Costco Pet Insurance Review

You must be a member of Costco.

Your pet must be older than 8 weeks.

You must take care of your pet and make sure you arrange any treatment including routine dentistry to reduce or prevent illness or injury.

Your pet must be vaccinated against

Dogs: distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis and parvovirus.

Cats: feline infectious enteritis, feline leukaemia and cat flu.

Your pet must be older than 8 weeks

Costco Pet Insurance has four levels of cover

£1,000 £3,000, £6,000, or £7,500.

This is the maximum amount payable and you may claim up to the level of cover selected within the period of insurance. The policy is for 12 months and future periods of insurance cannot be guaranteed. You can claim for ongoing conditions so long as you continue to insure and cover continues to be made available to you.

These are the most important policy exclusions

Costco Pet Insurance will not cover;

1. Preventative, or unlicensed treatments.
2. The cost of killing or controlling fleas and general health enhancers
3. The cost of behavioural, or sex hormonal problems unless as a direct result of a valid claim.
4. Vaccinations, spaying, castration, pregnancy, false pregnancy or giving birth.
5. House or out of hours calls and or hospitalisation unless confirmed as necessary by your vet.
6. The cost of any equipment such as harnesses, cages, carts, sharps and containers.
7. The following dog breeds; African Wild Dog, American Bulldog, American Indian Dog, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Rottweiler, American Staffordshire Terrier, Bandog, Boerboel, Bully Kutta, Canary Dog, Cane Corso, Chinese Shar-Pei Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, Dingo, Dogo Argentino, Dogue Brasileiro, Fila Brasileiro, Gull Dong, Husky Wolf Hybrid, Irish Staffordshire Blue Bull Terrier, Irish Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Pit Bull Terrier, Saarlooswolfhound, Tosa, Tosa Inu, Wolf Hybrid, Wolfdog, or any dog crossed or mixed with any of these breeds.
8. Claims due to Rabies, Avian Influenza or any derivation or variant thereof.
9. Your pet being used for breeding purposes, dogs used for guarding, racing, personal protection or search and rescue purposes. Dogs being used as working dogs or gun dogs.

Complementary Treatments are covered up to 25% of the veterinary fees limit. These include Physiotherapy, acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy, hydrotherapy, chiropractic and alternative medicines recommended by your vet and carried out by a properly trained person

The policy also included cover for Training and Behavioural problems covered up to £200

Prescription food (called Clinical Diet) is covered up to £200. The description of a clinical diet is "A clinically formulated diet prescribed by your vet as part of your pet's treatment for a specific illness or condition.

This does not include diets prescribed for weight reduction.

Dentistry is covered up to the vet fees limit, provided it is required as a result of a specific illness or injury.

Both MRI/CT Scans and Cruciate Ligaments claims are covered up to the vet fees limit.

The policy covers the cost of putting your pet to sleep, but does not cover the cost of burial or cremation.

You can insure more than one pet under the same policy and receive a 10% discount.

None of the Costco pet policies cover any condition that is known about, or has been investigated by a vet, prior to the inception of the policy.

The policy specifically excludes any pet used for breeding and will not cover, pregnancy, false pregnancy or giving birth.

Taking your pet abroad, is an option that you can choose for any of the Costco policies. The policy extends emergency vet fees cover to include any journey made by you and your pet within Europe ( A maximum of 60 days per trip).

In addition to vets fees, the policy also covered quarantine costs, emergency repatriation, Loss of pet Passport and the cost of repeat worming treatment, required as a result of delayed departure.

The policy excludes any illness claim that occurs within the first 14 days.

If your pet is stolen or strays, you must wait a minimum of 90 days before you are able to claim.

All Costco policies have a fixed excess (this is the first amount of any claim your are required to pay)

In respect of dogs under the age of 8 the excess is £100 and £110 for older dogs.

In respect of cats under the age of 8 the excess is £85 and £95 for older cats.

Dog Liability Insurance £250 Excess.

Holiday cancellations £75 Excess.

Once your pet reaches the age of 8 any claim that you make will require an additional contribution of 15%.

For example if a claim for your 9 year old dog totals £1,000, you will need to pay £110 plus 15% of the balance £133.50 total £243.50.

The Information on the Costco site is minimal as they only really act as an introducer to Sterling Insurance Services.

Once you have been directed the Sterling site provides much more detailed information on the policy, sums insured, frequently asked questions etc.

Not being a Costco member prevented us from testing the quotation system and claims of member discounts.

The policy wording is only 17 pages long. Whilst it is tightly packed, there is a summary of cover and an index to help you navigate. It is reasonably easy to understand and has less conditions to read through than other policies.

In readability tests, the policy wording scored 61 (out of 100) and is classed as standard reading.

Overall the wording has an average reading age of 11 - 13 years. This means that a person with a reading age of 11-13 years should be able to understand the policy.

The policy does not include a helpline.

We could not find any customer reviews on Costco pet Insurance.

We couldn't find any information of administration charges, so must assume that they don't charge any.

Discounts are available, but you need to be a Costco member to benefit.

Both the £6,000 and £7,500 benefit policies were awarded 5 star rating for high levels of overall cover.

We are unable to verify how competitive the premiums are, but if you are a member of Costco, it would be worth checking them out and comparing with similar policies.