Our Wacky Pet Names families play hard—but they work hard, too!
No small number of our Wacky Pet Names pet families receive coverage through their employers. This comes as no surprise: Nationwide was the first to offer pet insurance as a voluntary benefit through brokers and employer groups more than 20 years ago. Since then, thousands of employers across the country have included Nationwide pet insurance in their voluntary benefit options for their employees and their wackiest pets (and their perfectly normal ones as well).
We reached out to some recent nominees to learn more about why they signed up for pet insurance at work.
Meet this year’s wacky workforce
Pet insurance makes both dollars and sense for working pet parents. Nowhere is that more apparent than our voluntary benefits plans, which feature pricing that’s just for employees.
“Nationwide was offered through my employer at a group discount,” says Nationwide member Michelle M., the Ohio-based pet parent of golden retriever and Wacky Pet Names nominee Billy Dog Thorton. “After reaching out to a few friends to find out what they thought about Nationwide pet insurance, I heard nothing but great things. It was a no-brainer!”
Having a positive experience herself, Michelle elected to take advantage of the multi-pet discount available to all pet insurance members. She continues, “Since then, we've insured seven pets with Nationwide, including our two reptiles. Submitting a claim has always been very easy (and fast!) and coverage is clear.”
Extra savings were also a slam dunk proposition for Nationwide member Travonne E., New Jersey-based dog dad to Wacky Pet Names nominee Free Throw. He says, “Nationwide gives an employee rate with my job and has good benefits for my dog.”
For other pet parents, the prospect of being extra protected was irresistible. For Sprout F., pet parent to Colorado kitty and Wacky Pet Names nominee Pro Skater Tony Hawk, pet insurance was essential for navigating the half pipe of life.
“I'm working a job that offers benefits for the first time in my life,” Sprout says. “I wanted to take this opportunity to better care for my cats’ health.”
Winning in the workplace
More than two decades of voluntary benefits coverage means that many of our past Wacky Pet Names favorites got coverage through workplace benefits. In all, 31 nominated pets over the years were insured at work, including 18 dogs and 13 cats.
In addition to being the employee of the month, two of these pets were chosen as the creme-de-la-creme, the wackiest of the wacky names for each year.
Molly from Corporate climbed the wacky ladder to take home top honors among canines in 2024, using her pet parent’s benefits package to her paw-sonal benefit in the process. Thanks to her Nationwide pet insurance coverage, Molly won’t get written up with costly veterinary bills if her puppy energy gets the best of her. “It was offered through my employer, and I'd had Molly at that time for about a year,” says Molly’s dog dad and hu-manager, Tyler W. “I knew her well enough to know that, yeah, we're going to want to get that for this dog in particular ... Then, this year, she swallowed a tennis ball. I was like, ‘Well, that's justified forever now.’ So, there we go—I'll never drop it.”
Meanwhile, Yessenia S. took inspiration from her job in the veterinary field when choosing coverage for her 2017 Wacky Pet Names winner, Little Booty Ham Sandwich. “I see how expensive veterinary bills can be,” says Yessenia. “It is important that our pets are covered to offset medical costs we may incur.”
The first and finest pet insurance for employees
More than half of Fortune 500 companies and nearly 10,000 organizations across the U.S. offer Nationwide pet insurance. Our employee-only plans come with unique features like guaranteed issuance and other benefits like a lost pet allowance. Unlike other voluntary benefits, enrollment in pet insurance is available year-round, too.
