A higher price on a renewal notice is frustrating, but the reasons are not a mystery. Insurers publish them in their help pages and policy documents, and they file their rate changes with state regulators. This guide collects the reasons that insurers themselves document, shows what the public filings say, and explains how to check your own renewal against other owners.
We only describe what a primary source says. Where a reason applies to one insurer, we name the insurer and link its own page. Nothing here is advice on which policy to choose.
1. Vet care keeps getting more expensive
Pet insurance pays vet bills, so its price follows the price of vet care. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks this in the Consumer Price Index. In its September 2026 release, the index for veterinarian services was up 4.6% over the previous 12 months. Prices for all items were up 3.7% over the same period. So vet care rose faster than prices in general.
Insurers say this directly. Lemonade lists rising vet and treatment costs, and inflation, among the four reasons a renewal price can go up. Embrace says vet cost inflation is part of its base rate. Healthy Paws says its rates reflect the cost of treatment advances in vet medicine. Trupanion's pricing flyer says cost trends usually come from more use of vet services, and sometimes from inflation, new technology and new procedures.
The CPI figure is a national average of prices. It is not the same as an insurer's claim costs, which also depend on how often pets go to the vet and what treatments they get. But it shows the direction.
2. Your pet is a year older
Many insurers document age as a rating factor at each renewal. Older pets tend to need vet care more often, and that care tends to cost more. Lemonade says your pet's age and the vet costs in your area are the biggest factors in its renewal price. Embrace lists your pet's age as one of its four reasons a price can change. Healthy Paws lists age among the factors its rates reflect.
Trupanion is a documented exception. Its sample policy prices on your pet's age at enrollment, not the age today. Its price can still change, but not just because your pet had a birthday.
Our increase by age guide shows what owners report for each age band, once enough reports come in.
3. The insurer filed a new base rate in your state
Pet insurance rates are regulated state by state. When an insurer wants to raise prices for everyone in a state, it files the change with that state's insurance regulator. Embrace explains that its base rate rises by the same percentage for all premiums in a state, and that its rates are filed with and approved by each state's department of insurance as required. Healthy Paws says its premiums follow the rates and rating rules filed with, and approved by, each state's regulator where approval applies.
These filings are public. We track the ones we can source. Right now our data has 33 filed or approved rate changes from 10 insurers in 7 states. 30 of them are increases. The middle value is +19%. They range from -8.2% (Nationwide, North Carolina, filed 2026-08-27) to +85% (ManyPets, California, approved 2024-07-26).
| Insurer | Filings | Middle value | Highest | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ManyPets | 1 | +85% | +85% CA | CA |
| MetLife Pet | 5 | +26% | +36.9% CA | CA, FL, NJ |
| Lemonade | 7 | +25% | +38.4% NJ | CA, FL, GA, NJ, NY |
| Trupanion | 5 | +19% | +27.4% TN | CA, FL, GA, TN |
| Figo | 3 | +17.6% | +27.1% FL | FL, NJ, TN |
| Healthy Paws | 3 | +16.3% | +44.8% CA | CA, FL |
| Pets Best | 3 | +16% | +53.4% CA | CA, NJ |
| Fetch | 1 | +12.9% | +12.9% CA | CA |
| Nationwide | 2 | +9.2% | +26.6% CA | CA, NC |
| Embrace | 3 | 0% | +23.5% CA | CA, GA, TN |
Filed or approved average rate changes from public state filings. Each filing and its source is listed on the insurer's page. A filed average covers all of an insurer's policyholders in a state.
A filed number is an average across all of the insurer's policyholders in that state. Your own change can be well above or below it, because your pet's age and your area also move the price.
4. Claims costs rose where you live
Some insurers price by local claims experience. Healthy Paws says one of its factors is the program's overall claims experience in the region where your pet lives. When claims rise across an area, prices for everyone there can rise too. Lemonade names vet costs in your area as one of its biggest factors. Trupanion lists the local cost of vet care among its enrollment factors. This is one reason two owners with the same insurer can see very different increases.
Your own claims are a different question. Lemonade says filing claims will never result in a rate change to your Lemonade Pet policy. Other insurers describe their own rules in their policy documents, so check yours.
5. A discount ended
A price can go up because a discount came off. Embrace says it and each state review its discounts every year. If a discount is no longer approved or offered, it comes off at renewal and the price goes up. Lemonade notes that its discounts may not be offered in every state. If your increase looks larger than usual, compare the discounts listed on last year's policy with this year's.
6. Trends in the wider pet population
Embrace lists one more reason. Some breeds become more prone to costly conditions over time, and premiums reflect that shared risk. Lemonade similarly lists changes across the pet insurance industry as one of its reasons.
How often and how much prices can change
Insurers set their own rules within each state's law, so read your policy. Two documented examples help show the range. Trupanion's sample policy says price changes happen no more than once a year and will not exceed 20%, with written notice at least 30 days before. In New York, the Healthy Paws endorsement requires at least 60 days' notice, and a change only takes effect on the policy's anniversary date. Lemonade says it emails the new policy about a month before renewal.
What you can check
You can't change the reasons above, but you can see where your renewal sits.
- Read the renewal notice line by line. Look for a changed deductible, limit, reimbursement level or discount.
- Look up your insurer's page on RenewalDog. It shows the filings we have for that insurer and what other owners report.
- Check your state page for filings in your state.
- Ask the insurer which of its factors changed for your policy.
Many insurers also document ways to lower a renewal price, such as a higher deductible or a lower annual limit. Each one trades away some coverage. Our insurer pages list what each insurer says about this.
What owners report
We have 0 owner reports so far. That's fewer than 5, so we don't show a median yet. Very unusual reports are held for review before they count, and we only show a median once at least 5 owners have reported.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI Table 2, September 2026 (veterinarian services and all items, 12-month change)
- Lemonade, "Lemonade Pet Renewals: What You Need to Know"
- Embrace help center, "Why did my premium change?"
- Trupanion sample pet insurance policy (TRU 00001), section 1c "Changes to your premium"
- Trupanion, "How We Price" flyer
- Healthy Paws, Frequently Asked Questions ("Will my premiums increase?")
- Healthy Paws New York amendatory endorsement
Sources last checked November 2, 2026. Live figures update as filings and owner reports are added. This is not advice on which insurer or policy to choose.