Petplan insurance review

Petplan has been around for 40 years, providing insurance cover for cats, dogs and rabbits. It also offers multi-pet cover which could save you money on your premiums.

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4.1 ★★★★★ (349 reviews) Write a review
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Ronny Lavie

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Petplan Pet Insurance

Lots of praise from customers for its service
Unlikely to be the cheapest

Who is Petplan?

In over 40 years of existence, Petplan has only ever offered pet insurance, plus advice for looking after and protecting your pet – in sickness and in health.

As well as cover for cats, dogs and rabbits, Petplan offers equine insurance, insurance for exotic pets and a multi-pet discount for those with more than one furry or feathered lodger.

Who underwrites Petplan’s pet insurance?

Petplan is part of Allianz Insurance Plc and all of its policies are underwritten by its parent company.

What are Petplan’s cover options?

Essential

This is Petplan’s time-limited policy, which means if your pet gets ill or injured, Petplan will pay for treatment for 12 months, up to a maximum of £3,000. After those 12 months, that specific condition will no longer be covered, but you could still claim for new conditions (providing they are unrelated to something you’ve already claimed for).

Features of this policy include:

  • £3,000 of cover for vet fees, for each unrelated injury or illness
  • Cover for accidents, injuries and illnesses up to 12 months from the first day of treatment
  • Third-party liability cover up to £1m (dogs only)
  • £500 for complementary treatment
  • £1,000 for missing pet advertising and reward
  • £1,000 for holiday cancellation cover
  • £1,000 for boarding fees
  • Discount available for insuring multiple pets
Classic

This is the first of Petplan’s covered-for-life policies. With this type of cover, any injury or illness your pet develops will be covered for his or her lifetime, provided you keep renewing your policy. You can add new conditions as they arise, but the policy will only cover vet fees up to the amount stated each year. This amount depends on which level you choose and renews each year you keep the policy.

So if your pet has a recurring condition, which means it’s still getting treatment over a year after it first started showing symptoms, you’ll be covered.

Features of this policy include:

  • Cover up to £4,000 per year for vet fees for an injury or illness
  • Cover for the life of your pet, as long as you renew every year
  • Third party liability cover up to £2m (dogs only)
  • £1,000 for complementary treatment
  • £1,500 for missing pet advertising and reward
  • £1,500 for holiday cancellation cover
  • £1,500 for boarding fees
  • £1,500 for loss by theft or straying
  • £1,500 for quarantine and loss of documents
  • £500 for emergency repatriation
  • Discount available for insuring multiple pets
Classic Plus

This is the next level of the covered-for-life cover. It has all the same benefits as Classic cover, but with higher yearly limits for vet treatments.

Features of this policy include:

  • Cover up to £7,000 per year for vet fees for an injury or illness
  • Cover for the life of your pet, as long as you renew every year
  • Third party liability cover up to £2m (dogs only)
  • £1,000 for complementary treatment
  • £1,500 for missing pet advertising and reward
  • £1,500 for holiday cancellation cover
  • £1,500 for boarding fees
  • £1,500 for loss by theft or straying
  • £1,500 for quarantine and loss of documents
  • £500 for emergency repatriation
  • Discount available for insuring multiple pets
Ultimate

Ultimate is Petplan’s top-level policy and provides the same type of cover as Classic and Classic Plus (covered for life), but with higher payout limits for almost all the benefits included.

Features of this policy include:

  • Cover up to £12,000 per year for vet fees for an injury or illness
  • Cover for the life of your pet, as long as you renew every year
  • Third party liability cover up to £3m (dogs only)
  • £2,000 for complementary treatment
  • £2,000 for missing pet advertising and reward
  • £2,000 for holiday cancellation cover
  • £2,000 for boarding fees
  • £2,000 for loss by theft or straying
  • £1,500 for quarantine and loss of documents
  • £500 for emergency repatriation
  • Free legal helpline
  • Discount available for insuring multiple pets
Rabbit cover

This is Petplan’s only pet insurance policy for rabbits. It is a covered-for-life policy and has no time limit, so if your rabbit has a prolonged illness or problem it will be covered.

Features of this policy include:

  • Cover up to £2,000 per year for vet fees for an injury or illness
  • Cover for the life of your rabbit, as long as you renew every year
  • £750 for complementary treatment
  • £2,000 for missing pet advertising and reward
  • £2,000 for boarding fees
  • Online claim tracking

How much is the excess?

An excess is the amount of money you have to pay towards any claim on your pet insurance.

How much you have to pay in excess fees will depend on your pet’s individual policy and the claim you’re making. To see exactly how much you’ll have to fork out, see your excess costs in your certificate of insurance.

What is the claims process for Petplan pet insurance?

You can make a claim by downloading a claim form from Petplan’s website and sending all required documents to:

Petplan
Great West House (GW2)
Great West Road
Brentford
Middlesex
TW8 9DX

If you need any extra help, you can call Petplan on 0330 102 6735.

Petplan insurance pros and cons

Pros

  • Multi-pet discount when you insure more than one pet
  • Four cover levels available for cats and dogs
  • Access to a pet bereavement helpline with all cover levels
  • Cover available for rabbits

Cons

  • No policies that provide cover for pre-existing conditions
  • Only one cover level available for rabbits

Our verdict

There’s no denying the folk at Petplan know what they’re talking about. The award-winning company is all about that animal love, and it regularly works with vets and charities to make sure its policies serve customers in the best way possible.

Unfortunately, there is no cover available from Petplan for pre-existing medical conditions (which is not unusual in the pet insurance market), but it does provide cover for rabbits, where many other insurers don’t.

Pet insurance ratings

★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor

Finder scores, in blue, are based on our expert analysis. We also show reviews from users, where we've received more than 10, with a score in yellow. We gather more reviews from customers every year in Finder's customer satisfaction survey.

To find out more, read our full methodology.

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Editor

Ronny Lavie was a deputy editor at Finder, specialising in insurance content. She has almost a decade of experience writing about financial topics, including five months spent as the interim managing editor for the Fintech Times newspaper. Ronny has a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from London Middlesex University. See full bio

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