Pet owners want the best care for their pets, but veterinary visits can be expensive, especially for pets with ongoing or chronic conditions. According to the American Pet Products State of the Industry 2025 report, 37% of U.S. pet owners are worried about access to veterinary care, with 60% of those citing affordability as their top concern.

Even with the extra financial help pet insurance provides for unexpected vet bills, usually pet owners have to shell out for pet medical bills up front and wait for reimbursement. However, some pet insurance companies relieve the strain on pet owners' wallets by having systems for paying veterinarians directly.

Here’s how pet insurance that pays the vet directly works.

Learn more: How does pet insurance work? A complete guide.

Only a handful of pet insurance companies officially offer direct vet pay. Instead of requiring pet owners to pay vet bills and then file a pet insurance claim, some insurers will pay a vet directly for expenses covered by the policy.

With typical pet insurance claims, you submit a completed claim form and paid invoices to your pet insurance company. The pet insurer then cuts you a check or sends a direct deposit to your bank account, based on your deductible and coinsurance.

Pet insurance that pays the vet directly removes the pet owner as the middleman in this process, establishing a direct payment relationship between the veterinarian and the pet insurance company. Each pet insurer that offers direct pay has different rules about how it works, but veterinarians must usually take some action to receive payment.

With direct vet pay, you'll still owe a deductible and a percentage of your pet’s medical expenses to the vet, but the rest of the bill can be paid directly.

Read more: The best pet insurance companies

Pet insurance that pays the vet directly has many advantages, especially for pet owners who don’t have savings or a credit card to draw upon in the event of an emergency veterinarian bill. But direct vet pay can also have drawbacks, including limited availability.

Pros of direct vet pay

• Less financially stressful up front

• Enables decisions to focus on the best treatment instead of how the pet owner will pay up front

• Less hassle in submitting claims

Cons of direct vet pay

• Restricted to certain veterinarians in-network or willing to work with your pet insurer

• Paperwork and advance notice may be required to set up

• Not available from all pet insurers

Learn more: How insuring a pet may save money in the long run

While not all pet insurance companies will work directly with a vet, the following popular pet insurers have systems in place for paying a vet directly.

Besides the pet insurers listed below, some pet insurers will pay vets directly on a case-by-case basis and with advance notice. If you know your pet has an expensive procedure coming up, like a surgery, contact your pet insurer to see if a special arrangement can be made for a direct payment.

ASPCA pet insurance says that as part of the claim process, you can simply indicate you want the vet to be reimbursed directly instead of sending the payment to you. Your vet can also submit a claim on your behalf by email or fax.

Healthy Paws opens up their direct pay option to any licensed veterinarian in the United States who is willing to accept direct payment, but your request to use direct pay has to be made in advance of treatment. Your vet will need to agree to a direct payment and work with Healthy Paws to receive it.

To pay your vet directly, Pets Best asks that you include a signed copy of a veterinarian reimbursement release form when you submit a claim.

Learn more: Pets Best pet insurance review 2025

Trupanion offers the most seamless way to pay a vet directly with its special software. You don’t need to fill out any special forms, and the vet submits the claim electronically if they have the Trupanion software installed.

If you have Chewy’s CarePlus Pet Insurance through Trupanion, you can also take advantage of direct pay through its network of VetDirect Pay providers.

If your pet insurance company doesn’t offer a way to pay a vet directly, there may be other options that can help reduce the stress of a potentially big vet bill. If you don’t have an emergency savings fund to tap into for vet bills, consider these alternatives.

Clinics willing to offer discounted veterinary services abound if you know where to look. Nationally, you can start with Pet Help Finder, but it’s also worth calling your local Humane Society or animal rescue for recommendations.

Most veterinarians offer some sort of payment plan, especially for the large medical bills that might occur after your pet has an emergency injury or illness. Ask your vet what payment options they offer to break your bill into more affordable installments.

Just like accounts for health and dental expenses, there are lines of credit, such as CareCredit, specifically designed to help finance veterinarian expenses affordably.

You may qualify for a personal loan to cover a large veterinarian bill, and the interest rates are usually more affordable than carrying a balance on your credit card.

In addition to Humane World for Animals (formerly The Humane Society), other nonprofit organizations like The Pet Fund offer ways to pay for critical treatments for pets through charitable donations, and you can also turn to pet crowdsourcing sites like Waggle in a pinch.

Amy Danise edited this article.