Pet insurance existing customers

Pet insurance excesses

What is an excess?

Whenever you claim on your pet insurance, you have to pay a contribution towards your pet's treatment. This is known as your excess. You'll pay your excess amount to your vet and we'll deduct this from any claim amount paid.

Like most insurance, our pet policies have an excess to help keep premiums affordable. Knowing what your excess is can help you budget for your pet's care.

How often do I need to pay an excess?

Time Limited plan

Lifetime plan

You'll need to pay an excess for each condition that you claim for in each policy year. For example, if you claim for diabetes and a skin condition in the same policy year, you'll pay a separate excess to your vet for each condition.

Similarly, on a Lifetime policy, if you claim for diabetes one year, then your policy renews and you need to claim for diabetes again, you'll need to pay another excess for the new policy year and every other policy year that you claim for this condition.

If your policy has a percentage excess, this will apply to each claim.

What excess do you offer?

Excesses can change from time to time. When you buy a policy or update your excess at renewal, you now have two options:

£75 excess
£75 + 20% excess

How do these excesses work?

If you’re making a claim or thinking about changing your excess, the examples below can help you work out how much you’d pay towards your pet’s treatment based on your chosen excess.

Please check the ‘Your excesses’ section on your pet’s Certificate of Insurance to find your Vet Fee excess.

Excess examples

These examples show how excesses work when you make a pet insurance claim.
Please note: we no longer offer a £250 / £250 + 20% / £500 excess.

Example of £75 excess

Let's say you claim for a £2,000 vet bill. You'd pay £75 towards your pet's treatment and, assuming all other costs are covered by your policy, we'd pay the remaining £1,925.

Claim amount	£2,000
Excess	£75
You pay	£75
LV= pay	£1,925

Example of £75 + 20% excess

If you claim for a £2,000 vet bill, you'd pay £75 plus 20% of the remaining claim (£385). Assuming all other costs are covered by your policy, we'd pay what's left (£1,540).

Claim amount	£2,000
Excess	£75 + 20% of the remaining amount
You pay	£75 + £385
LV= pay	£1,540

Example of £250 excess

If you claimed for a £2,000 vet bill you would pay £250 towards your pets treatment and, assuming all other costs are covered by your policy, we would pay £1,750.

Claim amount	£2,000
Excess	£250
You pay	£250
LV= pay	£1,750

Example of £250 + 20% excess

If you claim for a £2,000 vet bill, you'd pay £250 plus 20% of the remaining claim (£350). Assuming all other costs are covered by your policy, we'd pay what's left (£1,400).

Claim amount	£2,000
Excess	£250 + 20% of the remaining amount
You pay	£250 + £350
LV= pay	£1,400

Example of £500 excess

If you claim for a £2,000 vet bill, you'd pay £500 towards your pet's treatment and, assuming all other costs are covered by your policy, we'd pay the remaining £1,500.

Claim amount	£2,000
Excess	£500
You pay	£500
LV= pay	£1,500

Can I change my excess?

Your pet insurance excess affects both how much you pay when you make a claim and the price of your policy.

Find out more about changing your excess below.

Increasing your excess

Reducing your excess

How do excesses change as pets get older?

As pets age, the risk of illness or injury increases. On our Lifetime pet plans, your excess may change when your pet reaches a certain age – 8 for dogs and 10 for cats.

• If you’ve chosen a Vet Fees benefit of £1,000, your excess won’t change.

• If you have a £75 excess, your policy will automatically switch to include a 20% claim contribution once your pet reaches this age. You’ll then pay £75 plus 20% of the remaining claim.

• If you have a £250 excess, the same change applies – you’ll move to the 20% claim contribution when your pet reaches this age.

• If you have a £500 excess, there’s no change.

We’ll always give you 12 months’ notice before any changes take effect and let you know once they apply.

Please note:

- If you choose a Vet Fees benefit of £1,000, no percentage will be added.
- If you remove a voluntary 20% excess, it will be reapplied when your pet gets older.
- If you choose to contribute a 20% excess, no additional percentage will be added.
- If you have a £500 excess, no percentage will be added.