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The best pet insurance policy should offer value for money while providing your pet with the appropriate level of cover. The costs of taking your pet to the vet are rising, so it's never been more important to find the right pet insurance policy.
In December, our experts analysed and compared 150 cat and 167 dog policies, as well asking 1,300 actual pet insurance customers about everything from customer service to ease of applying, to find the UK's best pet insurers.
From this we've compiled our view of the best overall pet insurance providers and policies, which you can see in the tables below. We've also compiled a separate view of the best cat insurance and best dog insurance providers as well - click on those links to find out more.
Please note that the information in this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice. Please refer to the particular terms and conditions of an insurer before committing to any financial products.
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Get a quoteWe like: one of the highest vet fee limits available – £20,000 per year. The cap includes costs for scans and also £750 for therapy provided by a behaviourist.
We don't like: as with most (but not all) policies, conditions that started before the policy was taken out are excluded.
We like: Administered and underwritten by Agria insurance (see above for its best own-brand policy), Kennel Club's 'Lifetime Premium' cover has the highest annual vet fee limit in the policies we rated – £25,000 per year. Customers have access to a 24-hour vet video call service at no extra cost.
We don't like: The policy offers £3,000 holiday cancellation cover – but you can only claim if your dog needs immediate emergency lifesaving treatment. With some other policies, the criteria allow for additional situations – for example, if the pet is 'seriously unwell', or goes missing.
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Only the most comprehensive pet insurance policies receive our Best Buy recommendation in the tables below. You will also find comprehensive reviews of each provider elsewhere on this page.
Get a quote | ||||
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Lifetime Premium | 83% | 70% | - | Check you're getting a great deal and search for a new pet insurance policy using the service provided by Confused |
Covered For Life £12k | 79% | 67% | 80% | |
Lifetime £12k | 79% | 62% | 72% | |
Lifetime Plus | 77% | 70% | - | |
Covered For Life £7k | 77% | 67% | 80% | |
Lifetime £7.5k | 77% | 62% | 72% | |
Lifetime £9k | 77% | 62% | 72% |
Table notes: These tables were last updated in January 2024 – we recommend checking policies before buying. Customer survey: 'Customer Score' based on an online survey of 1,300 members of the Which? Connect Panel that own pet insurance, conducted in November 2023. 'Customer Score' reflects the general satisfaction of customers with their insurer and their likelihood of recommending it. The 'Claims Score' is based on responses of 758 Which? members in the survey who had made a claim within the past two years - and reflects how satisfied claimants were with how their most recent claim was handled and their likelihood of recommending the insurer for claims. A dash ('-') means not enough responses to include a score or star rating. For sample sizes and information about the 'Policy Score', see full methodology below.
Not all policies will include all these types of cover, and limits and exclusions might apply. See our individual insurer reviews for more details.
Vet fees
Overseas travel cover
Cattery and kennel fees
Missing pets
Third-party liability (dog-only policies)
This covers legal costs, expenses and the claimant's expenses. Cats don't need third-party cover as legally they are considered 'free spirits'.
Death by accident or illness
While only lifetime policies can get our Best Buy recommendation, we've rated all types of policies.
Lifetime cover is the most comprehensive pet insurance. It pays out for ongoing issues your pet might have throughout its life.
Both types cover ongoing illnesses every year unless you cancel your policy.
Non-lifetime cover is less comprehensive and excludes certain conditions after you hit your claims limit.
With a time-limit policy, even if your cash limit for a particular condition wasn't reached, the condition would eventually be excluded after 12 months.
This provides a fixed sum of money for each accidental injury to help pay for your pet's treatment. It's the cheapest type of pet insurance policy but excludes cover for illness entirely.
Dean Sobers, Which? insurance expert says:
'When buying pet insurance, you want to make the right choice the first time round, as switching later on can mean sacrificing cover for conditions your pet has developed.
'The most weighty aspect of our analysis is what it will pay for vets bills – the fundamental purpose of pet insurance. But even this is more complicated than a headline figure, with some policies offering an annual allowance and others total limits for specific conditions. We only give our ‘Best Buy’ recommendation to lifetime policies – which commit to making an ongoing contribution towards all of your pet’s covered conditions throughout its life. Among our latest batch of Best Buys are policies offering between £4,500 and £25,000 a year.
'We can’t tell you which policy will be the best fit for you. But our scores and reviews should help you see which are the most comprehensive, how they compare in key areas, and what real customers have said about their insurers – all of which can help you to decide.'
Read: how to find cheaper pet insurance
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In December 2023, we analysed 150 insurance policies covering cats. We examined the amounts they paid out in vet fees, and other benefits they provide, including costs for holiday cancellation, dental cover, and advertising and reward costs to help find your pet if it goes missing.
We compared 31 features of these insurance policies, plus the amount each pays in vet fees, to create a policy score. The higher the score, the more comprehensive the policy's cover.
Policies that we've named as Best Buys are all lifetime policies that did well in our analysis of cover, scoring at least 67%. In addition:
In December 2023, we analysed 167 insurance policies covering dogs. We examined the amounts they paid out in vet fees, and other benefits they provide, including costs for holiday cancellation, dental cover, and advertising and reward costs to help find your pet if it goes missing.
We compared 34 features of these insurance policies, plus the amount each pays in vet fees, to create a policy score. The higher the score, the more comprehensive the policy's cover.
Policies that we've named as Best Buys are all lifetime policies that did well in our analysis of cover, scoring at least 67%. In addition:
In November 2023, we carried out a survey of 1,300 Which? members that own pet insurance. Customers were asked how satisfied they were with their provider, and how likely they would be to recommend it. We used answers to these questions to generate our customer score.
Claims scores are based on responses from 758 Which? members that have claimed on pet insurance in the past five years (survey carried out in November 2021). Respondents were asked how satisfied they were with their most recent claim and how likely they would be to recommend their provider based on its claims service.
Customer Score sample sizes: Agria (35), Animal Friends (127), Direct Line (53), John Lewis (58), LV (78), Many Pets (167), More Than (30), Petplan (364), Sainsbury's (42), Tesco Bank (74)
Claims score sample sizes: Animal Friends (86), John Lewis (36), LV (40), Many Pets (92), Petplan (288), Tesco (47). Where '-' given in customer or claims score columns, we didn't receive enough responses in our survey (30) to generate the scores.
We didn't receive enough respondents in our customer survey to provide customer or claims scores for each brand considered. This means we can't assess the levels of service for each Best Buy provider. However, we haven't included providers we were able to rate that received poorer-than-average customer or claims scores. We've additionally not included other providers that, at the time of the analysis, had a poorer-than-average complaints record with the Financial Ombudsman Service.
We've also examined data published by the Financial Conduct Authority on how often pet insurers have accepted claims and how often customers making claims complained to the insurer. We've not given our Best Buy award to providers shown to be poorer than average in either of these areas.
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