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A waiting period is the part of pet insurance that surprises owners most, usually at the worst moment: the policy is bought, the dog is hurt or falls ill a week later, and the claim is refused because cover for that kind of problem had not started yet. Every insurer sets its own waits, they differ far more than the marketing pages suggest, and the same insurer can run different waits in different states. This page puts the twelve largest US insurers side by side, read from their own sample policies, official disclosures and product pages, not from review sites.
This page is general information about how dog insurance works. It is not financial advice, it is not a quote, and it does not sell insurance. Policy terms vary by insurer, by state and over time. Every insurer fact on this page was read from that insurer's own published sample policy, official disclosure or official product pages on 10 November 2026, and the policy wording on the provider's own site is the only version that counts when you buy. Always read the sample policy, including the exclusions and the definition of a pre-existing condition, before you pay for any plan.
All figures are the insurer's own published terms as read on 10 November 2026. "Not published" means the insurer does not state the figure on the official pages and documents we opened; it never means there is no wait.
| Insurer | Accidents | Illness | Orthopedic / cruciate | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Embrace | Not published | 14 days | Not published | Accident figure not stated on the pages we read; its FAQ defers to state law |
| Trupanion | 5 days | 30 days | No extra wait | The shortest accident wait paired with the longest illness wait in this table |
| Healthy Paws | 15 days (none in 16 listed states) | 15 days | Hip dysplasia 12 months; 30 days in the 16-state group | Two published structures; which applies depends on your state, and an exam can waive waits in the 16-state group |
| Spot | 14 days | 14 days | 14 days | One single wait for everything, including knees and ligaments |
| Lemonade | None in most states | 14 days | 30 days | Accident cover starts the day after purchase in most states |
| Pets Best | 3 days per its FAQ | 14 days | Cruciate 30 days | Its current disclosure form lists no accident wait; the FAQ figure and the form differ, and the form governs |
| ASPCA Pet Insurance | Cover starts day 15 | 14 days | Ligament and knee 14 days | Figures from the California disclosure for the current Complete Coverage plan |
| Figo | 1 day | 14 days | 6 months, waivable | The orthopedic wait can be waived with its waiver process in the first 30 days |
| Nationwide | 14 days | 14 days | Cruciate excluded in the first 12 months | On the Modular plan, cruciate cover is an optional extra addable after year one |
| MetLife Pet | 0 days | 14 days | No extra wait | Accidents are covered from the effective date; a documented vet exam can waive the illness wait |
| Fetch | None | Up to 15 days | 6 months | Accident cover starts the day after sign-up |
| Pumpkin | 14 days | 14 days | 14 days, knees and hips included | One flat wait for every condition in most states |
Accidents. The spread runs from zero to fifteen days. MetLife covers accidents from the policy's effective date and Fetch from the day after sign-up; Trupanion asks five days; Spot and Pumpkin ask fourteen for everything. If you are insuring an accident-prone young dog, this row matters more than any other.
Illness. Fourteen days is the common figure, but Trupanion stands alone at thirty days, and Healthy Paws runs two different published structures depending on the state. Illness waits are also where the law is moving: the model act described below caps them at thirty days in adopting states.
Knees, hips and other orthopedic problems. This is where the real spread hides. Cruciate ligament damage is one of the most common and most expensive dog injuries, and insurers treat it cautiously: Figo and Fetch hold orthopedic cover for six months, Nationwide excludes cruciate damage that occurs in the first twelve months, and Healthy Paws holds hip dysplasia cover for twelve months in most states. Against that, Spot and Pumpkin apply the same flat fourteen days to knees and hips as to everything else, and Trupanion and MetLife add no extra orthopedic wait at all.
Pet insurance is regulated state by state, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' pet insurance model act, adopted in the states the NAIC lists (seventeen, including California, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington), sets hard limits: accident waiting periods are prohibited, illness and orthopedic waits are capped at thirty days, no waiting period may be applied on renewal, and a veterinarian's examination can waive a wait. California's own statute, which predates the model, additionally requires insurers to disclose their waiting periods before sale and gives buyers a thirty-day free-look period. If you live in an adopting state, an insurer's national marketing page may not reflect the terms you are actually sold; the disclosure document for your state is the version that counts.
Several insurers will shorten or remove a wait if a vet examines the dog and certifies its health. Trupanion's exam-day offer can waive its waits; Figo's orthopedic waiver, used inside the first thirty days, addresses its six-month orthopedic wait; MetLife's waiver exam can remove the fourteen-day illness wait entirely if the exam falls in the week before the policy starts; and in Healthy Paws' sixteen-state group an exam can waive the published waits. If a waiting period is the thing standing between you and a policy, ask the insurer about its waiver route before you rule the policy out.
The pattern differs by market. In the UK, ManyPets sets forty-eight hours for accidents and fourteen days for illness, and Animal Friends publishes two days and fourteen days. In Australia, illness waits run longer: twenty-one to thirty days at Petcover depending on the plan family, thirty days in Bow Wow Meow's published product material, with cruciate waits of six months that a vet form can waive. In Canada, Trupanion mirrors its US structure (five days injury, thirty days illness), Fetch Canada applies no accident wait and fifteen days for illness, and Desjardins adds six-month waits for dental and for cruciate and disc conditions. Full country detail sits in our policy profiles and the UK, Australia and Canada guides.
The gap between the day your policy starts and the day cover for a type of problem begins. Anything that happens inside the gap is not covered, and with most insurers it also becomes a pre-existing condition, which means it stays excluded after the gap ends. Waiting periods are the main reason insurers advise enrolling a healthy puppy rather than waiting for the first diagnosis.
To stop people buying a policy the week a dog needs surgery and claiming straight away. Without them, premiums for everyone would have to carry the cost of claims that were already certain when the policy was sold.
Sometimes. Trupanion's exam-day route, Figo's orthopedic waiver in the first 30 days, MetLife's waiver exam and Healthy Paws' exam waiver in its 16-state group can all shorten or remove specific waits, usually by having a vet examine the dog and certify it healthy. The details sit in each insurer's own documents.
In a growing number of states, yes. The NAIC pet insurance model act, adopted in 17 states as listed by the NAIC, bans accident waiting periods outright, caps illness and orthopedic waits at 30 days, bans waits on renewal, and lets a vet exam waive a wait. California's own law adds a 30-day free-look period, double the model's 15 days.
That condition is not covered for that episode, and at most insurers it is then treated as pre-existing, so later episodes of the same condition are excluded too. A small number of insurers will reconsider a cured condition after a set symptom-free period; our pre-existing conditions page sets those rules out insurer by insurer.
It depends which risk you mean. MetLife and Fetch have no accident wait, Lemonade has none in most states, and Trupanion's is 5 days. For knees and cruciate ligaments, Spot and Pumpkin apply the same 14 days as everything else, while Figo and Fetch hold orthopedic cover for 6 months. There is no single winner; there is a table, and it is on this page.