How We Research

1. Insurer-specific content

For each US pet insurer in our directory, we maintain a primary-source dossier containing:

• The current sample policy PDF from the carrier's website
• The carrier's published appeal procedure and claim turnaround commitment
• Recent decisions from the state Department of Insurance regarding the carrier
• Better Business Bureau complaint themes and Trustpilot review patterns from the last 12 months

When carriers update sample policies (typically at renewal), we re-pull the source and re-flag affected pages for review.

2. Denial-reason playbooks

Each of our 20 denial-reason playbooks (pre-existing, bilateral, congenital, waiting period, etc.) is based on:

• Pattern review of real denial letters submitted by users (de-identified)
• NAIC's Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Model Act, sections on claim documentation and timeliness
• State-level case law where insurer denial reasoning has been formally challenged
• Public guidance from state Departments of Insurance on what evidence is owed to a policyholder

3. State escalation paths

State pages map the formal complaint workflow at each Department of Insurance. We verify complaint URLs, response-time commitments, and the controlling statutory section (typically modeled on NAIC's UCSPA) at least quarterly.

4. Medication pricing

Medication price comparisons sample retail prices from Chewy Pharmacy, Costco Pharmacy, Walmart Pharmacy, GoodRx (where the human equivalent is appropriate), and a survey of US vet-office cash prices. Prices are typical, not guaranteed; we display ranges, not guarantees, and a clear timestamp.

5. What we do not do

• We do not scrape insurer member portals or any source requiring authentication.
• We do not publish another publisher's claim language without independent verification.
• We do not present AI-generated text as researched content (see Editorial Policy).

Questions? research@petclaim.app