AA Pet Insurance Review

Pets must be owned by you and living at your home address.

You must live permanently in the UK for at least 9 months of the year.

Your pet must be older than 8 weeks.

The AA offer the following policies;

Accident Only covers vets fees up to £2,000. Providing the policy is renewed, the £2,000 will continue to cover vets fees for any on going costs due to an accident.

The Bronze Policy covers vets fees up to a maximum of £1,000 per condition.

The Silver Policy covers vets fees up to a maximum of £3,000 per condition.

The Gold Policy covers vets fees up to a maximum of £5,000 per condition.

The Silver Plus and Gold Plus policies cover vets fees up to a maximum of £3,000 and £5,000 respectively, which are reinstated each year, provided the policy is renewed without a break.

The AA Pet Insurance policy does not cover the following;

1. Costs for cosmetic, elective, routine or preventative  treatment.
2. Vaccinations, spaying or castration.
3. Grooming, killing and controlling of fleas or worms.
4. The cost of treatment for behavioural problems.
5. The cost of pheromone products.
6. Any costs in connection with the hiring or buying of a cage or basket.
7. Any unlicensed treatment or medication.
8. Any costs associated with artificial body parts (except hip, elbow or knee joints).
9. Any claim arising from sexually transmitted disease, rabies, Aujesky's disease or leishmaniasis.
10. Any claim in connection with organ transplants or experimental surgery.
11. Any dogs used for trade or business, including gundogs, guard dogs, racing, hunting, coursing or beating.
12. Any pet used for breeding purposes (more than one accidental pregnancy is classed as breeding)
13. Any dog listed under the dangerous dog act including the following breed or crossbreed, Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, American Bandogge, American/Irish Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Australian Dingo, Boerboel, Bully Kutts, Canary Dogs, Cane Corsos, Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs/Wolf Hybrids, Korean Jindo, Northern Inuit Dogs, Racing Greyhounds, Shar Pei, Tamskan and Utonagan.
14. Any pet that has shown aggressive characteristics.

If your dog is on a public highway, it must be under control, wear a collar and be on a lead.

You must notify the AA of any change in circumstances that may affect your pet insurance.

You must take care of your pet and promptly arrange for any treatment to prevent or reduce the risk of illness or injury.

Your pet must be vaccinated against distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus for dogs, kennel cough (if using a boarding kennel) for Cats, enterisis, feline leukemia and cat flu. All vaccinations should be kept up to date.

Your pet must be wormed and treated for fleas on a regular basis.

Complementary medicine is covered for between £200 and £500 depending on the policy you choose.

Complementary treatments include physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, osteopathy, chiropractic, homeopathic or herbal medicines or laser Treatment. These must be carried out by a suitably qualified practitioner and recommended by your vet.

Treatments such as pulsed magnetic field therapy, matrix energy field therapy, the Bowen Technique, reiki massage and faith healing are excluded.

The sums insured are below levels of the industry averages for this type of cover.

Prescription food is not covered under the Accident only or Bronze policy.

The silver, silver plus, gold and gold plus policies cover up to £100 of prescription food, provided it is prescribed by your vet, and used to dissolve bladder stones or crystals in urine. A deduction of £0.53 per tin and £1.00 per kilo will be made in respect of normal feeding costs and payments are for a maximum of 60 days up to the limit.

You are covered for any dentistry treatment required, but only as a direct result of an accident or injury.

AA policies cover the cost of MRI, CT scans and Cruciate Ligaments claims. The amount of cover varies on the policy.

Accident only MRI scans up to £500, Ligament claims up to £500.

Bronze MRI scans up to £250, Ligament claims up to £500.

Silver & Silver Plus MRI scans up to £750, Ligament claims up to £3,000.

Gold and Gold Plus MRI scans up to £1,250, Ligament claims up to £5,000.

With the exception of Gold and Gold Plus, the sums insured are below industry averages for this type of cover.

All AA policies cover the cost of having your pet put to sleep up to a maximum amount of £100. This is subject to a recommendation by your vet and only to alleviate incurable and inhumane suffering.

The AA do not cover the costs of disposal or cremation of your pet's body.

Yes The AA policy allows you to insure all your pets (Cats or Dogs) under the same policy, although there is no multiple pet discount available.

You are unable to insure your pets pre-existing medical conditions under the AA policy.

Pre-existing conditions are defined as any condition or illness diagnosed or undiagnosed showing signs or manifesting in any form, prior to the start of the policy or during the waiting period.

The AA policy excludes death from breeding, pregnancy or giving birth and excludes any pet used for breeding purposes, which they class as more than one accidental pregnancy.

The policy specifically excludes costs for treatment relating to or resulting from breeding and any complications that may occur as a result of these procedures.

The policy also excludes treatment for false pregnancy if your pet has already received treatment for two or more occurrences.

The Pets travel scheme allows you to take your pet abroad to specified countries and re-enter without the need for quarantine.

The AA policy will cover your pet for emergency vet treatment abroad, up to a maximum of 30 days and or 2 holidays per policy period. The policy covers emergency repatriation and emergency vets fees, but not additional quarantine expenses or costs related to a lost or damage pet passport.

The policy runs for twelve months, at which point it can be renewed for a further twelve months, subject to any terms and conditions.

The AA or their representatives, will contact you by email or post at least 14 days before the renewal date of your policy.

They will set out any changes to the premium or terms and conditions for the next period of insurance.

If you pay by direct debit, your policy will automatically renew at the end of the twelve month period. If you paid by credit or debit card and the payment was set up as a continuous annual payment, your card will automatically be debited and the policy renewed.

Remember to inform the AA if there are any factors relating to your pet that have changed.

If the cost of a claim for vets fees is likely to be more than £1,000, you must notify the AA as soon as possible for pre-authorisation. The AA will obtain a second opinion from their veterinary advisor.

According to their website, claims take up to five days to be processed. Claims can be submitted and their process tracked via the website. 

If you wish to talk to an expert, you can phone their dedicated claims line.

The Waiting period for all AA Pet Insurance policies is 24 hours from commencement of the policy in respect of accidents and 10 days in respect of Illness.

If you upgrade your policy, the illness waiting period will apply from the transfer date.

All AA Pet Insurance policies are subject to an excess of £100 per incident.

Once your pet reaches the age of six, you will be required to contribute 20% of any claim, in addition to the standard policy excess.

For example a claim of £1,000 would cost you £280 (made up of a £100 excess and an additional £180 20% of £900).

The AA website obviously deals with more than just Pet Insurance, but it is quite easy to get lost and not the easiest site to find your way back to the pet insurance section.

However they do provide a nice comparison table and explanation of benefits and there are some useful frequently answered questions.

The quote system is functional and easy to use and the quotes show a list of benefits, together with the policy wording and Insurance Product information documents.

There is no online chat facility available and no option to email any questions. However the AA do operate a freephone call centre number. Our mystery shopper call was answered after a wait of nearly ten minutes. The operator was able to answer the queries satisfactorily.

The policy wording is very old fashioned in appearance. 20 pages of black and white text, with no effort made to make it more appealing to customers. The wording does include an index, to assist in finding your way around the document.

There is not summary of cover, instead each policy type is specifically dealt with under the relevant section of cover.

The result is a policy that is ultimately functional but uninspiring.

The policy wording text had a reading score of 31.4 (out of 100), classed as difficult to read.

The text had an average reading age of 21 - 22 years. This means that a person with a reading age of 21-22 years should be able to understand the policy.

AA pet insurance does not appear on any of the comparison sites.

Visit the website direct to obtain a quotation.

The AA does not provide a dedicated helpline where you can talk to an expert about your pet.

Although it can put you in contact with members of the National Register of Pet Sitters and help find a local vet.

You can contact the AA's freephone call centre number to discuss your policy.

Trustpilot give the AA 1.3 out of 5 based on 548 reviews, although we must point out that is for all types of AA products and not just pet insurance.

Boughtbymany give a rating of 3.8 out of 5 based on 316 reviews.

Many complaints relate to having to hold on the phone for long periods of time, not being able to talk to an expert and or administration errors.

The Insurance Factory, who manage pet insurance on behalf of the AA do charge administration fees.

They are;

£30 for any cancellation whether inside the first 14 days or not.

£10 if you require documents to be posted to you.

£10 for any mid term adjustment.

There is a 10% online discount for existing AA members.

The website works, if not the most engaging. All the information you need to compare the difference between policies is available. 

It's a shame that the only way of contacting the AA is via their call centre. Our wait time was nearly ten minutes and other callers have had to wait nearly an hour to get through.

Feedback seems to indicate that customers are confused as to who they are actually dealing with. Although Insurance is labelled AA Insurance, all policies are in fact arranged, administered and managed by a third party company, The Insurance Factory.

The AA will quote for pet up to any age.

How competitive are the AA's pet insurance policies?

According to our latest premium research the AA's Bronze, Silver and Gold policies are competitively priced, but less so in respect of the Silver Plus and Gold Plus policies.