Eligibility
Pre-existing conditions and waiting periods
If the pet already showed signs, the related bills are almost never reimbursed. Waiting periods exist so a limp today cannot be insured this afternoon. A quote is still often available. Coverage for that limp is not.
The rule every carrier uses
On every official page we fetched in August 2026, a pre-existing condition is some version of: signs, symptoms, veterinary advice, diagnosis, or treatment before the policy effective date or before the applicable waiting period ended. A formal diagnosis is not required. A note in the record that the dog was “off on the right hind” can be enough to exclude a later ACL diagnosis.
Pets with pre-existing conditions can still be insured. The policy is for new accidents and illnesses. That is not the same as covering the condition you already know about.
Waiting periods are how “pre-existing” is dated
Anything that starts during a wait is typically classified as pre-existing for the life of that policy. Switching carriers usually restarts waits. A lapse usually restarts them too.
- Lemonade: 0 days accidents, 14 days illness, 30 days orthopedic (Lemonade waiting-period guide). State exceptions exist.
- Embrace: 14 days illness; accidents on the effective date; orthopedic often 180 days for dogs, sometimes reducible with a vet exam.
- Fetch: no accident wait; illness wait up to 15 days.
- Pets Best: state-specific. MN sample policy: 3 days injury, 14 days illness, 6 months cruciate. Waiver exam may be available.
- Spot (CA disclosure): 14 days accident and illness; 14 days ligament/knee. Health-assessment exam may modify the wait.
- Trupanion: US FAQ we fetched does not publish one nationwide number. Verify on the quote form.
All waits: verify on the quote form.
Curable vs incurable — do not assume ACL qualifies
Some carriers will revisit a temporary condition after a symptom-free stretch. Chronic, orthopedic, and ligament conditions usually never re-enter coverage.
| Carrier | Pre-existing | Curable path | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lemonade | Not covered. A pre-existing condition is any issue the pet showed signs of, was diagnosed with, or was treated for before the waiting period ended. Pets with pre-existing conditions can still be insured; related bills are not reimbursed. | In most states Lemonade describes a 12-consecutive-month symptom- and treatment-free path for some temporary conditions. Knee/ligament conditions and chronic conditions (examples Lemonade lists: arthritis, allergies, asthma, cancers, endocrine diseases) cannot be ‘cured’ under that rule. | Get a quote from Lemonade |
| Embrace | Not covered. Embrace defines a pre-existing condition as any injury, illness, or irregularity noticed by you or your veterinarian before the end of the waiting period, even if the pet never saw a vet for it. | Curable vs incurable: Embrace lists diabetes and allergies as examples of incurable pre-existing conditions. Ear infections and undiagnosed vomiting or diarrhea are examples of curable issues that may be eligible after 12 months symptom-free. Bilateral conditions (hip dysplasia, cruciate tears): if one side is pre-existing, the other side is not covered. | Get a quote from Embrace |
| Fetch | Not all pre-existing conditions are covered — Fetch says no pet insurance covers all of them. Defined as any injury, illness, or condition noticed before signup, before the effective date, or during the wait of up to 15 days. | Fetch describes a two-year path for curable conditions (UTI, URI, bite wounds, ear infection, diarrhea, etc.): 1 year symptom- and treatment-free, with a second chance in year 2. Incurable examples Fetch lists: torn ligament, allergies, arthritis, IVDD, diabetes, thyroid disease. Orthopedic bilateral: a prior cruciate on one knee typically excludes the other knee. | Get a quote from Fetch |
| Pets Best | Not covered. Pets Best: any condition present before the end of waiting periods, even if not formally diagnosed. Signs or symptoms before the policy started mean no coverage for that condition. | Pets Best says some conditions (examples: broken legs, kennel cough) that heal and require no further treatment are not treated as pre-existing once healed. The MN sample policy treats chronic conditions, bilateral conditions, and intervertebral-disc conditions as pre-existing if present at any time before the effective date or wait end, with an 18-month lookback for other conditions. | Get a quote from Pets Best |
| Trupanion | Not covered. Trupanion’s US FAQ: a pre-existing condition is any illness, condition, or injury for which signs or evidence of potential manifestation existed within the 18 months prior to the effective date or applicable waiting periods. Recurrence of a prior injury is also pre-existing. Eligibility for a specific condition cannot be determined until a claim is submitted. | Trupanion’s US FAQ example: allergies diagnosed as a puppy remain excluded even after years without symptoms. Trupanion does not describe a 12-month ‘cured’ path on the US pre-existing FAQ we fetched. A hip-dysplasia example was covered when Trupanion found a medical disconnect from an old sprain. We do not treat ACL/cruciate as curable on Trupanion based on that page. | Get a quote from Trupanion |
| Spot | Not covered. Spot: any illness or injury that shows signs before the policy and before the wait ends, usually including undiagnosed issues. | Spot: cured/curable pre-existing conditions (examples: broken bones, foreign-object ingestion) may be covered later if the pet has gone 180 days symptom- and treatment-free. This does not apply to ligament and knee conditions. Spot’s CA notice: ligament and knee are bilateral and related regardless of cause — one side affects both. | Get a quote from Spot |
Worked example: prior ACL
A 9-year-old French bulldog tore a cruciate last year. You can often still get a quote. That knee will not be covered. Because ligament/knee conditions are treated as bilateral at Embrace, Fetch, Spot (CA notice), and typically elsewhere, the other knee is often excluded too. Lemonade says knee/ligament conditions cannot use the 12-month cured path. Fetch lists torn ligament as incurable. Spot’s 180-day cured path “does not apply to ligament and knee conditions.”
We did not find a current public carrier page that promises to cover a documented pre-existing ACL. If a carrier later says otherwise, it would have to say so on its quote form or policy — not here.
Get a quote (official carrier URLs)
We do not run a fake quote widget. These buttons open the carrier.
Sources (fetched 30 August 2026)
Facts below come from official public carrier pages. Waiting periods, age caps, and premiums change by state and over time. Label anything operational as stale-prone: verify on the quote form.
- Lemonade: Lemonade — pre-existing conditions · Lemonade — waiting periods · Lemonade — Golden Retriever page · Lemonade — French Bulldog page
- Embrace: Embrace — coverage FAQ · Embrace — dog insurance · Embrace — waiting periods · Embrace — orthopedic waiting period
- Fetch: Fetch — pre-existing conditions · Fetch — coverage
- Pets Best: Pets Best — coverage · Pets Best — FAQ
- Trupanion: Trupanion — pre-existing conditions FAQ · Trupanion — get a quote (age copy on form)
- Spot: Spot — pre-existing conditions · Spot — CA insurer disclosure · Spot — older pets