What Does Transferring a Pet’s Coverage Mean?
Transferring a pet’s coverage means uninterrupted coverage so the pet will not have new waiting periods, and any covered claims will continue to be covered by the policy (as long as the coverage is not increased at the time of transfer).
How to Initiate a Transfer
The original pet parent must contact us by phone with:
Original policy number
Name of the pet being transferred
Name of the person accepting the transfer
Once the original pet parent has initiated the transfer, the new pet parent must contact us by phone to accept the transfer within one calendar week with:
Name of the pet being transferred
First & last name of the original pet parent
New pet parent’s first & last name
New pet parent’s policy number (if they’re a current Embrace policy holder)
If the new pet parent doesn’t have an existing policy, they must provide the following additional information:
Contact information (billing & mailing address, email address, phone number)
Payment information (credit/debit card or checking/savings account)
Entire Policy Transfer
If a new pet parent is taking over an entire policy with all pets, or if the existing policy only has one pet, the original pet parent and their contact information will be removed and replaced with the new pet parent’s information.
The original pet parent must contact us with:
Original policy number
New pet parent’s first & last name
Once the original pet parent has initiated the transfer, the new pet parent must contact us by phone to accept the transfer within one calendar week with:
First & last name of the original pet parent
Name of pet(s) being transferred
First & last name of new pet parent
Contact information (billing & mailing address, email address, phone number)
Payment information (credit/debit card or checking/savings account)
Once the policy transfer is complete, the new pet parent will be charged a pro-rated premium from the day of transfer initiation through the current monthly (or yearly) payment period. The policy number does not change.
The original pet parent will receive a pro-rated refund from the transfer date through the remaining monthly (or yearly) payment period and they will be removed from the policy entirely.
Timeline to Transfer a Pet
We recommend the original pet parent and new pet parent coordinate so the transfer is initiated and completed within the same business day.
The new pet parent has one calendar week to accept the transfer of the pet. The original pet parent will receive an email on the second business day after initiating the transfer to confirm that the pet will be removed or cancelled from their policy seven days from the initial transfer date if the new owner doesn’t contact us.
If the new pet parent doesn’t call to accept the transfer one week from the original authorization, the pet will be removed from the current policy and the new pet parent will have to start a new policy, which means the pet is subject to new waiting periods and underwriting. Any conditions the pet may have had will be considered pre-existing even if it was covered under the previous policy.
Cost of Transferring a Pet
Transferring to a New Policy
If the new pet parent does not have an existing policy, they are responsible for a $25 activation fee to begin a new policy and a full month’s (or year’s, if choosing to pay annually) premium.
Transferring to an Existing Policy
If the new pet parent has an existing policy, the pet parent accepting the transfer will be charged a pro-rated premium related to the pet’s coverage.
Transferring a pet to a new pet parent can cause a change in that pet’s individual premium and coverage since rates and certain coverage options are based on Zip Code and policy factors.
Once the pet is transferred to the new policy, they are removed from the originating policy. This means a change in premium for the original pet parent, or they are not financially responsible for the pet insurance policy if this was the only pet.
Note: If transferring a pet from the original policy only leaves one pet, the multi-pet discount will be removed
Adjusting Coverage at Time of Transfer
The new pet parent can change the pet’s coverage if they wish, but they should know:
Reducing coverage doesn’t change waiting periods or potential pre-existing conditions
Increasing coverage resets waiting periods & underwriting