Pet Insurance

Depending on whether you have a dog, cat or rabbit, we have slightly different age limits, which will apply when you're taking out Pet Insurance.

For dogs, you can start insurance from 8 weeks up to their 8th birthday. However, for certain breeds of dogs (see below), insurance can start from 8 weeks up to their 5th birthday. For cats, you can start insurance from 8 weeks up to their 10th birthday.

For rabbits, you can start insurance from 8 weeks up to their 5th birthday.

Dog breeds: Beauceron, Bernese Mountain Dog, Bulldog, Bullmastiff, Deerhound, Dogue de Bordeaux, Estrela Mountain Dog, Giant Schnauzer, Great Dane, Irish Wolfhound, Leonberger, Mastiff, Neapolitan Mastiff, Newfoundland, Old English Bulldog, Old English Sheepdog, Poodle (Standard), Pyrenean Mountain Dog, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rottweiler, Shar Pei, St Bernard, Standard Poodle, Tibetan Mastiff, Utonagan.

Once insured, you may continue your pet's cover for life, provided you continue to pay your premiums.

Contact the rescue centre, as most reputable centres will vaccinate their pets and should be able to tell you for certain. If they haven't vaccinated your pet or don't know its vaccination status, we recommend taking it to the vet. They’ll be able to tell you what course of action is recommended.

Yes, an excess is payable per condition. It'll be payable per condition, per year, for Lifetime Pet Insurance. It forms part of your quote, and as with your premium, the excess is a fixed amount.

Your excess is fixed until each annual review but can change if your circumstances change. We'll let you know your excess change before it's applied when you contact us to change your details. Also, please remember when your pet reaches a certain age (see below), it'll change from a defined amount to a sum greater than the specified amount or a percentage contribution.

Cats - 10 years

Dogs - 5 or 8 years, depending on the breed

Rabbits - 5 years

We'll write to give you more information a year in advance of the change.

Though your cover starts on the day you choose when you take out a policy, you cannot make a claim straight away. 

You can’t claim for accidental injury or poisoning in the first 3 days of your policy. This also includes incidents that happen in those first 3 days.

You can’t claim for illnesses in the first 14 days of your policy. This also includes illnesses your pet suffers from in those first 14 days.

You can submit claims for new illnesses and injuries after the waiting periods. If you had previous cover up until the point of taking out a policy with us and can provide evidence of this, these waiting periods are waived. Pre-existing conditions are not covered.

These policies offer cover per condition with a time limit on claims. A particular condition will become excluded under the policy either when the maximum amount has been paid out or 12 months from first date of treatment, whichever is sooner. 

These policies impose a maximum benefit per condition. For example, once the maximum benefit is reached for an ongoing illness such as diabetes or dermatitis, that condition will be excluded from further claims, and you’ll need to be prepared to fund ongoing treatment yourself.

It's the most comprehensive form of Pet Insurance and covers vet fees up to a maximum amount, which is reinstated each year. If your pet develops a long-term chronic illness such as diabetes or an ongoing skin condition, provided it didn't pre-date the policy, it'll be covered for the rest of your pet's life.   

Pet insurance policies vary. A Post Office Pet Insurance policy will typically cover:

• vet fees
• death from an accident or illness
• holiday cancellation in the event your cat or dog is unwell
• advertising fees and reward money if they go missing, are stolen or strays
• boarding fees if you have to stay in hospital
• overseas travel for cat and dog policies
• access to a veterinary helpline

You’ll find more information on the levels of cover for each of the above and exclusions in the policy document.

When you make a claim, it goes through 5 steps before it's completed. Our summary below outlines our online vet fees claims process:

1. Claim submitted: Once your pet has received treatment, you can submit your claim. All you need to do is answer a few questions, give us your vet's details, and tell us who we need to pay.
2. Awaiting vet completion: We'll contact your vet to confirm the treatment and costs. On average, vets come back to us in 8 days, depending on your vet. If they haven't responded, we'll chase your vet on days 5, 10, and 15.
3. Claim received: Your vet will have supplied us with the information we need to move forward.
4. Pending approval: Our assessors will review the claim and come to a decision. On average, it takes 5 days to assess a claim, but sometimes this can take longer if we need more information.
5. Claim completed: Once your claim is fully assessed, we'll let you know the outcome. 

If you submit a paper claim form, the process is different and can take longer. Once you've downloaded and filled in your part, you'll need to pass it to your vet to complete. After completing their section, they'll post it to us for review.

If you submit your vet fees claim form online, you can track it with the My Account Pet claims tracker. For paper claim forms, you can only see their progress in the claims tracker once we've received it and uploaded the information to our system. If you're signed up for SMS notifications, we'll send you text messages with claim updates.

For customers who prefer paper-based communication, we'll keep you updated via letter.

Visit our Pet Insurance support page

No, we're unable to cover pre-existing conditions that are known before you take out your policy.

When you get a quote, we'll ask if your pet has seen a vet for any reason other than their annual health check, routine vaccinations or other preventative care. We'll request a few details about their condition from you and your vet and explain what we'll cover and any exclusions that might apply to the policy.