Brutally Honest: UK Pet Insurance Reviews
Prepare To Cringe, We Say It How We See It,
A Sad Amount Of Time Was Put Into This.
You'll notice the crappy insurers are working hard to post fake positive reviews on TrustPilot, linking to bogus awards on their website or delaying payouts for months.. Feel free to mail us any scams you see and we'll out them!
Purely Pets Review
Buyers are prompted to leave good reviews on their Trustpilot after signing up so you'll see lots of positive feedback from new buyers. Most complaints were about their website not letting customers log in or customers didn't realize their policy didn't cover them for dental, cancer etc. Dozens were from people who didn't read their policy and were annoyed that there was an excess or limit on the payout. The bulk of these complaints were not the fault of Purelypets.
What We Like
Good website, unlike some American ones I felt like I could get an answer to my question. Quotes were good, and I didn't see anything scary written in a review anywhere.
What We Dislike
Hard to be tough on these guys when most negative reviews are written by careless buyers. It's like leaving a bad review on Amazon for a product because the post showed up late.
Perfect Pet Insurance Review
Worst web design on the list, can't see anything without giving my details. Even the about us page wants a quote? Google reviews has been deleted, Trustpilot is beyond poor, I compiled a gif of their bad reviews. I feel sorry for all those people complaining, they genuinely feel cheated and I hope perfectpet can learn from this mess.
What We Like
Nothing good to say about them other than their pdf policies are well put together.
What We Dislike
Don't have the space or energy to write everything. Skip this one, you can find better.
Waggel Review
This is hands down the best designed insurance website... I tip my hat. I will tip my hat a second time in honor of responding to critical reviews the best and again for the company with the most petty negative reviews online and believe me people will complain about anything like here and again here. Waggle gets top marks from us.
What We Like
Everything. These guys are killing it.
What We Dislike
Website needs more bulldog photos 😉 I noticed they invite people to review them on Trustpilot but nothing fishy showed up... straight company 10/10 from us.
Is It Worth Paying For dog Insurance?
It totally depends on the initial cost of your dog and the potential risk of high vet bills. Insurance companies make an assessment on how risky your dog is and will quote you based on that. A cheaper priced terrier should be cheaper to insure when compared to a French bulldog.
The factors that determine a good quote will also be based around what percentage of costs will the insurance cover, what coverage is being offered (accidental only is the cheapest) and whether there is a limit to how much they will payout.
Petprotect Review
Transparent website, we recovered great quotes for English and French bulldogs. Wait time to process a claim being 20 days is long, lots of complaints online, but at least they're up front about it. Some of the negative reviews online are unreasonable, one 2 star review was a complaint about being told to have a great day. Other insurers will give you alot more to complain about. Only accept dogs who are vaccinated, crappy breeders need not apply
What We Like
Pricing and reviews are good. Usual arsey insurance company but these guys aren't bandits. The prices are offset by higher excesses but that suits some people who mainly want to get coverage for big surgeries they can't afford.
What We Dislike
Long time to process claims. Some reviewers complained about their web chat only feature and felt the small print made some coverage pointless so have a good read before buying anything.
Animal Friends Review
From using price comparison sites we found these guys really competitive on pricing, however that excitement was soon relieved by an endless amount of complaints, that accused them of not playing nice.. another one here. With that I find it hard to write a brutally honest review, I can't ignore streams of these complaints. Their website footer shows some awards that looked paid for and don't even link to anything.
What We Like
FREE 24/7 vet video calls, donated over £5m to charity, very low quotes.
What We Dislike
Homepage links directly to the 45 page policy documents for each plan, which is great, but when I read one (I know I'm boring) I was really put off, and understood the complaints I linked to above. Compare it to say a 35 page Perfect Pet Insurance policy document and you'll see what I mean. I would prefer a more customer first approach.
Healthy Pets Review
Hard to find any bad reviews but that's because they're buried under a strange amount of "verified" accounts that leave only 1 sentence positive reviews. Somebody is working over-time on reputation management. Insurance from 5 weeks old. 3 Different packages, payouts vary loads. Terms and conditions were a bit confusing, I can imagine people will get confused a bit. Biggest gripes online were in the Google reviews by people claiming they take too long to assess a claim.
What We Like
Prices, they did come back with great quotes. But do look at the excess, payout limit and co-insurance clause, terms can change when the dog turns 6 years old. Check the small print folks.
What We Dislike
I found the positive reviews on Trustpilot dubious. Slow old school type insurer who is in no rush to payout, it's hard to get excited about guys like that. The cookies pop up on their site is poorly designed.
Scratch & Patch Review
Impressive responses to their online critics. They care about reputation. I seen multiple people complain about premiums going up after they claimed several thousands of pounds. To be fair Scratch and Patch didn't screw them on the payout amount just when renewal came around. They offer 5 different plans, so please read the small print as coverage varies. Their site and their staff appear to be knowledgeable, 24 hour careline available.
What We Like
Endless stream of good reviews and nice quotes too!
What We Dislike
Just the small font on their site, it's hard on the eyes. This is a good insurer, check them out.
Pet Insurance PDSA Review
This is a genuine charity, I seen their director Richard Hooker put his face on video giving a pandemic update to customers, it was great to see a real person give a crap. 24hr advice line to customers and the usual array of policies on offer. Excellent reviews on Google for their budget vet care, negative ones were people upset losing a dog in general or about their charity shops, but the reviews didn't target insurance so I can't comment.
What We Like
They run 48 pet hospitals, give massive discounts for people in need such as those claiming disability. Under writer for their insurance is Zenith Insurance PLC.
What We Dislike
No red flags, just frustrated I can't get a review section for just their insurance offers but that's life. Try them for a quote.
Insurance Emporium Review
Mixed reviews on their Google reviews good and bad. Most complaints are from people feeling they should have been covered for rejected claims or they thought the policy wasn't clearly written. Got a decent quote, but their website will make your eyes wanna bleed, needs an update. They separate plans for dogs over 8, so they could technically refuse your dog if it was carrying an illness, usually "unlimited" plans cover this but they'd become useless.
What We Like
Large insurer of everything, they do all sorts like caravans and fish so no surprise they gav us a good quote.
What We Dislike
Website is ugly and according to reviews they're a little wriggly but you'll get paid for sure.
Asda, Argos, Sainsbury Review
Some of you may not know that some big UK retailers sell pet insurance too. Argos sells on behalf of Pinnacle plc. Sainsburys only sells premium level insurance also using Pinnacle, they don't do cheap £1k accidental cover. Asda using Legal & General specialize in premium insurance too and all their quotes reflect it. If you think they're expensive go look at John Lewis, they're double the price. I do believe these companies could serve you well, but work out first if your vet bills will come close to their annual premiums first.
What We Like
Trusted brands, good websites, very easy to understand what you're buying.
What We Dislike
A little pricey for some folks who maybe have a cheaper breed to care for. For bulldog owners they are in the right price range.
Common Pet Insurance Questions
Coverage varies depending on provider, some companies will include a long of ailments that may be common to a bulldog and make your policy pointless, or they may say that you need wait X amount of time to see what ailments emerge so they'll not cover you on it, then cover everything else (yeah you read that right). All companies will cover bulldogs, but not all companies are worth your time, read the terms and exact coverage amounts before signing anything.
The cheapest coverage might appear like a bargain, but what if I sold you something that was £10 a month with a max claim of £100 a year, sound good? No didn't think so, it would be better to self insure in that instance. The focus on cheapest is crippling, you need to focus on VALUE, what policy offers you best bang for buck each year. And also details like will they load me up next year if I claim? Might seem like nothing now, but it's those details that matter most.
They're all greedy, bank backed corporations... haggle away!
The strings attached are policy conditions. Look for things like when the coverage actually starts, what will happen if I claim, how long to payout and what exactly are your obligations, does it stipulate that you need to visit the vet at a certain time for check ups? Do you need to get boosters? What is expected of you in plain English and how much will they let you claim up to per condition. They could say £5k and then mutter but £500 max per condition, they're not your friends, this is business remember, even if its about the dog you love and care for.
- What conditions are excluded
- Max claim amount PER condition
- When does my cover REALLY start (not policy start)
- Will my premium go up if I claim
- How long to payout
- How do I make a claim (some companies have apps now)
It doesn't depend on the breed so much as it does the coverage you want. From the coverage a premium is generated based on risk. Bulldogs are seen on lots of insurers websites, so they really want to insure them. There's plenty of scare mongering online about bulldog breeds being costly, but the actuaries that calculate the risk for insurance companies sure are happy to take the business. Just generate some quotes from different breeds and you'll see what we mean.