Customers cited value for money and simple claims process
Several customers mentioned prices "creeping up" each year
Animal Friends pet insurance
Are you looking for pet insurance? Find out if Animal Friends the right for your furry friend.
Customers cited value for money and simple claims processSeveral customers mentioned prices "creeping up" each yearSome people may think that pet insurance isn’t necessary, but if your pet falls ill or becomes injured you’ll be thankful it’s there. Review Animal Friends and see if they can give your pet the care they deserve should they need it.
Animal Friends pet insurance has a range of policies with different features, so you can find the one that’s right for you. Keep reading to find out if Animal Friends has cover suitable for you and your pet.
Animal Friends pet insurance
- Over 20 years providing pet insurance
- Claims can be paid directly to your vet
- Free vet video calls with the Joii Pet Care app
Compare Animal Friends’ available policies in our table
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Who are Animal Friends?
Founded in 1998, Animal Friends was created with the objective of providing pet insurance whilst helping to support animal welfare charities. The founder, Elaine Fairfax has worked very closely with animal welfare charities throughout her life and decided to create Animal Friends as a way of raising funds for these charities.
As one of the UK’s largest pet insurance providers, Animal Friends offers cover for dogs, cats and horses (including rider insurance) with a range of different policies
available, covering over 1 million pets nationwide.
Animal Friends has gone on to donate over £7 million for more than 650 animal welfare charities and conservancies around the globe.
What are Animal Friends’ insurance options?
Animal Friends provide a huge range of separate cat and dog pet insurance policies so you can find one to suit your pet’s needs and your budget. There are 4 main policies and they are listed below. Within these 4 policies there are different levels of cover available to choose from.
Animal Friends provide puppy insurance from 4 weeks of age and there is no upper age limit for their pet insurance.
See below for the different cover options available with Animal Friends:
Accident Only Cover
Accident Only pet insurance covers any injuries gained in an accident. There is only one policy option available under Accident Only pet insurance from Animal Friends.
Features of this policy include:
- Cover of a set amount per year per accident.
- A set lifetime limit for continuing treatment related to that accident.
- A set amount of vet excess.
Time-Limited Cover
The time-limited pet insurance covers accidents, illnesses and conditions. There are three levels of time-limited cover for cats and dogs. These are basic plus, prime and prime plus. Each differ slightly in level of cover.
Features of the most basic time limited policy include:
- Cover for 12 months after the condition is first noted by you or the vet.
- A set vet excess.
- Public liability cover.
- Theft and straying cover.
- Advertising and reward cover.
- Holiday cancellation.
- Boarding kennel.
- Death of pet.
- Overseas travel cover.
Max Benefit Cover
Maximum benefit pet insurance covers illnesses, injuries and conditions your pet may experience. There are three levels of max benefit cover for cats and dogs. These are max value, max plus and max extra. They all offer different financial limits per condition with no time constraints.
Features of the most basic policy, the max value, include:
- Lifetime condition limit.
- A set vet excess.
- Public liability
- Theft and straying
- Advertising and reward
- Holiday cancellation
- Boarding kennel
- Death of pet
- Overseas travel cover
- Dog walker
Life Time Cover
The Lifetime pet insurance covers costs from accidents, injuries, condition and can also cover ongoing illnesses as long as the policy is renewed. There are six levels of lifetime cover for cats and dogs. Animal Friends offer four lifetime policies with a condition limit; these are Super, Superior, Superior Plus, Prestige. Two policies with an annual limit are also offered; these are Assure and Assure Plus. Each policy’s limit refreshes each time the policy is renewed.
Features of the most basic policy, the super policy, include:
- Annual condition limit.
- A set vet excess.
- Public liability
- Theft and straying
- Advertising and reward
- Holiday cancellation
- Boarding kennel
- Death of pet
- Overseas travel cover
- Dog walker cover
What are Animal Friends’ horse insurance options?
Animal Friends offer two types of horse insurance policy and two horse rider insurance policies, with different features and optional extras. You can choose from Standard Horse insurance, Mature Horse insurance or Rider Only insurance.
Standard Horse Cover
Standard Horse insurance policies cover injury, accident, illness and disease. Any condition is covered for 12 months from the day it was manifested from.
Features of this policy include:
- Cover of vet fees up to £6,000 per condition for 12 months from the onset of a condition – includes complementary therapy
- Permanent loss of use (optional).
- Death of horse (optional).
- Loss by theft or straying (optional).
- Third party liability (optional).
- Personal accident and dental (optional).
- Saddlery and tack (optional).
- Horse trailer (optional).
Mature Horse Cover
The Mature Horse cover is for horses over 20 years and provides cover for accidental injury only. Donkeys are also covered under this policy
Features of this policy include:
- Cover of veterinary fees for accidental injury of up to £2000 per injury for 12 months from onset – includes complementary therapy
- Death of horse (from injury) (optional).
- Loss by theft or straying (optional).
- Third party liability (optional).
- Personal accident and dental (optional).
- Saddlery and tack (optional).
- Horse trailer (optional).
What is my excess?
An excess is the amount of money you contribute to the cost of your claim. The amount of your excess will depend on the level of cover you have and the nature of
your claim. Your excess will be shown in your policy schedule.
For all of Animal Friends policies, except for maximum benefit and the Assure and Assure Plus lifetime policies, the excess will be deducted once per condition per policy year. You will pay your excess when you make your first claim and if your claim continues past your annual renewal, you will have to pay that excess again. If you choose a maximum benefit policy, you will only be required to pay an excess once per condition. If you chose an Assure or Assure Plus lifetime policy, you will only be required to pay an excess once per policy year.
What is Animal Friends’ claim process?
To make a claim on your Animal Friends policy, you can ask your vet to submit a claim online, if they have access to the Animal Friends online claims system, Pawtal.
If your vet does not have access to Pawtal, you will both need to fill out a claim form and send it back to Animal Friends so that they can process your claim. You can download claim forms online or give Animal Friends a call on 0344 557 0300 and they will send you one in the post. Once you and your vet have completed the claim form, you can send it by email or post back to Animal Friends.
All of the claim forms can be found on the Animal Friends website. There are a whole range of different claims forms for pet policies and horse and rider policies for you to choose from, so take care making sure you fill out the one most suited to your claim. Once they have your claim, Animal Friends aim to process it within 5-7 working days.
To pay the claim, Animal Friends use BACS to transfer the amount directly into your nominated bank account. You can also have them settle it directly with your veterinary practice.
Pet insurance ratings
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
Our customer satisfaction scores ("Customers say") are based on a survey of 1,010 customers carried out in December 2021.
Learn the details of our methodology and scoring.
The offers compared on this page are chosen from a range of products we can track; we don't cover every product on the market...yet. Unless we've indicated otherwise, products are shown in no particular order or ranking. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations), aren't product ratings, although we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it; this is subject to our terms of use. When making a big financial decision, it's wise to consider getting independent financial advice, and always consider your own financial circumstances when comparing products so you get what's right for you.
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