When bringing a playful pug or loving labrador home, the cost of taking care of it may be the last thing on your mind.
However, vet treatment for dogs can be expensive, often running into the hundreds if not thousands of pounds.
That’s why dog insurance can be a useful financial tool. It helps cover vet bills, so owners can relax in the knowledge that their canines can be nursed to good health as soon as possible.
To help with finding the most suitable insurance cover for a dog, we’ve analysed the market (January 2024), comparing providers based on crucial factors such as monthly policy cost, level of cover per condition, and excess fees (the amount that is deducted from your claim payment). Find our top 10 policies below.
To find out more about how we arrived at the rankings, and the type of dog they were based on, refer to the Methodology section.
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Why you can trust Forbes Advisor’s ratings
Best Dog Insurance Providers
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Cover My Pet Lifetime
5.0
Our star ratings are based on a range of criteria and are determined solely by our editorial team. See our methodology for more information.
Annual cost
£162.80
Per condition cover/ policy limit
5/5
Vet excess
5/5
Get A Quote
Annual cost
£162.80
Per condition cover/ policy limit
5/5
Vet excess
5/5
Why We Picked It
Topping our list, this policy offers a total annual limit of £2,000 for all medical conditions. This limit can be reinstated annually.
You can also claim up to £1,500 per condition for diagnostics and the same amount for cruciate ligament treatment. There’s also £500 per condition for complementary therapy.
For loss, theft or death of your dog, by accident or illness, there’s £750, and £1 million in third liability cover. Should you need to cancel a holiday due to your dog needing life-saving treatment, there’s £1,500.
Monthly, this policy costs £13.56, with an excess of £50 to pay per condition, per policy period and a 15% co-payment on the remaining claim amount. You can choose to pay an excess of £100, £150 or £200, to potentially lower the policy price. While the 15% co-payment is compulsory if you choose to pay £50 in excess, it is optional if you choose another excess amount. Cover My Pet also offers lifetime cover limits of £3,000, £5,000 and £10,000.
Pros & Cons
- Free vet advice line
- Direct payment to vet available
- Complementary treatment cover
- No free vet advice line
- No bereavement counselling cover
- No cover for illness in first 14 days and accidents in first five days
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Waggel Lifetime Policy
4.5
Our star ratings are based on a range of criteria and are determined solely by our editorial team. See our methodology for more information.
Annual cost
£107.88
Per condition cover/ policy limit
4/5
Vet excess
4/5
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Annual cost
£107.88
Per condition cover/ policy limit
4/5
Vet excess
4/5
Why We Picked It
On this policy, you can claim up to a total annual limit of £1,000 for all conditions. This limit can be reinstated annually.
There’s also vet fee cover up to an annual limit for when you take your dog on holiday, outside of the UK, but within a member country of the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS).
You can claim up to £1,000 for complementary treatment, behavioural treatment and dental treatment. For loss, theft, or death of your pet by accident or illness, there’s £1,000, while £2 million is included in third party liability cover.
Monthly, the policy costs £8.99, when paying an excess of £250.
Waggel offers six limit options ranging between £1,000 and £15,000 and five excess options ranging between £0 and £500. You will have the option to increase or decrease your policy limits and excess at every renewal.
Pros & Cons
- Competitively priced
- Direct payment to vet available
- Free vet advice line & unlimited behavioural and nutritional consultations
- No emergency boarding fees cover
- No cover in first 14 days
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Petsure Lifetime Pet Insurance – Annual Policy
4.5
Our star ratings are based on a range of criteria and are determined solely by our editorial team. See our methodology for more information.
Annual cost
£152.91
Per condition cover/ policy limit
4/5
Vet excess
4/5
Get A Quote
Annual cost
£152.91
Per condition cover/ policy limit
4/5
Vet excess
4/5
Why We Picked It
This policy offers a total annual limit of £1,000 for all medical conditions, which can be reinstated annually. There’s also £1,500 in cover for cruciate ligament treatment and cover for 12 sessions of behavioural and complementary treatment per year. Up to £2 million in third liability cover is available.
You can claim up to £1,500 in emergency boarding fees, should you fall ill and need to be hospitalised. For the death of your dog, whether the result of an accident or illness, you can claim up to £5,000. Up to £2 million is provided to cover third liability if your pet dog causes injury or damages someone else’s property. You also have the option to bolt on cover for bereavement counselling and emergency vet cover abroad, at an additional cost.
Monthly, the policy costs £12.74. There’s an excess of £100 to pay per condition, per year. Available excess amounts range between £0 to £500, to potentially lower or raise your premium. You can also pay an optional co-payment of up to 30% to lower your premium. However, if you choose to pay £50 in excess, a co-payment of 15% will be compulsory. Petsure offers cover limits up to £12,000 for dogs.
Pros & Cons
- Free vet advice line
- Direct payment to vet available
- Complementary treatment cover
- Loss/theft cover costs extra
- No cover for illness in first 14 days or accidents in first two days
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Admiral Blue (Lifetime £2,000 Pet)
4.5
Our star ratings are based on a range of criteria and are determined solely by our editorial team. See our methodology for more information.
Annual cost
£140.76
Per condition cover/ policy limit
5/5
Vet excess
4/5
Get A Quote
Annual cost
£140.76
Per condition cover/ policy limit
5/5
Vet excess
4/5
Why We Picked It
Pet owners can claim up to a total annual limit of £2,000 for all conditions on this policy. This limit can be reinstated annually.
The policy also includes £1,500 for the loss or theft of your pet and £250 for advertising and a reward to find it. For death by accident or illness there’s also £1,500. The policy will pay out the same amount if your pet needs to be euthanised for human reasons due to injury or illness. For dogs, there’s also £1 million in third liability cover.
Should you fall ill, and are hospitalised for more than four days, the policy can pay out to cover emergency boarding fees for your animal. If you go on holiday with your pet, it can provide vet fee cover for up to 30 days within the period of insurance. It also covers you needing to cancel or cut a trip short due to your pet needing life-saving treatment.
Monthly, the policy costs £11.73, in exchange for an excess of £199 on each accepted claim. The excess is applied once per illness or injury, if it is ongoing or reoccuring. While your pet is under the age of six, you can choose to lower the excess to £99, if you would prefer to pay more in premiums instead. However, when it reaches six, the £199 will become compulsory. Admiral offers four cover limits up to £10,000.
Pros & Cons
- Free vet advice line
- Direct payment to vet available
- No bereavement counselling cover
- No cover for health or behavioural changes in first 14 days or accidents in first day
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Healthy Pets Extra
4.5
Our star ratings are based on a range of criteria and are determined solely by our editorial team. See our methodology for more information.
Annual cost
£165.27
Per condition cover/ policy limit
4.5/5
Vet excess
4/5
Get A Quote
Annual cost
£165.27
Per condition cover/ policy limit
4.5/5
Vet excess
4/5
Why We Picked It
You can claim up to £1,000 per condition on this policy, up to an annual cap of £2,000 for all conditions. This includes cover for complementary therapy and cruciate ligaments.
There’s also £500 for the loss, theft, or death by accident or illness, of your dog. Another £500 is provided for emergency boarding fees should you fall ill and need to be hospitalised. The policy can also pay out up to £1 million, should it cause injury or damage to someone else’s property.
For a monthly cost of £13.77, the policy levies an excess of £125 per condition per year. Note that once your dog reaches age five, it will additionally levy a 15% co-payment on claims, after excess. This rises to 20%, once it reaches age six. Healthy Pets offers cover limits up to £7,500.
Pros & Cons
- Direct payment to vet available
- Complementary treatment cover
- No bereavement counselling cover
- No cover for illness/disease/non accidental injury in first 10 days
Methodology
Our data is based on a medium-sized mongrel dog, bought for £200 and born in January 2023. It assumes the dog is neutered, chipped with up-to-date vaccinations and has not been the subject of any complaints or legal action in the last five years.
We applied lifetime pet insurance policies to this scenario as this is the most common type among pet owners, and ranked the cheapest, we found, for the following:
- Monthly cost – the amount you pay each month for the policy
- Cover per condition – the amount covered for each medical condition claimed
- Policy limit – the total amount of cover provided on the policy per year
- Vet fees excess – the amount payable each time you claim for veterinary costs.
We also compared factors, such as the range of cover included as standard on the policy, any additional, optional cover, whether your vet can be paid directly and the co-payment levied on each claim, if applicable. (This is usually levied as a set percentage of the claim amount, once excess has been paid, and often applies as a dog grows older and more susceptible to illness.)
We then converted their total scores into Forbes Advisor star ratings.
All policies offer third party liability cover.
Data is accurate as of March 2024, and is intended as guidance only.
What does dog insurance cover?
As a rule of thumb, you can expect cover for consultation and examinations costs, tests, x-rays, scans, medication, surgery, and more long-term hospitalisation.
Beyond this, policy offerings can vary. For example, if your dog goes missing – or, worse, is stolen – some insurers will pay towards the cost of advertising or to meet the cost of a reward.
And if you are unable to look after your dog for a period, your insurance may cover kennel costs – up to a specified limit in any year.
Some policies offer dental work as well as complementary treatment, such as hydrotherapy.
And if, like many dog owners, you like to take your dog with you on holiday some will include pet travel cover.
Comprehensive policies offer third party liability cover in case your dog accidentally causes damage to property or injury to another person.
What is and isn’t covered will depend on the kind of insurance you opt for and the conditions set out by the provider and policy.
What might be excluded?
As a rule,dog insurancepolicies won’t cover pre-existing conditions, which is why it’s a good idea to take insurance out while they are still a puppy.
Routine check-ups, flea, tick or worm treatments are not included, and neither are costs associated with pregnancy or giving birth.
Mostinsurersimpose a 14-day window at the beginning of any policy which means medical problems that occur in that time will not be covered.
This applies whether you take out aninsurancepolicy for the first time, or switch to a differentone.
How are premiums calculated?
When calculating the cost of insuring your dog, the insurer will consider factors such as: its age and breed, the type of cover you choose, and where you and your dog live.
Larger breeds of dog will bump up the price of cover, as they’ll likely need larger quantities of medication, resulting in a pricier vet’s bill.
In terms of policy type, you’ll pay top whack forlifetime cover, while accident-only is the cheapest.
The level of excess (the amount you commit to pay towards any claim) will also play a part in the cost – the higher the excess, the cheaper the cover.
Some policies ask for apercentage-based excess in addition to this one-off payment, which can become expensive if you’re claiming for lengthy or costly treatments.
What does dog insurance cost?
You can pick up a policy offering a decent coverage for a healthy, young dog for around £10 to £25 a month, or £140 to £300 per annum. Because cover becomes considerably more expensive as your dog gets older, it makes sense to secure cover while it is still a puppy.
In fact, if your dog is more than seven or eight years old it may not be possible to take out a new lifetime policy (although you will be able to renew an existing one). A time-limited policy might be the best solution if you’re insuring an older dog for the first time.
Below, you can find what you may need to pay monthly for dog insurance depending on cover type. Prices are based on a four-year-old Golden Retriever that has been chipped, neutered, has up-to-date vaccines, and that has not been the subject of complaints or legal action.
Compare Dog Insurance Quotes
| Cost of dog insurance | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time Limited | Max Benefit | Lifetime | ||
| £9.16 | £9.80 | £10.07 | ||
| * cheapest quote on our site (January 2024) | ||||
Source: Moneysupermarket.com Financial Group Limited
Can I insure a specialist breed?
It is possible to insure a pedigree dog but policies will be more expensive than for crossbreeds. Not only are pedigrees more financially valuable, they are at greater risk of suffering from long-term conditions – and often have shorter lifespans.
Can I insure a dangerous dog?
There are currently four types of dog listed by theDangerous Dogs Act– Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro – and you are very unlikely to find pet insurance that will cover any of them.
Moreover, as the Act refers to ‘types’ of dogs, rather than ‘breeds’ many insurers will refuse cover if your dog even shares any of their physical characteristics.
Must my dog be microchipped?
It is a legal requirement – as of April 2016 – for owners to make sure their dog ismicrochippedby the time it is eight weeks old.
Insurance companies may ask you whether your dog is microchipped during the application process, but it’s unlikely that they would refuse cover if your pet is not yet microchipped.
Can I insure more than one dog?
Some insurers offer multi-cover insurance for pets. They typically offer a discount of around 15% compared to taking out separate policies for each dog. But don’t buy without comparing the cost because this is not always the case.
This is what you could expect to pay monthly for multi-pet insurance, based on four-year-old Golden Retriever dogs and British Shorthair cats that are chipped, neutered/spayed with up-to-date vaccines, and that have not been the subject of complaints or legal action.
| Multi-pet insurance costs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pet count | Lifetime | |
| 1 dog | £10.07 | |
| 1 cat | £4.47 | |
| 2 animals (1 dog 1 cat) | £14.54 | |
| 3 animals (2 dogs 1 cat) | £25.16 | |
| * Forbes Advisor, cheapest quote on our site with at least £1,000 cover for vet fees, per condition (January 2024) | ||
Source: Moneysupermarket.com Financial Group Limited
Where can I buy cover?
There are dozens of dog insurance policies, with big differences in what they offer. Make sure you run a full online comparison to get the best one for you. And be clear from the outset what the policy you choose does, and does not, cover.
Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by our partners.
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