
Choosing the right Pet Insurance is extremely important, as the wrong choice now could have severe financial consequences later and comparing numerous policy terms and conditions can be daunting.
Once you have read this review of Emerald Pet and compared polices using our unique search facility, you will have all the information you need to make an informed choice.
Emerald Pet Insurance Reviewed by Jonathan 09/10/20.
Emerald Life was established by Steve Wardlaw, with the aim of providing equality to the LGBT community in their dealings with Insurance, Financial services and healthcare.
Emerald Life offer four different types of pet insurance, two of which have been awarded five stars.
EmeraldPet is a trading name of Sterling Client Services Ltd who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and who arrange and administer pet insurance. Emerald Pet Insurance is underwritten by Covea Insurance Plc, who are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
Covea Insurance Plc and Sterling Client Services Ltd are part of the same group of companies.
Click on the website link to go directly to the insurance providers website. Visit Emerald Pet's Website and Get a Quotation direct
Click on the white bars on the right side of the policy boxes below. Expand the content to view star ratings of all policies offered by Emerald Pet.
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;
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.
That's Insurance have spent some time mystery shopping on emerald-pet-insurance-review's website. The policy wording, website, customer service/buying process have been carefully reviewed and each section awarded a user friendly score, which you can see below.
Policy wording - Marks are awarded for Layout, Readability ,Terminology, Communication and Appropriate information.
Website - Marks are awarded for Layout/Navigation, Access to important information e.g. policy wordings, Clear Explanation/Comparison of policies, including limitations, Frequently asked questions.
Customer Service – Marks are awarded for the Buying process, Customer Service, Clear Quotations, Access to important information/Comparison of quotes.
The scores have been calculated as an overall percentage and shown on the three gauges. You can see how Emerald compares to the industry average. The higher the percentage the better the company performs in each area.
(layout, readability, terminology)
Awaiting user friendly score
(layout, navigation, access to information)
Awaiting user friendly score
(clear quotes, buying process, customer service)
Awaiting user friendly score
We've highlighted Pro's and Cons for Emerald, click on the white bars on the right side of the boxes below. Expand the content to view pros and cons of all policies offered by Emerald Pet.
We've listed below cover levels for policies offered by offered by To scroll through all policies, click on the arrows on the left and right of policy name section.
Listed below are some Sample Quotes offered by Emerald Pet
Top Picks
Insurance Provider
Excess
Primary Cover
Guide Price
Type:Dog
Cover:Lifetime Maximum Benefit
Age: 1
Breed: Medium
Group: Mongrel
100
Lifetime Maximum Benefit 3,000
Complimentary Treatment 750
Dental 3,000
Death from Accident 1,500
Death from Illness 1,500
Theft or Straying 1,500
Advertising and Reward 1,500
Third Party Liability 1,000,000
Type:Dog
Cover:Lifetime Maximum Benefit
Age: 10
Breed: Medium
Group: Mongrel
100
Lifetime Maximum Benefit 6,000
Complimentary Treatment 1,500
Dental 6,000
Death from Accident 1,500
Death from Illness 1,500
Theft or Straying 1,500
Advertising and Reward 1,500
Third Party Liability 1,000,000
Type:Dog
Cover:Lifetime Maximum Benefit
Age: 1
Breed: Chihuahua (Smooth Coat)
Group: Toy
100
Lifetime Maximum Benefit 7,500
Complimentary Treatment 1,875
Dental 7,500
Death from Accident 1,500
Death from Illness 1,500
Theft or Straying 1,500
Advertising and Reward 1,500
Third Party Liability 1,000,000
Type:Dog
Cover:Lifetime Maximum Benefit
Age: 6
Breed: Medium
Group: Mongrel
100
Lifetime Maximum Benefit 6,000
Complimentary Treatment 1,500
Dental 6,000
Death from Accident 1,500
Death from Illness 1,500
Theft or Straying 1,500
Advertising and Reward 1,500
Third Party Liability 1,000,000
Type:Dog
Cover:Lifetime Maximum Benefit
Age: 6
Breed: Shih Tzu
Group: Utility
100
Lifetime Maximum Benefit 6,000
Complimentary Treatment 1,500
Dental 6,000
Death from Accident 1,500
Death from Illness 1,500
Theft or Straying 1,500
Advertising and Reward 1,500
Third Party Liability 1,000,000
Type:Cat
Cover:Lifetime Maximum Benefit
Age: 1
Breed: Moggie
Group: Moggie
85
Lifetime Maximum Benefit 1,000
Complimentary Treatment 250
Dental 1,000
Death from Accident 1,500
Death from Illness 1,500
Theft or Straying 1,500
Advertising and Reward 1,500
Type:Cat
Cover:Lifetime Maximum Benefit
Age: 6
Breed: Moggie
Group: Moggie
85
Lifetime Maximum Benefit 3,000
Complimentary Treatment 750
Dental 3,000
Death from Accident 1,500
Death from Illness 1,500
Theft or Straying 1,500
Advertising and Reward 1,500
Type:Cat
Cover:Lifetime Maximum Benefit
Age: 10
Breed: Moggie
Group: Moggie
85
Lifetime Maximum Benefit 3,000
Complimentary Treatment 750
Dental 3,000
Death from Accident 1,500
Death from Illness 1,500
Theft or Straying 1,500
Advertising and Reward 1,500
Type:Cat
Cover:Lifetime Maximum Benefit
Age: 1
Breed: Moggie
Group: Moggie
85
Lifetime Maximum Benefit 6,000
Complimentary Treatment 1,500
Dental 6,000
Death from Accident 1,500
Death from Illness 1,500
Theft or Straying 1,500
Advertising and Reward 1,500
Type:Cat
Cover:Lifetime Maximum Benefit
Age: 10
Breed: Moggie
Group: Moggie
85
Lifetime Maximum Benefit 7,500
Complimentary Treatment 1,875
Dental 7,500
Death from Accident 1,500
Death from Illness 1,500
Theft or Straying 1,500
Advertising and Reward 1,500