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A class action lawsuit has been filed against Healthy Paws Pet Insurance by a consumer claiming the company charges excessive monthly premiums.
Plaintiff Steven Benanav says that Healthy Paws is contractually obligated to increase their insurance premiums only to the extent of the costs associated with an increase in the amount spent on veterinary medicine.
Benanav reportedly purchased a Healthy Paws insurance policy for his dog Mali in March 2012. This insurance company has reportedly been underwritten by numerous companies such as Markel American Insurance Company, Ace American and Westchester Fire Insurance Company.
When the plaintiff first purchased the insurance for Mali, the monthly premiums were $33.85 per month, Benanav claims. However, as the dog aged, the monthly premiums reportedly increased.
The plaintiff states that in 2016, the monthly premiums increased from $39.03 to $44.80. Thereafter, the premiums increased to $55.61 in 2018, to $69.67 in 2019, and finally to $104.50 in 2020, according to the Healthy Paws class action lawsuit.
Benanav claims his pet insurance policy increased more than 300 percent over the course of seven years. The plaintiff alleges this amount is well above the overall average costs of veterinary medicine for that time period.
A Nationwide Purdue Veterinary Price Index from 2019 notes that from 2014 to 2018, the cost of veterinary medicine increased only 21 percent, which is less than the cost of the premium set by Healthy Paws.
Benanav says Mali is now 13-years-old and he is unable to switch insurance companies, because the dog has aged out of most policies.
The plaintiff claims that he expected his insurance premiums to rise according to inflation. He says if he knew that Healthy Paws would be taking Mali’s age and other factors into consideration to increase their rates, he would not have signed up for this particular insurance policy.
Benanav alleges that the age of his pet is not a factor related to veterinary medicine, and therefore Healthy Paws should not have used that information to increase insurance policies.
The Healthy Paws class action lawsuit argues that the insurance company has earned millions of dollars in extra profits by unrightfully increasing the costs of the monthly premiums.
“More and more, Americans regard their pets as members of their family and more and more, Americans are demanding similar services for their pets as they do for their family members—and that includes health insurance,” claims the Healthy Paws class action lawsuit.
The plaintiff cites statistics by the North American Pet Health Insurance Association, which states that more than 2 million pets were insured at the end of 2017.
In addition, the director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America has recently stated that the purchase of pet insurance is “often motivated by a combination of love and fear,” which puts the purchaser in a vulnerable situation, according to the class action lawsuit.
Also, the plaintiff maintains that the cost-benefit analysis of whether an individual should choose pet insurance is based on the cost of monthly premiums.
“Many consumers, when presented with the possibility of securing the most advanced veterinary care for their pet in the event of a future illness for only $30 or $40 per month, believe that pet insurance is a good deal,” argues Benanav.
The Healthy Pets class action lawsuit states that pet insurance companies drastically increase the cost of monthly premiums when the consumers need the insurance the most: as their pets age.
The plaintiff argues that suddenly, monthly premiums for pet insurance may skyrocket to hundreds of dollars per month, which drastically affects the cost-benefit calculation.
“While some pet insurance policies may explicitly allow monthly premiums to increase based on a pet’s age—thus warning consumers from the outset of the potential for a spike down the road—Healthy Paws’ policies do not,” according to the Healthy Paws class action lawsuit.
There are two prospective Classes in the Healthy Paws class action lawsuit. First, a nationwide Class which consists of “All persons who, within the applicable statute of limitations, had their monthly premiums increase on a Healthy Paws pet insurance policy.” The second Class is a California subclass which includes “All persons in the state of California who, within the applicable statute of limitations, had their monthly premiums increase on a Healthy Paws pet insurance policy.”
Do you have insurance for your pet and have experienced premium costs increasing? Leave a message in the comments section below.
The plaintiff is represented by Samuel J. Strauss of Turke & Strauss.
The Healthy Paws Insurance Class Action Lawsuit is Steven Benanav v. Healthy Paws Pet Insurance, Case No. 2:20-cv-00421, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
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844 thoughts onHealthy Paws Class Action Says Pet Insurance Premiums Skyrocketed
Please help I”m in the same boat I have several dogs and my insurance with healthy paws is over 700
Add me to the list. They raised my monthly costs too!
My dog is 5 years old and my monthly policy went up from 45 to 90 just this year 2024
I just received a premium rate increase from Healthy Paws. 1 dog, it’s increasing from $186.68 per month to $322.14. I also received a large increase a couple if years ago and had to cancell both my cars policies. One of the cats rates tripled.
Same thing happened to me. When I signed up for insurance when my dog was a puppy it was $35 per month & they specifically say that premiums won’t go up based on age or procedures. The way they’re getting around that, because every year whatever state you’re in comes out with an average cost based on breed & age. So obviously every year your pet gets older the average cost are going to go up. It’s super shady how they fail to explain this to new customers. My dog is now 6 & premiums shot up to $105 per month. I had to cancel because every year now the jumps based on age will be huge every year. By the time your pet is 12 you will be paying at least $500 per month. I wish you all the best with the lawsuit. Let me know if I can help.
My Healthy Paws premiums have been doubled more than once, charging me more every year, the latest $600-1000/mo for 2 dogs, more than I pay for human health insurance. The plan coverage is good but EXPENSIVE!! Once locked in you can’t shop around due to pre-existing conditions.
Ours is going up 50%. I would like to join the lawsuit.
Sign me up. Just got email notice that it will go up from $159 to $250. This is criminal.
I just went to their website to look at changing coverage at renewal, which I also did last year when the increase was around 40%. What is odd is the section clearly states that my new premium effective 3/22/24 is $159 for 90% $500 deductible. That is my current rate. It seems to indicate that there is no change at all yet the email I got is clear that they want another $90 bucks a month. So I played with the calculator. If I drop the deductible to 80%, the rate goes up to $206…..not down. If I drop to 70%, the rate is now $178. There is no combination that supports the quoted email rate of $250 and lowering my reimbursement % will cost me more??
I would like to be added to the lawsuit. My cat and dog have aged and are no longer eligible for other health insurance. I have seen increases go from $65 a month to $133 from 2016 to 2024 and that is with more than double my deductible and decreasing my percent coverage. It is extortion of people who love their pets increasing premiums when their pets need the protection the most.
Correction: I see I had a typo there in my first comment. Here is my corrected comment to the original post and a few additional comments just because I need to rant! “Just received my premium renewal for 2024. I have two small dogs on the plan since 2017 and 2018 and have not used the coverage since 2019 and even then, all but one claim went toward the deductible. The premium for one dog, my 9-year-old, increased 50% and the other dog, 7 years, increased 50%. I have another dog, a puppy, that I did NOT enroll in Healthy Paws in August 2023 but another company and believe it or not, I was able to enroll both of my Health Paws enrollees on that plan and I will pay less money than I was paying in 2023. I expect there to be a premium increase annually based upon the aging of the pet, but when I asked Healthy Pets “Why” so high an increase, they told me that the overall claim payments in my state exceed the premiums they are getting. Sounds to me like Healthy Pets is not investing the premium money to offset premium increases to customers but that I just a thought. Update: January 3, 2024, I have cancelled both policies and hope everyone else who does not have pre-existing conditions finds another coverage with reasonable rates. The rep during the cancellation call asked me “why” I was cancelling, and I told him it was the outrageous rate increase, since I have not used the plan since 2019; he told me once again, that the increases are NOT based upon the utilization of the plan. That is outrageous and I hope when the dust settles on this lawsuit, that the plaintiffs are successful and Healthy Paws is forced out of business.
Do you know if there are any updates on this lawsuit or how to be more involved? Thanks
I’ve experienced the same thing since 2014 my dog as well has been unhealthy since then and they’ve been increasing the premium every year. Is there any updates on this class action lawsuit??