Pet Insurance Waiting Periods Explained: Every Major Insurer Compared
A waiting period is the gap between when your policy starts and when coverage actually begins. Anything that shows symptoms during that window becomes a pre-existing condition — permanently excluded at most insurers. This makes waiting periods the single most consequential fine print in a pet policy, and the most frequently ignored.
The three waiting periods every policy has
Accident waiting period: 1 to 15 days. Short because injuries are hard to fake and easy to date.
Illness waiting period: 14 to 30 days. Longer because an owner who notices a cough or lump today would otherwise buy insurance tomorrow.
Orthopedic waiting period: 0 to 12 months, applied to cruciate ligament injuries, hip dysplasia, patellar luxation, and sometimes intervertebral disc disease. This exists because cruciate tears are the single most common large claim in dogs — a $3,000 to $7,000 surgery — and owners of limping dogs would otherwise enroll, claim, and cancel.
Waiting periods by insurer
Verified from the 2026 policy terms of the eleven carriers we track:
| Insurer | Accidents | Illnesses | Orthopedic / cruciate |
|---|---|---|---|
| MetLife | None — coverage starts at midnight | 14 days | 6 months, no exam waiver |
| Figo | 1 day | 14 days | 6 months — waivable with vet exam |
| Lemonade | 2 days | 14 days | 6 months for cruciate ligaments |
| Embrace | 2 days | 14 days | 6 months — waivable with orthopedic exam |
| Pets Best | 3 days | 14 days | 6 months for cruciate ligament injuries |
| Trupanion | 5 days | 30 days | None beyond standard periods |
| Spot | 14 days | 14 days | None |
| ASPCA Pet Health | 14 days | 14 days | None |
| Fetch | Up to 15 days (varies by state) | Up to 15 days | 6 months for hips and knees — waivable with exam |
| Healthy Paws | 15 days | 15 days | 12 months for hip dysplasia |
| Nationwide | 14 days | 14 days | 12 months for cruciate ligament conditions |
A few patterns worth noting. MetLife is the only carrier in our comparison with genuinely immediate accident coverage, and Figo follows at one day. Spot and ASPCA trade a longer base wait (14 days for accidents) for zero extended orthopedic exclusions — a genuinely good deal for owners of cruciate-prone breeds like Labrador Retrievers and Rottweilers. Healthy Paws and Nationwide are the outliers in the other direction: Healthy Paws imposes a 12-month hip dysplasia wait and excludes the condition entirely for dogs enrolled after age six, while Nationwide makes you wait a full year for cruciate coverage.
The legitimate ways to shorten an orthopedic wait
Three carriers offer exam-based waivers, and they are worth using if you just enrolled:
- Embrace: have your vet perform a full orthopedic exam after enrollment. If the exam shows no pre-existing orthopedic problems, the 6-month wait drops to the standard 14-day illness period. The exam form is on their site; the visit costs $60 to $120 and is not reimbursed, but it buys you five and a half months of orthopedic coverage.
- Figo: a vet exam after enrollment waives the 6-month orthopedic waiting period.
- Fetch: a vet exam within 30 days of enrollment, showing no pre-existing hip or knee findings, waives the 6-month wait on those joints.
There is no waiver at Lemonade, Pets Best, MetLife, Nationwide, or Healthy Paws — the orthopedic clock simply has to run.
What actually happens during the waiting period
This is the part owners get wrong. The waiting period is not just a delay on reimbursement — it is a pre-existing condition trap. If your dog develops a limp on day 10 of a 14-day illness wait, every future claim related to that joint can be denied as pre-existing, even if the formal diagnosis comes months later. Insurers request full medical records on early claims specifically to check symptom onset dates against the enrollment date.
Two practical rules follow:
- Do not wait for a “sign” to enroll. The sign itself disqualifies you. Enroll while your pet is healthy, ideally as a puppy or kitten — see the timing math in is pet insurance worth it.
- Get a clean baseline exam at enrollment. A vet visit in the first week documenting no abnormalities is your best evidence if a future claim is disputed. This matters most for pre-existing condition determinations.
It is also worth knowing that waiting periods are regulated in some states — a handful of states cap or prohibit certain waiting periods by law, and California mandates specific disclosures about them. If the waiting-period language in your quote looks different from the national summary, your state regulator is usually why. One more nuance: a few employer-sponsored group pet plans waive waiting periods entirely as a negotiated benefit. If your workplace offers group pet insurance, read that clause first — it can be the single most valuable feature of the group rate.
Does switching insurers restart the wait?
Yes, completely — and worse. A new insurer treats every condition documented in your records as pre-existing, even ones your old carrier covered for years. Unless your current policy is genuinely unusable, switching carriers mid-life is almost always a downgrade.
Cat owners can relax slightly on the orthopedic angle: feline cruciate and hip claims are far rarer than canine ones, so the 14-day illness wait is usually the only number that matters. The trap is identical, though — a cat that vomits during the waiting period can have GI disease excluded for life.
Compare waiting periods, coverage, and pricing across all eleven carriers on our pet insurance hub before you commit the first time.
FAQ
Which pet insurance has the shortest waiting period?
MetLife has no accident waiting period at all — coverage starts at midnight after enrollment. Figo follows at 1 day for accidents, with Lemonade and Embrace at 2 days. For illness, nearly every major carrier uses 14 days; Trupanion is the outlier at 30 days.
Can I get pet insurance with no waiting period?
For accidents, yes at one carrier: MetLife starts accident coverage at midnight. For illness, no major US insurer offers a zero waiting period on a new policy. Orthopedic waiting periods of 6 months at Embrace, Figo, and Fetch can be waived with a qualifying vet exam.
How do I waive the 6-month orthopedic waiting period?
Embrace waives its 6-month orthopedic wait if your vet completes an orthopedic exam showing no pre-existing problems. Figo waives it with a qualifying vet exam, and Fetch waives its 6-month hip and knee wait with an exam within 30 days of enrollment. Lemonade, Pets Best, MetLife, and Nationwide offer no waiver.
Does the waiting period apply to renewals?
No. Waiting periods apply once, at initial enrollment. Renewals, premium increases, and changes to reimbursement or deductible at renewal do not restart the clock — but switching insurers does.