Pet Insurance
Who to insure with?
Veterinary practices are not allowed to recommend specific pet insurance companies or policies, but we can give advice on the wide range of different types available.
We recommend checking out insurance policies and ensuring cover as early as possible.
The main types of insurance policy are…
Lifetime cover – This covers accidents and illnesses up to a set financial limit each year. Long term conditions will continue to be covered, providing the premiums are kept up to date.
Maximum benefit policies – Cover is limited to a set amount of money for each illness or injury your pet may suffer (or a fixed amount for all treatment for all conditions) until the policy limit has been reached.
Time-limited policies – These policies have a fixed amount of money to cover each illness or injury usually for 12 months. Some companies will offer to auto-renew the 12-month cover for the pet’s lifetime, however any previous health problems will be excluded.
Accident – Provides cover for accidents only and no cover for illness
Insurance policy excess/co-payments (a percentage of the claim that you must pay) may apply to each condition claimed, depending on your policy.
There will generally be restrictions regarding conditions arising before inception (before the policy was taken out). These may also apply when adjusting an existing policy so please be aware when choosing or changing your insurance company.
When do I claim?
You should pay at the time of treatment and make the claim in your insurance company’s preferred way once the treatment is complete or, intermittently for longer term conditions.
Please contact our insurance team on [email protected] for more information
Some insurance companies will allow you to submit claims for long-term medication and online medication orders yourself.
Why are there claim processing fees?
These were introduced due to the high volume of claims received and the time involved with handling them.
We employ a dedicated team member to process claims and help with general insurance enquiries, which allows our vets and nurses more clinical time to spend with clients and patients. This helps to ensure your claim is processed as quickly as possible.
*New Insurance – claim for a new condition: £17.00
*Continuation claim – previously claimed condition: £9.00
*Direct claim (payment to us by arrangement only): £22.50
If multiple conditions are claimed at the same time, only one processing fee will apply.
*Direct Claims. We do not offer direct claims. Any requests to consider a direct claim should be made in advance to our insurance team on [email protected]. You will need to give your insurance company permission to speak to us, to allow us to check policy cover and/or request a pre-authorisation before a decision is made. The policy excess is to be paid at the time of treatment, and any amounts not covered by the insurance company must be paid in full by the registered client.
Please be aware if your insurance company declines the claim, you will be liable for the full amount.
You will be required to sign a consent authorisation for a direct claim.
How do I claim?
Insurance companies usually request submissions via one of the following methods.
Client link/portal claims – the policy holder arranges for a link/email to be sent to us, enabling the online submission of information on your behalf. This may be via their website or app.
Vet access portal claims – We access the individual company’s online vet portal. Please inform us of the policyholder details and policy number.
Paper claim forms – You give us a paper form with the policyholder section completed and signed, and it will be submitted to the company via email upon completion. A copy can be sent to you if requested.
To submit an insurance claim please email on [email protected]. You can also use this email address for client activated links or questions about the insurance claims process.
Claims are completed in the order they are received, so please allow 14 days for processing.