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.

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How does my excess work?

LV= pet insurance can help you cover the cost of vet bills.

When you claim, you'll need to pay a contribution towards your pet's treatment.

This is called an excess.

We have a choice of excess available.

The higher the excess you choose to pay, the lower the price of your policy as you'll be contributing more to the cost of any claims.

For example, if you select a £75 excess and then have a £1,000 claim, you would pay £75 and we would pay £925, assuming all other costs were covered by your policy.

If you selected a £250 excess, and had a £1,000 claim, you would pay £250 and we would pay £750, assuming all other costs were covered by your policy.

This policy would be cheaper than the one with the £75 excess but you would need to pay more towards the cost of your pet's treatment.

Some excesses also include a 20% contribution towards the claim.

For example, if you had a £1,000 claim and your excess was £250 plus 20% of the remaining claim, you would pay £400 and we would pay £600, assuming all other costs were covered by your policy.

You can see the choice of excesses available on our website and further information about how each excess works.

If your pets, already insured with LV=, you can call us to increase your excess at any time and reduce it at renewal subject to underwriting assessment.

To check what your current excess is, look at your certificate of insurance.

You'll need to pay an excess for each condition. For example, if your excess was £75 and you claimed for a skin condition and diabetes, you would pay £150 in excesses.

If you have a lifetime policy, you'll need to pay an excess for each condition, each policy year.

As pets get older, the risk of illness increases and therefore your excess may increase too. Depending on the excess you've chosen, there may be a significant change to your excess when your pet gets older.

We'll notify you at least a year in advance of any changes to your excess.

Simply ask your vet if they can submit your claim on your behalf or go to our website and download the Veterinary fees claim form and return it to us once you and your vet have completed it.

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 change from time to time. Currently we have a choice of 5 excesses:

£75 excess
£75 + 20% excess
£250 excess
£250 + 20% excess
£500 excess

How do these excess work?

Whether you’re considering changing your excess or you’re making a claim, the information below can guide you as to how much you would need to pay towards your pets treatment with each excess.

Please check the ‘Your excesses’ section on your pets’ Certificate of Insurance to see your Vet Fee excess.

Excess examples

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?

We provide a range of excesses so you can choose the option that suits you best. The excess has an impact on the amount you need to pay when you claim and also the price of your policy. The higher the excess amount, the lower the price of your policy.

Increasing your excess

Reducing your excess

How do excesses change as pets get older?

As pets get older, the risk of them becoming unwell or injured increases. On our Lifetime plans, customers with a £75 or £250 excess will automatically move to the 20% claim contribution once your pet reaches a certain age (age 8 for dogs and age 10 for cats). As per the examples above, this means that you will then need to pay £75 and 20% of the remaining claim or £250 and 20% of the remaining claim. There is no change for customers who have the £500 excess.

We will always give you 12 months’ notice and let you know once any changes apply.

Please note:
- 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 choose to contribute a £500 excess, no percentage will be added.