A TikTok user has gone viral for exposing the outrageous increase in her pet insurance premium from Nationwide, which the company reportedly claims is due to inflation.
TikToker AjaDang (@ajadang) posted a video on Sept. 11, showing her renewal notice from Nationwide, which stated that her premium for one of her dogs, Levi, would be $4,084.58 for the year 2023-2024. That is a $2,300 increase from the previous year, when she paid $1,800 for Levi and $1,600 for her other dog, Luke.
@ajadang We first got our @nationwide insurance plan in 2017 after Luke’s unexpected medical emergency (that experience also inspired my debtfree journey) and i have been a huge fan of Nationwide pet insurance ever since. We get our reimbursements within a few days and our current plan covers everything. I dont know if anyone has experienced this type of cost increase but this is insane. We thankfully already have an emergency fund for the dogs but the pet insurance gave us an added level of security. I am so so sad about this and we will have to downgrade our plan to something more afforable. #budget #dogsoftiktok #petinsurance ♬ original sound – AjaDang
AjaDang said she has been with Nationwide since 2017 and has their best coverage plan, which “covers 90% of everything”. The TikToker said she understood that the premium would increase every year as her dogs got older, but that she was shocked by the drastic jump this year.
“Inflation hasn’t hit me really hard until right now,” she said in the video. “Obviously, the premium has increased, which I get because the dogs are getting older. I am not dumb to the reality of the situation. But the yearly increase ranged until last year between like 80 and $280 a year. Last year, our premium went up by $600.”
“This year, however, our premiums increased by $2,300. That is not the cost of the plan, that is the increase in price to the cost of the plan,” she added.
The TikToker shared that she called Nationwide to ask them what was going on: “They blamed inflation. They did that last year when they increased our premium by $600. And that I could like relatively get but not increasing our premium by $2,300 for one dog,” she remarked.
She also said she checked her vet costs and claimed they have been consistent over the past few years, not warranting such a huge increase in her premium, adding “I think this is just a way to kick us off our really great coverage because they’re probably losing a ton of money on us.”
“It just makes me nervous because I know just by kind of the rule of the world the moment I downgrade this plan to something more affordable, something is going to happen and that scares me. So Nationwide, you’re breaking my heart,” the TikToker concluded in her video.
The video has since accumulated more than 218,900 views and many comments from other TikTok users who have shared their experience of dealing with pet insurance companies.
“Companies love to blame inflation when it’s mostly corporate greed. This need to be looked into for price gouging,” one user wrote.
“it does not pay to stay loyal to an insurance company. Shop around or let them know you are looking to change they may try go lower the amount,” another user suggested.
“I dropped Nationwide due to the same reason,” a third user said.
Pet insurance rates are indeed on the rise. This is apparently due to several factors, including increased prices for veterinary service and the pandemic pet boom. Nationwide dropped AjaDang’s reimbursement plan back in 2021.
The Daily Dot has reached out to AjaDang via TikTok DM for comment.
