Pet insurance in South Dakota

Which rules have been established

As of 11 November 2026, this review found no pet insurance law in South Dakota. All six specific guarantees in our state data remain unknown. General insurance rules and the terms of the contract apply.

The NAIC Summer 2026 chart shows “No current activity” for South Dakota. The bill lists for the 2023–2026 sessions on the Legislature’s website contain no pet insurance bill. We checked bill titles, not bill texts. The word pet does not appear in chapters 58-1, 58-9, 58-11, 58-12, 58-24, 58-30 and 58-33 of the Insurance Code; we did not read the other chapters.

The law does not name pet insurance as a kind of insurance. By our reading, several definitions in chapter 58-9 may fit: property insurance on “personal property of every kind” (§58-9-5), personal property floater risks under marine and transportation insurance (§58-9-6) and under casualty insurance (§58-9-16), livestock insurance including “services of a veterinary for such animals” (§58-9-23; chapter 58-9 does not define livestock), and other unclassified risks (§58-9-27). The definitions are not mutually exclusive (§58-9-1). Health insurance under §58-9-3 is insurance of human beings. Hence our reading: a pet policy falls within §§58-9-5 to 58-9-27. That decides whether the general cancellation and nonrenewal rules apply (see below). The regulator, the Division of Insurance in the Department of Labor and Regulation (DLR), reports pet insurance in its market report as a separate line under the business type “Property & Casualty”.

Rates take effect on filing, but an excessive rate can be challenged

The rate law (chapter 58-24) applies to property, casualty and inland marine insurance (§58-24-2). It excludes life insurance, health insurance, ocean marine insurance of vessels and cargo, title insurance and reinsurance (§58-24-3).

Under §58-24-10, an insurer files every rate manual, rating plan and rating rule. The filing date is the effective date unless the insurer proposes a later one. There is no waiting period. DLR’s filing requirements page says: “Rates are file and use effective July 1, 2004”. The exception in §58-24-10 covers inland marine risks that by custom are not written according to manual rates or rating plans. By our reading, pet policies are written from rating plans, so the exception does not reach them. How DLR classifies pet filings has not been established. The law lets the director order filing 30 days before the effective date only for a particular insurer that files automobile rates under §58-24-10.1 (§58-24-10.2).

Rates must not be excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory (§58-24-5). We found no presumption in chapter 58-24 that rates in a competitive market are not excessive. The director’s review uses loss experience for at least the most recent five years and, if the state’s data are insufficient, data from outside the state (§58-24-6). DLR asks for five years of South Dakota experience, countrywide data, the expected loss ratio, the impact on South Dakota insureds, and the date and amount of the last rate change.

The director reviews a filing “as soon as reasonably possible” (§58-24-15). If the director finds that a filing does not meet the law, the director must disapprove it (§58-24-19) or, later, after a hearing (§58-24-21). Such an order does not affect policies issued before the date set in the order. An insurer may not issue a policy except in accordance with the filings in effect (§58-24-25).

What an owner has:

• on written request, the insurer must give the insured, within a reasonable time and for a reasonable charge, “all pertinent information as to such rate” (§58-24-28);
• you may ask the insurer in writing to review how its rating system was applied to you. If it does not grant or reject the request within 30 days, treat it as rejected (§58-24-29). You may appeal the insurer’s action to the director within 30 days after written notice of it (§58-24-30);
• a person whose specific economic interest is affected by a filing in effect may apply in writing to the director for a hearing (§58-24-22). If the grounds justify it, the hearing is held within 30 days (§58-24-23).

No individual filing, pricing factors or size of any increase was established in this review.

Policy forms are approved in advance

Under §58-11-12, a policy, an endorsement, an application that becomes part of the policy and a renewal certificate form may not be issued unless the director has approved the form. A form is filed at least 30 days in advance; if the director does not act, it is deemed approved (§58-11-17). The director may extend that period by up to 30 days (§58-11-18). Grounds for disapproval include inconsistent, ambiguous or misleading clauses, and exceptions and conditions that deceptively affect the risk assumed (§58-11-21). The exemption in §58-11-13 covers surety bonds, specially rated inland marine risks and forms of unique character for a particular subject; by our reading, a mass-market pet policy is none of these.

If a provision of an issued policy does not comply with the Insurance Code, the policy stays valid but is construed as if it complied (§58-11-38). The Healthy Paws and Embrace samples themselves say that provisions in conflict with the state’s statutes are amended to conform to them.

A policy limit on time to sue is void

§21-25A-3 says of insurance policies: “every provision in any such policy requiring arbitration or restricting a party thereto or beneficiary thereof from enforcing any right under it by usual legal proceedings in ordinary tribunals or limiting the time to do so is void and unenforceable”. The general rule for contracts is §53-9-6. An action on a contract may be brought within six years after the cause of action accrues (§15-2-13).

DLR’s filing requirements page says: “Binding appraisal and arbitration provisions are prohibited in South Dakota insurance contracts”. For appraisal or arbitration language to be approved, DLR requires that both parties agree to it and that the decision bind neither the insured nor the insurer.

What this means for an owner:

• by our reading, the one-year, 24-month or three-year suit limits in national forms do not apply in South Dakota. The Healthy Paws and ASPCA amendments for the state replace them with 72 months from the date of loss. The statute voids any provision limiting the time. The statutory six years run from when the cause of action accrues, which may be later than the date of loss. Whether a court would apply a 72-month clause has not been established;
• by our reading, a decision by a veterinarian the insurer appoints cannot be final for the owner. How the samples handle this is shown below.

Cancellation and nonrenewal: general rules for property and casualty lines

The cancellation rules (§§58-33-59 to 58-33-65) apply to policies under §§58-9-5 to 58-9-27, except automobile policies. DLR applies them to all property and casualty lines except personal auto. Cancellation means termination of coverage by the insurer, in whole or in part, during the policy term; a policy with no fixed expiration date is treated as a one-year term (§58-33-59).

Caveats. The eighth ground lets the director approve other reasons. Whether approving a form that lists such reasons counts as that approval has not been established. Healthy Paws renews its policy monthly. Whether ending it on a monthly renewal date is a cancellation or a nonrenewal has not been established.

Claims: 30 days to respond, and attorney fees for an unreasonable refusal

§58-33-67 lists unfair practices that include:

• failing to acknowledge and act within 30 days upon communications about claims;
• making a payment without a statement of the coverage under which it is made;
• failing to promptly give a reasonable explanation, based on the policy, the facts or the law, for denying a claim or offering a compromise settlement.

The director may act on these only after notifying the insurer of the violation and the insurer refuses to correct it (§58-33-68). They create no private right of action (§58-33-69).

Since 2014 a separate list of unfair claims practices applies (§58-12-34). It includes refusing to pay without a reasonable investigation, failing to affirm or deny coverage within a reasonable time after the investigation, lowball offers that force a lawsuit, and failing to provide claim forms within 15 days of a request. These are violations if committed flagrantly and in conscious disregard, or so often as to be a general business practice (§58-12-33). They also create no private cause of action (§58-12-32).

We found no statutory payment deadline for property claims. The 30-day (electronic) and 45-day rule of §58-12-20 applies only to health insurance (§58-12-21).

Two provisions help the owner in a dispute:

• if the insurer refused to pay the full amount and the refusal was “vexatious or without reasonable cause”, and you win, the court awards a reasonable attorney’s fee against the insurer. The exception: the insurer tendered an amount before suit and you recovered no more (§58-12-3);
• if you demand a copy of your application in writing and the insurer does not provide it within 30 days, the application is not admissible in evidence in a lawsuit between you and the insurer over the policy (§58-11-43).

An incorrect statement in the application prevents recovery only if it was fraudulent or an intentional misrepresentation of a material fact, was material to the risk, or the insurer in good faith would not have issued the policy on the same terms had it known the truth (§58-11-44).

DLR takes complaints about insurers online and by phone.

Filings are open once in effect

A filing and its supporting information are open to public inspection “after the filing becomes effective” (§58-24-14). Since a rate usually takes effect on the filing date (§58-24-10), by our reading a filing is open almost at once. We found no similar provision for form filings in chapter 58-11. DLR’s rate filing access page says that rate and form filings that have received final disposition are available free of charge through SERFF Filing Access. We did not open SERFF.

The general public records law is chapter 1-27:

• the right to inspect and copy belongs to “all citizens of this state, and all other persons interested in the examination of the public records” (§1-27-1). By its text it is not limited to residents;
• an informal request goes to the custodian of the record, and you pay the actual cost of copying and mailing. If the request takes more than an hour of staff time, the staff time may be charged (§1-27-35). If the fee is likely to exceed $50, you get an estimate first (§1-27-36);
• if an informal request is denied, you may make a written request to the agency’s public record officer. Within 10 business days the officer must provide the record, deny the request with written reasons, or acknowledge it and estimate the time needed; no answer counts as a denial (§1-27-37). You may challenge a denial within 90 days before the Office of Hearing Examiners or in court (§1-27-38);
• trade secrets and proprietary commercial information are not open (§1-27-1.5).

Our working notes say the state’s online request portal requires an account. We did not check this and did not create an account. We sent no requests.

The market

According to the NAIC 2025 market share report, page 254, direct written premiums for pet insurance in South Dakota were $3,246 thousand and direct earned premiums $3,161 thousand. Direct losses incurred were 44.20% of earned premium, against 68.10% for all states and territories in the same report (68.07% including Canada and aggregate other alien). NAIC notes that these loss ratios are calendar-year results, not measures of profitability. The three largest groups, JAB Holding Co Grp (30.00%), Trupanion Grp (20.86%) and Nationwide Corp Grp (15.50%), wrote 66.36% of premium together. NAIC is an association of regulators; these are not DLR’s own figures.

DLR publishes its own 2025 pet insurance table: 25 companies, $3,238,737 written, $3,154,261 earned, $1,393,674 losses incurred, a 44.18% loss ratio. The largest company is Independence American Insurance Company (30.06%), which the Pets Best, Figo and ASPCA samples name as the insurer. American Modern Home Insurance Company, which Embrace names among its insurers, has 10.70%. Westchester Fire, Indemnity Insurance Company of North America and ACE American, which Healthy Paws names among its insurers, have 5.87% together.

The gap with NAIC is about $7 thousand of written premium (0.2%). For NAIC’s ten largest groups, the totals for the same groups in DLR’s table agree to within rounding to the thousand, so the gap most likely lies in companies outside the top ten; rounding leaves a few thousand dollars of uncertainty. DLR’s table is marked “CodeList Basis: Licensed”; NAIC takes premiums from insurers’ annual statements. By our reading, the label means DLR’s table covers companies licensed in the state, and the gap may come from companies not on its list. We have not established the cause.

What the sample policies show

On 11 November 2026 we opened five brands’ document pages for South Dakota. Four have a South Dakota amendment or form.

A sample does not establish that such a policy is issued today or that a new policy can be bought. Check your issued set: the declarations, the form and every endorsement.

What these samples show:

• Suit limits in the samples are shorter than the law allows. The general Healthy Paws form gives one year, ASPCA 24 months from the claim settlement date, and Embrace V6 three years from the date of loss, and only after “full compliance with all of the terms of this policy”. The Healthy Paws and ASPCA amendments replace these with 72 months from the date of loss. We found no state amendment for Embrace. Under §21-25A-3, any policy provision limiting the time to sue is void. This is our reading, not an established violation. See claim deadlines.
• A veterinarian the insurer appoints still has the final word in the Healthy Paws set. Item III.11: first the insurer’s veterinarian, then an “independent third party veterinarian shall be appointed by us”, whose decision is “final and binding on all parties”. The state amendment does not change this item. DLR treats binding appraisal and arbitration as prohibited, and §21-25A-3 voids a provision requiring arbitration. By our reading, the item conflicts with both; item IV.3 of the same form conforms it to the state’s statutes. At Pets Best, the independent veterinarian’s decision binds only the insurer, and arbitration is voluntary and non-binding. See disputes decided by the insurer.
• Cancellation without cause. The general Healthy Paws form (IV.2.a) lets the insurer cancel at any time with 90 days’ notice and gives no reasons. After 60 days, Embrace V6 lists among its reasons issuing a new policy with the same or an affiliated company and failure to provide requested information. Figo also lists a new policy with an affiliated company; ASPCA lists a move to a state where the policy is not available. These reasons are not on the §58-33-61 list as such; some may fall under a breach of policy terms or under reasons approved by the director. This is not a finding of a violation. See cancellation without cause.
• Notice shorter than 20 days at Embrace. Embrace V6 cancels for nonpayment and in the first 60 days with 10 days’ notice. §58-33-60 requires 20 days for any cancellation. Pets Best, Figo and ASPCA raised their nonpayment notice to 20 days in their South Dakota documents; Healthy Paws gives 20 days in its general form. We found no South Dakota amendment for Embrace, and its V6 terms amend provisions that conflict with state statutes. This is our reading, not an established violation.
• Backdated rescission. For misrepresentation or concealment of a material fact, ASPCA may rescind coverage, and this “may include rescission backdated to the original policy period effective date.” §58-11-44 limits when an incorrect statement prevents recovery. By our reading, ASPCA’s own condition, a material fact that would have affected its decision, is close to the statute’s test; the statute does not address backdating.
• Raising coverage restarts the waiting period. ASPCA’s state amendment: a change in limits, deductible or reimbursement percentage, or upgrading accident cover to include illness, may create a new enrollment with new waiting periods, and earlier conditions become pre-existing. Pets Best requires a new policy for a higher limit, Embrace V6 resets the waiting period and pre-existing conditions as of the change, and Figo applies the waiting period again. See plan changes.
• At Pets Best, cancelling in the first 30 days erases claims. The policy is void from the start, and pending or not yet submitted claims are denied.
• No exam record, no illness cover. The Healthy Paws CPE moves the end of the waiting period if you do not provide the enrollment-exam record. Without an exam in the 12 months before the start or within 14 days after it, Embrace V6 turns the policy into accident-only cover. See missing records move the waiting period.
• Claim deadlines differ. Pets Best: 180 days from treatment. Figo: 180 calendar days. ASPCA: 270 days. Embrace V6: notice of loss within 60 days of the policy end date or renewal.
• Paid claims can be taken back. Embrace V6, Figo and ASPCA reserve the right to recover payments made in error and to apply the terms to past payments. See paid claims taken back.
• Terms change at renewal. ASPCA: you accept the changes by renewing. Embrace V6 notifies you in writing, with no lead time stated. Figo reports changes in the renewal notice and may change the premium during the term for changes in your address, your pet’s details or “other Policy parameters”. Healthy Paws promises 60 days’ notice of a premium change. See renewal changes.

What to do

• Before buying, ask in writing which form and which South Dakota endorsements your policy will be issued on.
• If the insurer cancels, check the notice period (20 days), the written reasons and the ground under §58-33-61. Complain to DLR within 60 days after the cancellation date.
• If a claim is denied or delayed, ask for a written explanation citing the policy provision, and for the claim forms. Keep the dates. By our reading of §21-25A-3, the policy’s suit limit does not apply, but do not wait: the general limit for contract actions is six years (§15-2-13).
• Ask the insurer in writing to explain how your rate was calculated (§58-24-28), and if you disagree, ask for a review (§58-24-29).
• You can request rates and forms from DLR under chapter 1-27: name the insurer, its NAIC code and the years.