Geoffrey Pet Insurance Review

At the commencement of a policy;

Your pet must be in good health, have not shown aggressive tendancies, or have been trained to attack.

You are the owner of your pet, and they must live with you at a UK address.

Your pet must be older than eight weeks, but no older then 8 for dogs and 10 for cats.

You agree to take your pet for regular annual check-ups and your pet must be vaccinated against;

DOGS; against distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis and parvovirus.
CATS; against feline infectious enteritis, feline influenza, feline herpes virus, feline calicivirus and feline leukaemia.

You agree to provide proper care and attention to your pet at all times and carry out any recommended treatment.

If you are with your dog in a public place, they must wear a collar with your name and address engraved on it.

Geoffrey Insurance offer four levels of pet insurance

1. Accident Only up to £1,500 of vet fees per accident or injury.
2. 12 Month cover up to £1,500 of vet fees per incident for up to 12 months.
3. Standard Lifetime up to £2,000 of vet fees per year, which is annually renewable.
4. Enhanced Lifetime up to £6,000 of vet fees per year, which is annually renewable.

This is list of the most important exclusions. Geoffrey Pet Insurance policies exclude;

1. Preventative, Routine and Elective Treatments, examinations or tests (including blood tests).
2. Routine Spaying, castration or treatment for retained testicles.
3. Killing/controlling fleas and routine worming.
4. Whelping, Kittening and any treatment in connection with pregnancy or giving birth.
5. Costs associated with Bathing, grooming, de-matting or the removal of dewclaws.
6. Behavioural and or sex hormonal problems unless as a result of an insured incident.
7. Out of hours treatment, house calls or hospitalisation, unless the vet confirms absolutely necessary and then restricted to £100.
8. The cost of any form of Housing, Cage or Bedding.
9. The cost of any pheromone products, including DAP diffusers and Feliway.
10. Nutritional supplements and vitamins unless prescribed by a vet to take the place of medication.
11. Pets used for commercial security work or who have been trained to attack.
12. Policyholders who hold a Security Industry Authority licence.
13. Any pet used for guarding, track racing, coursing, or used in connection with any business, trade, profession, or occupation.
14. The following breeds of dog; American Pit Bull Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Fila Braziliero, Japanese Tosa, Perro de Presa Canario, Pit Bull, Pit Bull Terrier, wolf or wolf hybrid, or a dog crossed with these, or any animal registered under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 or a dog crossed with any of these.
15. Any pet used for commercial breeding purposes described as any pet having had more than 2 litters in its lifetime.
16. Treatment or complementary therapy connected to or resulting from organ transplants and fitting full or partial artificial limbs (prosthesis) with the exception of costs relating to replacement hip, elbow and or knee joints including pre and post-operative care.
17. The cost of any treatment, or complications arising from treatment, that you choose to have carried out that is not directly related to an injury or illness, including cosmetic dentistry or surgery.
18. Death of your pet (illness) for dogs aged 8 and over or cats aged 10 and above.
19. Any claim as a result of a ‘notifiable’ disease (as defined by DEFRA) e.g. rabies.

Geoffrey Pet Insurance includes cover for Complementary treatments such as Acupuncture, osteopathy, physiotherapy, chiropractic therapy and up to ten sessions of hydrotherapy, recommended by your vet and carried out by a suitably qualified person that has been specifically recommended by your vet.

The 12 month policy covers up to £750, the standard lifetime £1,000 and the enhanced lifetime £1,500.

The policy does not cover unapproved alternative medicine or complementary medicine (including but not limited to pulsed magnetic field therapy, matrix energy field therapy, the Bowen technique, Reiki massage, and faith healing).

Dental treatment is covered but only as a result of an accident.

Geoffrey Pet Insurance will cover your pet's prescription food, provided it was prescribed by your vet and purchased from a veterinary surgery and is used only to dissolve either bladder stones or crystals in urine. A deduction of 53p per tin and £1 per kilo of food is made to cover normal feeding costs. The cover is limited to either £100 or 60 days.

The policy covers both cruciate ligament damage and CT and MRI scans.

The 12 month policy covers up to £1,500

The Standard Lifetime policy covers up to £2,000

The enhanced Lifetime policy covers up to £2,000 and £3,000 in respect of cruciate ligament claims.

Note that these limits are not in addition to the overall vet fee limit but part of it.

All policies provide up to £100 to assist with the cost of having your pet put to sleep. The decision must be endorsed by your vet and only to prevent further suffering of your pet.

You are allowed to insure as many pets (dog and cats) under the same policy and receive a 5% multi pet discount.

If your pet has a pre-existing condition, whether diagnosed or undiagnosed, investigated by a vet or known to you prior to the start of insurance, you will be unable to cover this under the policy.

All policies exclude any costs relating to pregnancy, or giving birth.

All policies (except accident only) cover your pet if you take them abroad.

Cover overseas is subject to the limit of 30 days under 12 Month & Standard Lifetime cover levels and 180 days under Enhanced Lifetime cover.

In addition to extended vet fees, the policy also cover emergency repatriation, quarantine expenses, and loss of your pet's passport.

There is no cover for your pet's if they have an accident within 24 hours of the start of the policy or suffer and illness within the first 14 days of the start of the policy.

The standard policy excess is £85.

In respect of liability claims the excess is £250.

When your pet turns 7, you will be required to contribute a further 10% of any claim, in addition to the fixed excess.

For example, if your claim is for £1,500, your contribution would amount to £85 plus 10% of the balance total £226.50.

The website is simple but effective. All the important information is contained in one page, including whats covered, a side by side comparison of policies. Although there is no live chat, they do operate a UK based call centre.

Getting a quote is also very easy and all quotes are presented side by side with the option to see more information if required, including the IPID and policy wording documents.

We could not find a page on frequently asked questions. These sections are useful because they answer popular questions and negate a need to contact the company, which can be time consuming.

Although only 12 pages long, the policy does include a summary of cover, allowing comparison of cover, which many policies don't

An index helps with navigation. A lot of text is squeezed on to each page and there are many terms and conditions to read through. The policy is heavy on exclusions with 42 on vets fees alone.

Our analysis scored the policy wording at 53.5 out of 100, classing it as fairly difficult to read and a potential customer would need a reading age of at least 15 to be able to understand the contents.

Geoffrey Pet Insurance policies are listed on Go Compare and Confused.com. During our research, we found that although the cover was the same, in some cases, premiums were higher than quoted direct from Geoffrey Insurance's website.

The following helplines are included in the policy, Pet Legal, Find a Vet, Bereavement Counselling and Pet Minders.

Geoffrey Insurance has 7364 reviews on trust pilot with an overall rating of 4.8 out of 5. Most customers are happy with the service they provide, although recently there have been a few complaints about the website not working and phone calls not being answered. Note that the reviews relate to all types of insurance not just pet.

Geoffrey Pet Insurance charge £10 for any mid term adjustments and £30 if the policy is cancelled outside of the 14 day cooling off period. (The charge for cancellation will not be applied if your pet has died or been reported lost or stolen).

With every new Geoffrey pet insurance policy taken out you will receive a FREE award winning PETKIT P2 Activity Monitor that normally retails at £55.99.

Despite some complaints that the website wasn't functioning correctly, we found it easy to use.

The policy does incorporate a fair number of conditions and exclusions, so it's important that you read them carefully.

A point to note that prior to acceptance, all pet insurance claims are reviewed by an internal pet claims assessor and compared to charges for the same or similar treatment.

According to our research Geoffrey Pet Insurance is reasonably priced for the cover they provide.