it reviews filings. It does not cancel an increase; it spreads it over several years (see below).

What the rate filings show

On 19 and 20 October and 31 October 2026 we read the rate filings and new policy forms of three insurers in SERFF: Independence American (Pumpkin, Spot, ASPCA, Figo, Pets Best, PetPartners), American Pet Insurance Company (Trupanion, Aflac) and Westchester Fire (Healthy Paws). We have not yet collected the filings of Nationwide, Embrace, Lemonade, MetLife and Fetch. Most 2026 filings were still under review on 20 October; we say where an increase is approved.

Increases

Healthy Paws’ base rate rose from $21.37 to $38.12 a month between 2021 and 2025, or 78%. The company itself tells the regulator it was allowed less than it needs: “only being allowed to take a 25% rate increase in our most recent filing (while the indication was 63.9%) and 15% in 2024”.

The Trupanion figure comes from the final version of the calculation; the decision page does not show a percentage. Its letter to customers says most will see +15% to +26%.

The company’s own calculation often shows more than it asks for. In Independence American’s decisions for 2021–2024 it was above the first request in 11 cases out of 14 and equal to it in three. It was above the result in 13 cases out of 14. In 2025 the request equalled the calculation at three of the four brands whose tables are in the files, and the gap appeared only during DOBI’s review. About the Pumpkin, Spot and ASPCA program the company wrote in 2025: “the full rate need was not approved in the prior submission.”

Increases 2021–2025

The results come from the companies’ own filings with the regulator. The files contain no DOBI letters stating an approved percentage. The year is when the increase took effect.

Trupanion’s +13.6% is visible only as a multiplier in the company’s table. Trupanion’s +14.2% and Pets Best’s +10.7% come from the final version of the filing. Pets Best 2.0’s +7.1% comes from the final version of the filing and the company’s later filings. The files give different figures for the calculated need, so we do not quote one.

Multiplying the average increases (our calculation): older Pets Best policies ×1.64 over 2021–2025, PetPartners ×1.65. Trupanion ×2.24 from October 2021 to October 2026, including +24.4% in 2026. Pets Best at American Pet Insurance ×2.06 from January 2022 to October 2025, ignoring the cap. This is an index of averages, not one customer’s price.

DOBI challenges the calculations. In May 2021 it wrote about older Pets Best policies: “You have implemented rate increases that total +65.1% from 2016 to 2020” (the question is quoted in the company’s reply). The company answered that it did not consider such growth unexpected or unusual. According to the company, on 22 February 2023 DOBI said by phone that it could approve the PetPartners filing at +15.1%, and the company cut its request from +22.3%. In 2024 PetPartners requested +25%; the result was +7.1%.

At Trupanion the calculation fell when the trend changed: in the 2024 filing the claims trend was cut from 16.3% to 8.6%, and the increase became +5.4% instead of +19.8%. At Pets Best in 2024 the trend was cut from 13.2% to 7.8%, and the increase became +34.7% instead of +65.1%.

The 25% cap is not the only thing that lowers an increase. All five Independence American increases that took effect in 2025 were requested below 25%, and each result still came in below the request. At Figo, PetPartners, older Pets Best policies and the Pumpkin, Spot and ASPCA program, only the selected-increase line changed in the final tables; the calculation stayed the same. Figo asked for +23.2%. On 4 February 2025 DOBI wrote: “Please revise the proposal as discussed with the Department on February 4th, 2025” (the question is quoted in the company’s reply). A week later the company filed +14%, left the calculation at +23.2%, and the filing was approved the next day. The filing does not say what was discussed or why the figure is 14%. In 2026 the company writes that in recent years it did not get adequate increases “due to state-mandated industry trend assumptions,” but it does not name this decision.

The 25% cap spreads increases out

In its questions to insurers, DOBI writes: “Individual policyholder premium increases resulting from company rate filings are limited to 25% on an annual basis for pet insurance in New Jersey.” The act has no such rule, and DOBI’s letters do not name its basis. When an increase above 10% is approved, the insurer must send customers a notice on how to save. Healthy Paws’ advice in it is to raise the deductible or your share of the bill, that is, to take worse cover.

The cap does not cancel an increase. Independence American’s rule for Pumpkin, Spot and ASPCA is already in force: filing IAIC-133917902 was approved on 15 July 2024 and the rates apply from 22 October 2024. The uncollected part reaches the full price by the fifth renewal: “Premiums are released to the ultimate level at the fifth policy renewal following the rate increase.” In 2025 the company asked to remove this rule, but it stayed in the approved version. By the company’s 2024 calculation, without the cap 1,507 of 25,812 policies (5.8%) would have risen by 25% or more, at most 130–135% for one policy. Trupanion: “Premiums will be capped at 25% on renewal”, and its letter to customers says only part of the increase may apply this year. Pets Best 2.0 asks for +49.1% and at the same time caps each renewal at 25%.

The cap itself has changed. In 2022 DOBI wrote to Trupanion about “New Jersey’s 20% cap.” Trupanion’s manual moved to 25% in spring 2023, for customers from 15 June 2023. The files give no reason. At Trupanion in 2022, with an average of +15%, the uncapped calculation ran from −35% to +115%. 26.3% of policies were above 20%, but at renewal the rise was limited to 20%.

The documents do not say whether price rises from age and tenure count toward the cap. Independence American’s current rule (filing IAIC-134434020, approved on 4 September 2025) leaves changes in “risk characteristics” uncapped; it does not name age or tenure.

A tenure surcharge and a claim-free discount

Independence American asks to add a tenure surcharge for Pumpkin, Spot and ASPCA (filing IAIC-134909117, under review). New Jersey has none today: the current factor is 1.000 everywhere. Proposed for dogs:

For cats it is 1.222 after 10 years. The company’s statistical model showed more for dogs: 1.818 after 10 years. The tenure factor multiplies the age factor.

From its countrywide data the company shows that long-time customers cost more: for dogs the share of premium paid out in claims rises from 56.6% in the first year to 78.1% after 10 years. This is the pet insurance trap at work: an owner whose dog got sick cannot leave, so over time the sick pets stay.

Pumpkin and Spot have no New Jersey dogs insured longer than 6 years yet. The high factors will hit ASPCA customers first.

Separately from tenure, Pumpkin, Spot, ASPCA and Figo ask to add a 10% discount for owners who were paid no claims in the past 12 months. Figo’s data: pets with no claims paid cost 37.5% of premium in claims, pets with claims 77.2%. At Figo, the 2,986 policies without the discount get the full +25%.

Age

In Healthy Paws’ 2021 to 2023 filings the price rises at every anniversary: by 5% a year until age 4, then by 10%, 15% and 20%, and from age 13 by 25% a year. A dog insured at age 1 costs 2.56 times as much at age 10 from age alone. The 2024 and 2026 filings do not include the table, so we do not know whether it still applies. In 2026 Westchester Fire filed a separate fixed-benefit program and says of it: “no age-related premium changes”.

At Pumpkin, Spot and ASPCA the current age factor for a dog is 0.649 at age 1 and 2.149 at age 10, 3.3 times as much. The 2026 filing (under review) asks for 0.730 and 2.316. Trupanion and Aflac price by age at enrollment, not current age.

Who stays with the insurer

Healthy Paws tells the regulator that rising claim frequency “can reflect adverse selection of retaining pets that have higher utilization than prior ones”. The number of insured pets fell 5.8% in 2025.

Pets Best’s older policies are closed to new customers: “This is a closed block of business with no new policies being issued.” No young pets join, and claim costs rise 17.7% a year. +10.7% has applied since 15 August 2025 (the filing was approved in December 2024); +16% is asked for 2026. In an example in the new rate manual (requested rates, not approved), an 11-year-old dog with a $5,000 annual limit and a $100 deductible costs $4,926.58 a year: nearly as much as the insurer can pay out in a year.

The number of insured pets in this book fell from 1,646 in May 2020 to 363 about five years later.

The calculated premium can exceed the limit. At DOBI’s request the company worked out the most expensive combination of factors in February 2022: a dog over 90 pounds, age 14, a $10,000 limit, 90% reimbursement, a $200 deductible. It came to $12,968.88 at Figo, $12,205.25 at PetPartners and $15,518.80 on older Pets Best policies. This is an extreme calculation, not a real policy.

Books move to other insurers

• Pets Best. New Pets Best 2.0 policies come from Independence American. The filing approved on 1 July 2024 says the company becomes the insurer “for new business only, and existing business will remain with APIC.” It gives no reason. American Pet Insurance’s 2025 manual still says “All dogs and cats are eligible for enrollment,” so we do not know whether that program is closed to new customers.
• Version 4. The program now sold by Pumpkin, Spot and ASPCA moved from United States Fire to Independence American. Its rates took effect on 1 August 2023.
• Petco. The 2025 filing contains a sample non-renewal letter dated 28 February 2024. Cover in it ends on 3 May 2024 because “the Petco Pet Insurance program is no longer underwritten by United States Fire Insurance Company.” The letter offers nothing else. The company says the relationship with Petco has ended. A change of insurer can end in a non-renewal rather than a transfer.
• PetFirst. Independence American writes: “No longer being marketed, and business is moving to another carrier.” The carrier is not named. The filings set aside 49.5% of premium for claims; in 2015–2020 the actual figure was 53–69%. The calculation showed +52.2% and +45.5%; the results were +10.4% and +13.2%.

New policies for the law: filed, not approved

Better than today:

• No waiting period for accidents. The orthopedic wait becomes 30 days. Today it is 6 months at Figo and Pets Best, 180 days at PetPartners, and 12 months for hip dysplasia at Healthy Paws.
• The definition of “pre-existing” comes from the act. It covers signs “directly related” to the condition.
• A vet exam can lift the waiting period. At Healthy Paws it always does. At Figo, PetPartners and Independence American’s group plans it is up to the insurer.

Worse or open to question:

• Trupanion replaces waiting periods with a 12-day “deferral”. For those days nothing is covered, accidents included. Today the injury wait is 5 days.
• Trupanion drops its promise to change the price no more than once in 12 months. Its letter to customers says: “we may change rates more frequently”.
• Trupanion can refuse a claim if it cannot get the vet records: “We may deny Your claim if We are unable to access Your Pet’s Medical Records at any time or for any reason”.
• Trupanion gives 30 days to return the policy. From 2027 the act requires 30 business days.
• Trupanion for Chewy Health keeps its own rule next to the statute’s definition: “Any conditions with an increased likelihood of occurring based on any previous signs, symptoms or abnormal laboratory results or tests, even if not noted in your pet’s medical records, regardless of a lack of diagnosis, will not be covered.” So it does not cover anything your pet is more likely to get, even with no diagnosis and nothing in the record.
• Figo no longer limits its review of acute conditions to the 12 months before the policy. Any knee problem before the policy starts excludes the knees for good. To renew a policy for a dog aged 8 or older or a cat aged 10 or older, you still have to follow the vet’s advice on senior tests.
• In accident-only policies of Figo and Independence American’s group plans, orthopedic injuries other than fractures are no longer covered. A similar change is already approved for Pumpkin, Spot and ASPCA; see the policy traps below.

When existing policies get the new terms:

• PetPartners: at the 2026 renewal;
• Independence American’s group plans: at the 2027 renewal;
• Healthy Paws: policies issued from 1 January 2027; it promises advance notice to other customers.

What New Jersey policies say today

We read the New Jersey sample policies on six brands’ websites on 17 October 2026. Most have waiting periods longer than the law will allow from 2027:

On older Pets Best policies, closed to new customers, the cruciate ligament waiting period is 1 year.

Only Fetch has already published a policy written for the new law (GPTM 050 PML NJ 0326 A, sample dated 21 September 2026). It uses the statute’s definitions and a 30-business-day refund.

For New Jersey, Embrace’s website shows its general terms (v6), the same as for Florida. They give 15 days to return the policy. Four canine orthopedic conditions (cruciate ligament disease, intervertebral disc disease, patellar luxation and hip dysplasia) that show signs in the first 180 days are excluded for the life of the policy. That is an exclusion, not a waiting period, and the law does not forbid it.

Healthy Paws does not cover hip dysplasia if the pet was 6 or older at enrollment. If the pet does not have a vet exam in time, the policy may be voided.

Traps in the fine print

• Raise your coverage, start again. At Pumpkin, Spot and ASPCA some changes count as a new enrollment: new waiting periods, and anything that happened before becomes pre-existing. At Pets Best, raising the limit or adding a rider ends the policy and starts a new one. At Embrace, any coverage increase restarts the illness wait and the pre-existing review.
• Only if you never claimed. At Fetch you can raise coverage only at renewal and only if you have never filed a claim. Healthy Paws lets you lower the deductible only if you have never claimed for that pet.
• The first exam widens “pre-existing”. Fetch adds to the statute’s definition anything found at the pet’s first exam. That exam can take place after the policy starts: the policy expects it within 30 days of the start, or as soon as possible after that. Something not in the record when you bought the policy can become an exclusion afterwards.
• Curable conditions: a year and an exam. At Fetch, a curable condition seen in the year before enrollment is excluded for 365 days. After that it is covered only if the pet has had an annual vet exam. If it comes back in the second year, it is excluded for life. Pumpkin, Spot and ASPCA set 180 days without treatment or symptoms, for curable conditions only, not knees and ligaments. The Pumpkin and Spot samples and the form in the filing approved on 4 September 2025 (PET-P-20000-NJ-1024) also expressly exclude chronic conditions: those that can be treated but not cured. ASPCA’s website has a sample of the older version (PET-P-20000-0723), which lacks this wording. The form does not name brands, so check your own policy for the version you have.
• Accident-only without the knee. For Pumpkin, Spot and ASPCA, the filing approved on 4 September 2025 (IAIC-134434020) removed knees and ligaments from these policies. The company calls this a “forms clarification,” yet it cut the base rate for dogs by 31.52%: that is the share of claims on such policies that went to knees and ligaments. The New Jersey form says knee and ligament problems are not an illness if the main cause is external blunt trauma. But the exclusion line for these policies covers any knee or ligament problem, with no such carve-out. The text does not make clear whether such an injury is covered.
• One side closes both. The 2025 Pumpkin, Spot and ASPCA form excludes “Bilateral conditions of pre-existing conditions”: a condition on both sides of the body if it existed before the policy. This is not limited to the knee. Apart from knees and ligaments, the policy does not list which conditions count as bilateral. ASPCA’s 0723 sample has no such clause.
• Fifty claims. After more than 50 paid claims Fetch may withdraw a promotional discount and offer lower coverage.
• Older pets. To renew a Fetch policy for a dog aged 8 or older or a cat aged 10 or older, you must follow your vet’s advice on senior wellness tests. From 2027 the law forbids requiring a vet exam for renewal; DOBI has not said how the two fit together.
• The money-back guarantee. At Pumpkin, Spot and ASPCA it lasts 30 calendar days and applies only if nothing has been paid or counted toward the deductible.
• Two insurers behind one brand. Lemonade Insurance Company is not taking new customers in New Jersey; new policies come from Metromile Insurance Company. DOBI’s list still shows ASPCA under United States Fire Insurance Company, while the sample policy names Independence American. Pets Best is listed under both Independence American and American Pet Insurance Company. Check the insurer’s name on your declarations page (the page with your policy’s terms).

Finding filings

New Jersey’s rate and form filings are public in SERFF Filing Access (serff-sfa.naic.org/serff/sfa/home/NJ). You can also request them from DOBI under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). The SERFF site sometimes asks you to prove you are not a robot and ends the session.

Search by the insurer’s NAIC Company Code, not the brand:

• Independence American: 26581;
• American Pet Insurance Company: 12190;
• Westchester Fire: 10030.

The numbers of the filings we read are under Sources. DOBI keeps the list of insurers and brands on its “Pet Health Insurers” page on nj.gov.

Sources

Filings in SERFF Filing Access, New Jersey, read on 19 and 20 October and 31 October 2026:

• Healthy Paws (Westchester Fire):
  • ACEH-133382650 (2022), ACEH-133767184 (2023), ACEH-134268973 (2024): approved;
  • ACEH-134879738 (2026 rates; DOBI’s questions and the answers: the 25% cap, the cost-savings notice, “adverse selection”);
  • ACEH-134889039 (fixed-benefit program);
  • ACEH-135080010 (new policy form for the act, PI-60512).
• Trupanion and Aflac (American Pet Insurance Company):
  • APII-134748612 (Trupanion rates, approved);
  • APII-134837943 (Aflac, approved);
  • APII-134810258 (new Trupanion policy);
  • APII-134803038 (Trupanion for Chewy Health);
  • Trupanion rates: APII-132697743, APII-133104493, APII-133450254, APII-133705491, APII-134251087;
  • Pets Best rates: APII-132780069, APII-133532300, APII-134039620, APII-134429690.
• Independence American:
  • IAIC-134909117 (Pumpkin, Spot, ASPCA: 2026 request, tenure surcharge, claim-free discount);
  • IAIC-133917902 (Pumpkin, Spot, ASPCA: cap rule, approved in 2024);
  • IAIC-134434020 (Pumpkin, Spot, ASPCA: current rates and cap rule, sample Petco letter, knees and ligaments in accident-only policies, approved in 2025);
  • IAIC-133642304 (program transfer from United States Fire);
  • IAIC-133716227 (new Pets Best policy);
  • IAIC-134299205 (Figo: +23.2% to +14%, DOBI question of 4 February 2025, table of approved increases by program);
  • IAIC-134230545 (older Pets Best policies: +13.8% to +10.7%, approved in December 2024);
  • IAIC-134323202 (PetPartners: +23.9% to +7%, approved in 2025);
  • IAIC-134571479 (Pets Best 2.0: +14.5% to +7.1%, approved in 2025);
  • IADC-132770623 (extreme premium calculation);
  • IADC-132795133 and IAIC-133471860 (DOBI questions);
  • IAIC-134692040 (Figo);
  • IAIC-134894774 (PetPartners);
  • IAIC-134940376 (older Pets Best policies);
  • IAIC-135059727 (Pets Best 2.0);
  • IAIC-135083970 (group plans).