LBP Insurance
May 2026 Content Calendar

Summer is almost here, and if you're a pet owner, you already know what that means: hiking trails, beach trips, backyard cookouts, and road trips with your four-legged co-pilot. 🐶

But here's something a lot of pet owners don't think about until it's too late — a single unexpected trip to the vet can cost anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. And your standard homeowners or renters policy? It usually doesn't cover a dime of it.

What Exactly Is Pet Insurance?

Pet insurance works similarly to health insurance for people. You pay a monthly premium, and in return, your plan covers a portion of eligible vet costs — whether that's a sudden illness, an accident, emergency care, or in some cases, even routine wellness visits.

Plans vary widely, so it's worth knowing what you're getting. Some cover accidents only, while others include illnesses, surgeries, imaging, prescriptions, and more. Most plans reimburse you after you pay the vet directly, which means you can typically use any licensed veterinarian — no network restrictions.

Why Summer Is a Great Time to Think About It

Summer brings more activity — and with more activity comes more opportunity for scrapes, bites, ingested things they definitely shouldn't have ingested, and overheating. Dogs especially tend to get into more trouble when they're out and about more often.

It's also worth noting that in some parts of New England, tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease are a real concern for pets (and their owners). Treatment can be ongoing and costly if caught late.

How Much Does Pet Insurance Cost?

It depends on the plan, the pet's age and breed, and the coverage level — but in many cases, pet insurance runs somewhere in the range of $30–$70 per month for a dog and less for a cat. For context, a single emergency vet visit for something like an ingested foreign object or a broken leg can easily run $2,000–$5,000 or more.

For a lot of pet owners, the math isn't complicated once you see the numbers side by side.

Is It Worth It?

That depends on your pet, your financial situation, and your comfort with risk. But the honest answer is: for most pet owners who take their animals to the vet regularly and consider them part of the family, pet insurance is one of those things that pays for itself the first time you actually need it.

The best time to get it is when your pet is young and healthy — before any pre-existing conditions come into play.

If you woke up this morning to wet weather and the words "homeowners insurance covers that, right?" crossed your mind — we need to talk.

One of the most common and costly misconceptions in insurance is the assumption that a standard homeowners policy covers flood damage. It doesn't. Flooding is almost universally excluded from standard home insurance policies — and it doesn't matter how much you paid for your coverage or how long you've had it.

What Counts as "Flooding"?

Flooding, in insurance terms, typically means water that enters your home from outside — storm surge, overflowing rivers or ponds, heavy rain runoff, and rising groundwater. It is not the same as a burst pipe or an overflowing bathtub (which your homeowners policy may cover as "water damage").

The distinction matters enormously. A homeowner who files a flood claim without flood insurance doesn't get a partial payout. They get denied.

Who Needs Flood Insurance?

A lot of people assume that because they're not in a designated high-risk flood zone, they don't need it. But here's the thing: about 20–25% of flood insurance claims come from moderate- or low-risk areas. Heavy rain doesn't care where the FEMA map puts your house.

Massachusetts has seen increasingly intense spring rain events in recent years, and flooding is a risk in communities that historically never thought twice about it — including parts of the North Shore, the Merrimack River valley, and coastal towns.

How Flood Insurance Works

Flood insurance is available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is federally backed, as well as through private insurers. Coverage can apply to your home's structure, its contents, or both — and these are typically separate policies.

One important heads-up: NFIP policies usually have a 30-day waiting period before they take effect. So if a big storm is on the radar, it's already too late to get coverage before it hits.

What Should You Do?

First, check whether you already have flood coverage — some people don't realize they were added (or weren't added) during a policy review. If you're renting, ask your landlord if the building has flood coverage, and think about whether your personal belongings are covered.

Then, if you're not sure whether flood insurance makes sense for where you live, talk to an independent agent. At LBP, we can look at your location, your existing coverage, and your risk factors and give you a real answer — not a boilerplate one.

May rain in Massachusetts is no joke. The right coverage can be the difference between a manageable situation and a financial nightmare.