Emerald Pet Insurance Review

You must be the owner and keeper of the pet who lives with you.

You must be a resident of the United Kingdom and it must be where your main residence is situated.

Your pet should be in good health and free from any injury or illness and vaccinated against. (Dogs: distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis and parvovirus. Cats: feline infectious enteritis, feline leukaemia and cat flu).

Your dog must not have shown any aggressive tendencies in the past.

You must take care of your pet, which includes arranging and paying for any treatment normally recommended by your vet to prevent or reduce the risk of illness or injury, including routine dentistry.

Your pet must be older than 8 weeks of age at the start of the policy.

Emerald offer four policies, the only difference between the four being the amount of vets fees covered.

Choose between vets fees cover up to a maximum benefit of £1,000, £3,000, £6,000, £7,500, which you can claim for ongoing conditions so long as you continue to insure and cover continues to be made available to you.

This is a list of the most important exclusions. Emerald Pet Insurance does not cover;

1. Treatment that your vet recommends to prevent illness or injury.
2. Routine blood and urine tests
3. The cost of vaccinations, spaying, castration, retained testicles.
4. The cost of killing or controlling fleas, general health enhancers and unconventional or unlicensed treatment.
5. Treatment connected to Rabies, Avian Influenza or any variant.
6. Costs resulting from training, behavioural or sex hormonal problems unless directly resulting from a valid claim.
7. The cost of house/out of hours calls or hospitalisation, unless your vet confirms it is absolutely essential.
8. The cost of purchasing or hiring equipment such as harnesses, cages, carts and sharps containers.
9. The following 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 crossbred or mixed with any of these breeds, or any animal registered under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
10. Dogs used for guarding, racing, personal protection or search and rescue purposes, working dogs or gun dogs or dogs that have been trained to attack or for security purposes (other than former police or military dogs).

Complementary treatments are covered under the Emerald Pet policy. The amount covered is 25% of the vet fee limit.

Complementary treatments are defined as Physiotherapy, acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy, hydrotherapy, chiropractic and alternative medicines recommended by or carried out by a vet or a person trained to do so.

You can also claim up to £200 per year for training and behavioural treatments which can be particularly useful if you have a young or re-homed pet.

Clinical diets are covered up to £200 and cover formulated diets prescribed by a vets as part of a treatment for a specific illness or condition. This does not include cover for a clinical diet prescribed for weight reduction.

The policy covers dentistry, provided that the cost relates to a specific illness or injury.

Both policies cover the cost of MRI/CT scans and cruciate ligament claims up to the vets fees limit.

Both policies cover the cost of putting your pet to sleep, but not the costs of cremation, burial or any post-mortem.

Emerald Pet Insurance welcomes policies with more than one pet insured on it. They offer a 10% discount for every additional pet covered under the same policy.

Emerald Pet Insurance do not provide any cover for "Any condition, or complication directly resulting from or relating to
that condition that has been identified or investigated by a vet or that has the same diagnosis, clinical signs or symptoms as a condition known to you prior to the start of the insurance".

Emerald Pet Insurance specifically exclude any claim that relates to pregnancy, false pregnancy or giving birth, or where your pet is used for breeding purposes and any complications that arise.

Pet cover abroad is an optional extra. If you choose to add this option you will be covered for any period of time up to a maximum of 60 days. The policy not only extends emergency vet fees cover abroad, but includes additional quarantine costs, emergency expenses, Loss of your pet passport, and reasonable costs for repeat worming if required.

To qualify, you must comply with the criteria set out by the Governments PETS scheme.

Any illness that shows signs of, or started within the first 14 days of the policy is not covered.

In the event of a claim, you are required to pay the following excesses

Cats under the age of 8,  £85 per condition

Dogs under the age of 8, £100 per condition

Cats over the age of 8 £95 per condition

Dogs over the age of 8 £110 per condition

Holiday Cancellation £75

Third Party Liability £250

Once your pet reaches the age of 8, you will be required to contribute an additional 15% of any claim.

For example if your claim is for a 9 year old dog, costing £1,250, you will have to pay £110 plus 15% of the balance £171, total £281.00.

The front page provides some information on their policies and the options available, but it's not until you go to the frequently asked questions section that you are presented with more detailed policy information, "Jargon Buster" and policy wordings, which I found very helpful and wondered why this wasn't on the front page.

There is no live web chat available but you are able to phone the helpline if you need any assistance.

The quotation system has much more information and the quote themselves are nicely presented with access to the policy wording and a choice of the various options.

The Emerald Pet Insurance Policy wording is only 17 pages long. Headings have been colour coded and policy exceptions and exclusions are highlighted in grey.

A basic summary of cover and index help with the navigation.

During reading tests, overall the policy wording scored 52 out of 100, classed as fairly difficult to read. The reading age range was was 15 - 17, meaning that it should be read and understood by a person with a reading age of at least 15 - 17.

We couldn't find Emerald Pet Insurance listed on any of the Comparison sites. If you would like a quote, visit their website direct.

The policy does not provide any helplines.

We were unable to find any meaningful customer reviews on Emerald Life's Pet Insurance policies.

We could not find any details of administration charges.

Emerald Life offer a first year discount of 10% using the online code EMERALD.

Research suggests that Emerald Pet Insurance offer excellent value for money are very competitively priced for the high levels of cover provided. Even taking into account the optional extras. When these are removed, they are even more competitively priced. Great if you are someone looking to strip out all the extras, for just vet fees cover.

Even for older pets, although premiums are more expensive, Emerald Pet still offer good value.