Embrace Pet Insurance

BEWARE Embrace! IMO, very shady company — watch out for totally bogus claim denials.
Embrace is hands down the worst insurance company I have ever dealt with — and Im a retired health care attorney with years of experience navigating claims.
Here’s just one example: Last August (2015) we took our dog to the vet b/​c she was vomiting — maybe ate something toxic? When we submitted our claim to Embrace, they indicated we no longer had a policy with them. I figured it had lapsed — assumed that was our mistake.
But when I learned monthly premiums were still being deducted from our bank, I called to clarify. Was told — Oh yeah, that’s right, you DO have a policy — yeah, our prior communication was confusing…
So did Embrace then immediately pay for the august vet’s visit? Nope. Embrace refused to pay — claimed her vomiting was due to a «pre-​existing condition.» And what was their basis for saying her august 2015 vomiting was caused by a «pre-​existing condition?» Well, the medical records show that she had actually vomited once before — A YEAR BEFORE — in August of 2014.
Yep. Embrace asserts that if a dog is treated for vomiting in August 2015, they can refuse to pay — calling it a «preexisting condition» –solely because that dog had vomited — ONCE — 12 MONTHS EARLIER.
Of course I asked what disease or «pre-​exisinting condition» could possibly make an animal vomit once-​every-​12-​months — of course the Embrace claims rep had no answer. Just another standard attempt to get away with non-​payment of valid claims…
This is not the only example of what I consider to be bad-​faith denials — just one of their more blatant. State regulators really should be taking a look at this company.

Purchasing the Embrace dog health insurance is one of the worst experience of my life. They took my premium for almost 2 years and gave me hell on a on nail clip. I’m repeating Gio’s
review. The company is a joke. Stay away

Embrace plays games and tricks to get out of covering serious pet issues. I have a 7 month old puppy who was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. I was glad I purchased pet insurance when I got him. I was shocked when they denied coverage and produced things «I should have signed»…though I had asked several times if i had filled out everything and they said yes every time. BUYER BEWARE!!! My puppy will suffer a painful life due to their shell games and bait and switch practices.

I started out loving Embrace when we insured both our new rescue dogs; sad to say but I am overwhelmingly disappointed with their service. Their customer service reps are really nice but they’re mostly talk. For the entire year, every claim our vet sent was taken care of within a few weeks and received without problem. Fast forward to the last few weeks of our plan and all of our pet’s claims have been «mysteriously» lost. The closer we got to our deductibles, the more difficult they have made it to get our paperwork processed and to pay out. Our poor vet has had to send the claims over SIX TIMES! Every single time they have sent them, they just somehow «never» get it… the only way they have accepted them is if the vet receptionist is seriously on the phone with them at the same time she is faxing (for the fifth time, walking them through every single step to verify). Not only do I find this incredibly unprofessional but it’s a burden on my vet’s staff who surely have better things to do with their time. I continually have had to apologize to the vet office for bothering them with the same issues for appointments that happened months ago. It didn’t seem like too much of a burden the first time they made a mistake but after spending weeks getting this straightened out has left me frustrated at an insurance plan that we pay a huge premium for every month. Normally this stuff is petty but this is a pretty chunk of change the insurance company is conveniently «forgetting», even though the paperwork is literally… quite literally… being faxed over right in front of their faces (what a magical fax machine, wish I could use it for my own bills).
Eventually my one dog did get seriously ill. He needed medical attention and to go through a hefty régime of heavy duty drugs for his heart. As soon as they sent out the claims for the initial visits and testing, I got surprised with being notified that it was a «preexisting condition.» Luckily we’ve kept copies of our dogs records and it was certainly written down by not only one vet, but two, that he never had heartworms until he got tested two months ago (we live in Florida so heartworms are extremely common and our preventative medication failed one month); this is something that falls right into our plan and should be 100% covered.
So of course getting a hold of them this time of year is difficult and thank god we’ve kept copies but we’ve spent an unnecessary amount of hours getting this company to do their own job. When we finally DO get a hold of them, we get the run around every time with absolutely no finite answers. I have no problem dealing with this asinine way of running a business but I absolutely HATE getting my vet’s office involved. I draw the line when I have to take time out of the day of the vet staff who have other things to do… ya know… like save lives
Reading everyone else’s reviews I started to realize I’m not the only one with «lost» claims. Next year, we’re just opening a savings account and putting what we’re paying now for this premium and we’ll be saving so much more money and time; I sincerely regret having to put my vet through this stupid rigmarole.

«Pre-​exiting conditions» beware
We got our 8 week old puppy in May of 2015. When we picked him from his litter mates we picked him for his personality, knowing that he would make a fantastic addition to the family — and he has! Couldn’t have asked for a better dog. However, when we took him home from the breeder he had a runny nose, nothing we thought was too major considering he was a puppy and bulldogs can have allergies anyways. We already had an appointment with the vet the next day and had already signed up for pet insurance.
Long story short it turns out he had a cold, the vet sent us home with some antibiotics, after a couple of weeks he was all healed up and back to normal. Zoom forward to November and we take him in for vomiting and diarrhea. It turns out he had pneumonia (a lower respiratory infection) which was pretty advanced so the vet wanted to keep him overnight. When we sent in our invoices to embrace we were rejected coverage due to the pre-​existing UPPER respiratory infection our dog had when we first got him. Which is REALLY interesting because in the rejection letters to a follow up visit to his cold in May Embrace clearly stated that what he had was an upper respiratory infection and that all UPPER respiratory infections will not be covered until he’s cleared the 12 month period.
Our vet sent Embrace a letter stating that the two incidents were not related and that the initial infection was resolved in August. This was not enough to sway the company and now we are footing all the x-​rays, overnight stays and antibiotics ourselves ($$$).
What’s interesting is that another client for the vet had mentioned that during their ortho exam the vet found something out of the normal limits in their young puppy with the upper right leg and noted it. When it came time for this couple to make an injury claim on their puppy’s back leg Embrace did not want to cover it stating it was a pre-​existing condition despite the fact that it was a completely different leg and side. It looks as though this insurance is trying to find any reason not to cover puppies.
The only reason I don’t give them a 1 star is that when our puppy fractured his leg and underwent surgery we had no resistance in receiving our reimbursement which was a very smooth process. This saved us a lot of money and worry. I don’t get how we’re going to get through a 12 month wait period for an English bulldog though, these animals always have something going on with their respiratory system, be it allergies, colds or something more.

Stay away from Embrace Pet Insurance, they are anything but pet lovers!!! I went with Trupanion for now, who is not as limited as Embrace. My experience was that Embrace also tried o get out of paying out by diagnosing your dog with insane off-​the-​wall pre-​existing conditions! (Breathe, your dog does not have a degenerative spine disease after you rush to the vet after speaking to an Embrace claims adjuster). In fact, their method for finding pre-​existing conditions that do not exist is to throw everything at the wall and see if it sticks! I found out once they claimed my dog had said spine problems (of which her nor any of her family does or any of her relatives as I know where all of them are!) that they did not have her orthopedic records. Faxed her ortho exam to Embrace, guess she doesn’t have a spine condition! I insured my dog as a very healthy puppy. They also related totally unrelated, seeming un-​relatable events in your pets medical history and in addition have rules after they make a payout for something unrelated why they cannot pay! It was mind boggling and frightening as an experienced pet owner to see how desperate they were to get out of any claims. Ahh, and do NOT even think that having your vet tell explain they said pre-​existing conditions do not exist or medical events are not related — Embrace has it all figured out on the backend, so don’t waste your time trying to reason with them. They excel in fabricating reasons not to cover claims that really is impressive — if you are hiring for a company that wants not to pay any claim and is in the business of eerrrr, pet insurance. It all has to do with the complex rules behind pet insurance and how to work them. Everything is talk on the phone. I *really* gave them too much opportunity to redeem themselves in some way, contribute to my dogs life in some positive way. I paid for the highest tier of insurance even though my dog is very healthy and young. Truth of that matter is, Embrace only seemed to excel in providing long, nonsensical, convoluted and mind bending explanations for what were menial claims and they would tirelessly send me shady emails saying they were so sorry with assorted and seemingly random disconnected reasons of why they could not pay a claim. I got coverage by Trupanion which overlapped — so I had double coverage, Embrace as the primary. Well, I submitted a small claim good olé Embrace went so far as to tell me that «they know makes makes no sense», but I need to submit my claim to the secondary insurer, Trupanion. When I called Trupanion that they referred me to them, they asked me how my was doing and i how I was, and sounded rather shocked and said since it was such a small amount that they would just pay out the 90% that they cover. Trupanion actually asks me how my pet is doing and covered the claim in full just to help me not stress out Embrace may paid $ 40 bucks out ONCE… my dog has a stomach flu and had to got to the vet, well I don’t even understand why, but they did not pay for that… it was some really sketchy reason and I actually dumped this company because they were annoying. I still find a ton of emails in my email account from some Christine lady going on and on and on about how she is so very sorry because she cannot cover the bill because of «blah blah blah»… honestly, I felt pretty scammed. If this helps anyone else so they don’t get taken a ride. Trupanion is the absolute opposite of Embrace, they pay for everything practically AND ask you how your pet is. Also they do not make up pre existing conditions and send you endless emails trying to beat you into acceptance they are not going to pay, it’s like the Hunger Games trying to get them to take responsibility as the primary insurer that you pay them to be. You will receive a barrage of emails until you accept NO for an answer with a smile. There is no comparison, Embrace, you really should be ashamed at yourself. Don’t go into the insurance business if you cannot afford paying claims and do not be what I see as unethical. Embrace is just blatantly ripping of consumers, how much is enough for this company, it’s difficult to say. It amazes me that Embrace is still in business. Buyers/​loving pet owners beware. They have the ability to freak you out with the stuff they come up with when you question your claims, they are studying every line of your beloved pet’s record just to find 10 more reasons why they cannot pay the claims much as they would like to (their words) and it will be unpleasant and convoluted if you have any experience like mine. They have their poster children that I guess everyone else pays for with their premiums they pay with no payouts. Wish I had a better experience, but it would NOT be fair NOT to be honest. Never havethose problems with Trupanion with the adjusters and honestly I am so thankful for that after going through what I did with Embrace they were super stressful.

I adopted a puppy from the local Humane Society and looked into getting some pet insurance for her after we had a few minor puppy incidents. When I initially signed up, they hit us with a pre-​existing condition of a heart murmur (even though it was on ONE vet note and it was when she was severely dehydrated) and several temporary conditions, which if they are seen again in 12 months, will be considered pre-​existing. So, this was everything all puppies go through: parasites, diarrhea, vomiting, vaginitis, etc. Now, if our PUPPY gets one of these illnesses in the next 12 months, they won’t cover anything related to those. In addition, I have since submitted three claims and had to follow-​up on each claim because I either did not agree, or they claimed to not get the information from my vet. When I contested that the heart murmur was a pre-​existing condition, they never got back to me until I followed up over a month later over the phone.
I will be fair and say the few positives I have had are that customer service has been friendly and helpful and that submitting the claim is easy if you do it via email yourself. However, if you are paying a monthly fee and getting nothing covered, this is not nearly enough for me to stay with a company.

Absolute joke of an insurance company. I only wish I were making this up but my 1 year old cat was diagnosed with having pre existing conditions for oversleeping, vomiting and sneezing (I swear I’m not making this up). In other words, as soon as my cat mans up and stops being a pussy (literally) she can be covered for insurance.
Anyone who knows anything about cats knows they sleep roughly 16 hours a day, yak up hairballs like its their job and sneeze frequently when they get themselves into tight dusty areas. Can you imagine the nightmare when filing a claim with a company like this?

Awful pet insurance. I’m sorry we started using this plan. Nearly every condition that our Aussie has had the company claims is — of course — preexisting — and they don’t have to reimburse us.
Follow-​up phone calls and emails for each and every claim submitted by my vet’s office have the same response: The vet’s office must not have faxed the forms. I’ve stood at the receptionist’s desk as she’s done so. My dog has had several different doctors for several different types of treatments (allergy shots, Chinese herbs, acupuncture, and doggy anti-​anxiety meds), but the refusal of coverage from Embrace is always the same. Somehow — after several days and sometimes weeks — the fax miraculously shows up, but only after repeated contact by us and copies of the claims sent yet again by the vet’s offices!
We are going to cancel this policy as soon as we get a response from them about our dog’s minor surgery. It’s unrelated to any health condition he’s had, so we’ll see! With every claim we’ve made, we’ve wanted to cancel, but have waited for a response before doing so; on the chance that we might get paid what’s owed to us. This costs us at least one month’s payment on the play, which is $ 74.50 — effectively netting out that cost from our reimbursement (with the hope that they’d pay anyway). The longer they wait to pay us, the more money they get from us in premiums.
I researched this organization and found excellent reviews. My sense is that they’re bogus. I feel really stupid and ripped-​off by them, despite my efforts to find the best plan possible.

If they’re going to be charging 80 – 100 a month, they better be top notch, because the cost currently does not justify their service. I think I’m better off saving my money myself for a rainy day.
–I brought a policy for my 2 month old dog. After a year, he had an serious ear infection that cost more than $ 200. I brought the the best policy with the supplemental wellness plan (unused) and could not get a dime from them. I do not understand any of what they told me that it didn’t qualify because it was something that was on the dog before my policy started. I brought the policy when i first got the dam dog (2months old), this is a year later.
–Then they have the nerve to automatically renew my policy from $ 80 monthly to $ 90 monthly. I mean common, i don’t even have health insurance that cost that much. The dog is 1year old, do all insurance policies go up and I was told by the customer rep initially that buying a policy when the dog is young, would prevent my rate from being to high. What is rate going to be when my bulldog is 10 years old? the price of a new bulldog a year?
–The wellness plan saves you about $ 30 a year in supplement routine care (Can use $ 400yr). But damm, it is a hassle to get a reimbursement, because you have to pay out of pocket first, then do some forms and wait for a check in the mail, then they deduct money from it because some shit was not covered.
–Payment plan. How is it possible that their only payment method is direct withdrawal from your account? I called to at least get a billed statement and they said they didn’t do that too.
–Within my first year, I had a bad experience. I can’t Imagine if my dog goes really ill with Pet Embrace as my insurance.

The coverage seems fair, and competitive with other plans.
But, buyer beware, they only accept automatic deduction payments from your checking account or from a credit card, and they offer NO way to change the date of the auto-​deduct. If you call Customer Service (even with plenty of time ahead of your payment date), they will advise that the day of the month that you started your policy will forever be your auto-​deduct date. NO exceptions, and there is NO way to request another date instead. So, if your auto-​deduct is on the 3^rd of the month, and that is hard for you to manage with rent, etc., there is no way to request the auto-​deduct at a different time in the month.
Currently, I feel TRAPPED. I explained that due to a medical emergency, my funds were a little low, but with my next paycheck, I can easily cover the premium amount. All I asked for was a 2-​day delay of payment. I was told this is impossible.
That does not convey good customer service to me, and may be something you want to consider when comparing plans.

I’m a huge fan of Embrace. I’m surprised at the negative reviews. I’ve had Embrace for 4 years now for both of my dogs and this past year our boy had to have emergency surgery for a lump in his neck. The bill neared $ 4,000 and getting the best treatment was made easier by the confidence of having our insurance plan. Pay outs are FAST and customer service is excellent. I did a lengthy review before choosing Embrace and I feel that I made the best decision for my dogs. Only the best!

Really disappointed with this organization. Signed up my 2 cats and all I wanted was a medical history review. Trying to get ahold of someone was ridiculous, and when I finally did she was pretty incompetent AND condescending. After not getting a response within the business day they said they respond by I just cancelled, now I’m only hoping I get a full refund since it has not been 30 days.

I have had no issues with Embrace and their services. Any time I have a question or want to follow up on a claim I call and within minutes I am connected to a representative who is both informative and helpful as well as pleasant to speak with.
I did a ton of research when I bought my cat to ensure that I was getting the right coverage and the right insurance company and I gotta say, I’m pretty pleased with my choice.

Summary: Mediocre insurance policy with a very expensive monthly premium. They have nice customer service reps, and good payout, but that’s mostly what you are paying for and NOT for effective coverage when your healthy dog gets seriously ill.
I purchased this for my dog when he was 9 years old. He is now 16 and we have continually maxed out the annual policy in the past two years after having paid $ 1200 a year for his insurance (This is just as expensive as what you may pay for yourself as a human, with a FRACTION of the payout).
When I spoke to an Embrace representative, they said that I should have structured the plan differently, but that was not the initial recommendation made through their online portal when I was signing up. Unfortunately there was very little I could do after that point, however they helped me lower the premium for a year by about 10 dollars a month.
These guys do payout but considering the monthly cost, I could have avoided paying for insurance and simply saved up the money all those years instead of lining their pockets.

I’ve had the health and wellness policies on both of my dogs (Pembroke Welsh Corgis) for the past 2.5 years and I can’t stop raving about how amazing this company is. Every claim I’ve made has been handled quickly and, when it’s eligible for a payout, the check arrives within a few days in the amount described in the explanation of benefits summary. The customer service reps are helpful and kind — and did I mention human! I’ve never called and gotten anything but a competent, caring person on the other end. This, by itself, is huge.
As an aside, I’ve noticed that a lot of folks with 1-​star reviews here have had issues that seem to be related to not understanding their policy or coverage terms. Embrace makes it easy. There are waiting periods, pre-​coverage exams (that check for pre-​existing conditions. just like private human health insurance), deductibles (the amount you pay up to before your insurance kicks in) and co-​pays (the percentage of your total you agree to pay on every bill, regardless of how much the total is, after your deductible is satisfied), so understand what those numbers and terms mean when you sign up.
Bottom Line: If you’re considering pet insurance this is the one you’ve been looking for. The company is a joy to deal with and they really do live up to all of the promises that they make on the website. Follow the submission guidelines, understand your terms, educate yourself and you’ll discover Embrace is an excellent company with an amazing product.

I signed up for insurance plus wellness. Before my insurance was even effective I took my dog to get her teeth cleaned. I was SHOCKED to learn that my dog had to have ELEVEN teeth extracted. I had no idea this would occur– I thought she would only need 2 or 3 teeth removed. Embrace reimbursed me for the maximum allowable amount under the wellness plan. Because I had maxed out any benefits I could receive in the future, the financially smart thing to do is to cancel the plan so that I don’t continue to make payments for something that would not give me any return.
Right?
So I called to cancel my plan the day before it was set to renew for the next month. No answer. Ah yes, it was Memorial Day– a GOVERNMENT HOLIDAY– and they were not open. Ok. Pet insurance is not exactly the equivalent of the post office, so I was surprised that they were not open. My own pediatrician was open on memorial day, so– I did not think Embrace would be closed.
Mind you I never received an e-​mail from Embrace saying «Hi– we will not be open on Memorial Day»
This type of business should not be closed on a government holiday.
Anyways, my premium had been charged and I called the day of and they will not refund that period’s premium because «Well look at it this way– you made money off of this.»
What?
Yes, I understand that. Of course I did. And I should not be paying the premium for the upcoming month because it is in my right to cancel it regardless of how much money I «made». (by having my dog’s teeth removed, I actually LOST $ 700). So no, I did not «make» money. I only got reimbursed what Embrace guaranteed to reimburse.
And because they feel that I got the good end of the deal, which I did, because that’s what they offer and that’s what I took advantage of, they refused to refund me a payment that should never have been made because I was unable to prevent it from going on my card because THEY DID NOT HAVE ONE PERSON ANSWERING PHONES ON MEMORIAL DAY. That’s not my fault. And it’s not my fault that I took advantage of a situation they were pitching. It’s insurance– It’s not fraud. Everything I did was well within the rights listed when I signed up.
They told me «we don’t refund premiums on the wellness plan.» IM ONLY ASKING FOR A REFUND BECAUSE NOBODY ANSWERED THE PHONES ON SUNDAY OR MONDAY SO I COULD NOT CANCEL AHEAD OF TIME.
I am disputing the charge and advising others to avoid Embrace because you may be subject to the whims of a snotty manager who doesn’t want to give you your $ 46 back because you actually got an insurance payout.

I have had Embrace Pet Insurance for almost a year now and therefore I think I can write a general review for what I have experienced.
Insurance:
One benefit I think to Embrace is that you can truly customize your preferred insurance plan. You can choose between various annual maximums, RX drug coverage, deductible, and co-​pays. By adjusting these parameters, you will get a customized yearly premium. In my opinion, this is one aspect that allows Embrace to stand out versus the competition.
Wellness Plan:
The wellness plan in a nutshell: you pay $X and you will get $(X+Y) to you use for the duration of one year for ROUTINE vet visits (This will not include non-​routine procedures, they have a list on their site). After that year, any unused $(X+Y) will expire. This is good and bad in that it’s good because you pay a lesser amount than you are allowed to use. It’s bad in that if you don’t use all of it before expiration, the excess cannot be rolled over to the next year.
Customer Service:
Embrace’s customer service is above average I would say. Most of the time they explain things clearly and they seem to be always very caring about you and your pet.
*one thing to note, I have not made any insurance claims this year so I cannot say how well their claims process works.**
If you are looking for Insurance for your dog or cat, I think you should give Embrace a chance. I think you will really enjoy it’s transparency.
**a tip: ask for a medical review as soon as you get your insurance policy confirmation. It will tell you if anything is excluded so that you will not be surprised later on. =)

Strange to anyone who buys regular insurance: all of the pet companies seem to do the disclaimers and exclusions only AFTER a claim is made. So in our case, our dog had extremely minor issues early in life, and only AFTER we made a claim did Embrace come out and identify exclusions — some of which were very broad — e.g., vomiting, loss of appetite, weight loss or gain. So surprise surprise surprise for many common conditions we do not, apparently, have any coverage.
So a word to the wise — if you use this company (or any other), ask for the exclusions and pre-​existing conditions BEFORE you make a claim, as they will not pro-​actively identify these in advance. I have business insurance and other types of insurance and in no other area does this happen. In «normal» insurance markets, the exclusions are identified when the policy is written, so that you as the consumer know what you actually have insurance for.
Embrace does it «after the fact,» which is very, very much to their advantage. As my father has often told me: insurance companies are great at taking your premiums. Paying out? Not so much.

After struggling to pay the vet bills for the care of my prior pet when she neared the end of her life, when I was ready to get another puppy, I made sure to get some insurance on her so I wouldn’t have to worry about whether or not I could afford to help her if she got sick. I asked around, and heard great things about Embrace, so I gave them a shot.
The first 2 wellness claims I submitted to them were reviewed and approved within a few days. I received my checks within a week. So far, so good with this company.