The Kennel Club Pet Insurance Review

You must be over the age of 18, and be the pets owner which lives with you in the UK.
Your pet must be over the age of 8 weeks at the start of the policy.
You must take all reasonable safeguards to maintain your pets health, preventing injury or illness, loss or theft.
If your pet is a dog it must have had a course of primary vaccinations and you must keep it vaccinated within manufacturer’s
guidelines against distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis and parvovirus, or with the exception of leptospirosis, have a positive
titre test reading every two years.
If your pet is a cat you must keep it vaccinated within manufacturer’s guidelines against feline infectious enteritis, feline herpes virus, feline calicivirus and if at risk, feline leukaemia virus.
You must follow any advice given by your vet about your pet's health including any recommendations to reduce your pet's weight.
You must take reasonable precautions to prevent injury or death to another animal or person and damage to third party property.
Your pet must be kept on a short lead while near livestock of any kind, including horses, whether they are kept for leisure purposes or not.

The Kennel Club only offer lifetime cover policies.
This covers vet fees up to either £7,500 or £15,000 per year. The benefit is reinstated each year, provided you renew the policy which means that ongoing illnesses will be covered for the rest of your dog’s life.

Many problems are caused when a customer finds out that a particular claim is not covered. Often it's because the customer just wasn't aware of a particular exclusion, owing to the fact that they had not read or understood the policy properly.

It is absolutely essential that you read the policy wording carefully. You may find our comprehensive guide to pet insurance helpful, in the meantime we have highlighted important exclusions that we think you should know about below.

Kennel Club Pet Insurance does not cover;

1. The cost of any treatment to prevent illness or injury.
2. Routine examinations, tests, or treatment for your pets general health.
3. Routine castration and spaying, retained testes, mammary tumours and vaginal prolapse.
4. The cost of vaccinations, other than the costs of veterinary treatment for adverse reactions arising from the vaccinations.
5. Grooming and dematting including syringing and removing hair from ears when there is no infection present, nail clipping and removing dew claws that are not damaged.
6. The emptying of anal glands when they are not infected or stenosed.
7. Routine blood tests and urine tests.
8. Heart screening, blood or urine tests before a general anaesthetic or sedation if your pet’s age, medical history, or clinical
   signs immediately before this is carried out do not suggest it has an identifiable and significant risk from the general anaesthetic or sedation.
9. The killing or controlling of fleas and or worms, other than the cost to treat an adverse reaction.
10. Products for killing or controlling skin mites unless there is evidence your pet has a mite infestation.
11. Collars used to restrict your pet’s access to its body, or surgical T-shirts and protective boots, unless they are used to directly cover a wound.
12. Harnesses or slings to aid mobility.
13. Behavioural disorders that you can prevent by normal puppy training and socialisation and the cost of any training classes. The cost of your pet to stay and receive training or treatment from a behaviourist at a residential training or behavioural centre.
14. Costs for or resulting from, organ transplants, prosthesis, including any veterinary treatment needed to fit the prosthesis, other than the cost of hips, elbows, patella groove replacements or any eye lens implant, Stem cell therapy and experimental veterinary treatment.
15. Any costs for or relating to the production of a 3D printed model which is used for the planning of your pet’s surgery.
16. House calls, your pet's stay at a veterinary practice and the cost of transport or your vet's travel expenses, unless your vet confirms not using these facilities would seriously damage your pets health or worsen the condition.
17. The cost of out of hours fees unless an illness or injury happens or shows the first clinical signs or, significantly deteriorates, after 6 pm and before 8 am, during a weekend or during a bank holiday.
18. Bathing your pet, other than bathing with a medicated product that should only be administered by a vet or a member of a veterinary practice.
19. House calls, moving, transporting, bathing, hospitalisation, boarding fees and travel expenses caused by or resulting from your pet’s weight or your personal circumstances.
20. The cost of any additional veterinary treatment required because you are unable to administer medication due to your pet’s behaviour or your personal circumstances.
21. The cost of prescribed medication purchased from an online retailer unless the online retailer is listed in the Veterinary Medicine Directorate’s accredited internet retailer scheme.
22. Fitting your pet into the working schedule of a veterinary practice.
23. Vet’s administration costs and other charges a vet makes for things that do not directly involve the vet’s expertise in treating an illness or injury.
24. The use of your pet for guarding, security or racing.
25. Illnesses that dogs are usually vaccinated against if your pet has not been vaccinated.
26. The following breed of dogs African Boerboel, Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog, American Bull Terrier, American Bulldog, American Bully, American Pitbull Terrier, Bully Kutta, Cane Corso, Caucasian Shepherd, Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Japanese Tosa, Perro De Presa Canario (Canary Dog), Saarloos Wolfdog, Thai Ridgeback, any wolf hybrid and any cross with the preceding breeds, including any dog that should be registered under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and the Dangerous Dogs Act (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 or any amendments.
27. The cost of housing, including cages and bedding needed for the veterinary treatment or wellbeing of your pet.
28. Any costs for or resulting from a disease, including Rabies that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
29. If your pet dies from an illness when it is over the age of 8.
30. A deliberate act by you, a member of your family, someone who works for you, someone who lives with you.

Complementary treatments are covered up to £1,000 Lifetime policy and £2,500 Lifetime Plus.

Treatments include physiotherapy (including Laser Therapy, Pulsed Magnetic Field Therapy and Shock Wave Therapy) osteopathy, chiropractic treatment recommended by a vet and provided by a qualified organisation, Herbal Medicine and up to 20 sessions of hydrotherapy for each separate illness or injury. (Does not include hydrotherapy to help your pet lose weight).

Pheromone products used for up to six months as part of a structured programme to permanently change your pet’s behaviour and up to £750 towards the cost of behavioural therapy your pet receives from a behaviourist for a behavioural disorder.

The policies does not cover any costs for Matrix Energy Field Therapy, Reiki massage, Faith healing or Homeopathic medicine.

Kennel Club pet insurance covers 50% of the cost of a clinical diet up to £250 to treat the illness or injury, for each separate illness or injury.
This is described as food made by a pet food company for the purpose of a vet to prescribe to help with a specific illness or injury.
It does not cover the cost of clinical diets and medicines to help your pet lose weight or any routine post-operative recovery diet.

Kennel Club pet insurance also covers the cost of any condition or veterinary treatment arising as a result of tooth or gum disease, provided your pet has had a dental health check in the last 12 months, and had any veterinary treatment recommended by the vet carried out within three months of the recommendation.

The policy does not cover Cosmetic dentistry, de-scaling, polishing and cleaning your pet’s teeth, other than when performed solely as treatment for an illness of the teeth or gums, crowns.
Root canal treatment;
That is being undertaken for purely cosmetic reasons.
That is on teeth other than the canine teeth.
That doesn’t offer clear advantages over tooth removal in terms of safety.
In respect of a dog that is a stone chewer or similar.
For badly damaged teeth.
Where there is severe periodontal disease and the canine teeth are very loose.

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

The policy covers the cost of cremation, burial and a house visit by a vet to put your pet to sleep up to £150.

The Kennel Club offer a multi pet discount when you insure more than one dog under the same policy.

Kennel Club Pet insurance does not cover any pre-existing Illness or Injury, described as

• An injury that happened, or an illness or behavioural disorder that first showed clinical signs before your policy started; or,
• An injury or illness that is the same as, or has the same diagnosis or clinical signs as an injury, illness or clinical sign your pet had before your policy started; or,
• An injury or illness that is caused by, relates to, or results from, an injury, illness or clinical sign your pet had before
your policy started; no matter where the injury, illness or clinical sign(s) are noticed or happen in, or on, your pet’s body.

The standard Kennel Club policy excludes any cost related to pregnancy, or false pregnancy if your pet has already received veterinary treatment for two or more episodes of false pregnancy, unless you have taken the option to include cover for
Breeding and Pregnancy.

This optional add-on covers the following;

Fertility examinations - if your pet does not become pregnant after two matings including

a physical examination by a vet, including the reproductive organs and vaginoscopy,
• an ultrasound of the uterus and ovaries,
• vaginal cytology, blood tests, a complete blood count, including haemoglobin, haematocrit, leukogram, blood platelets and ALAT, creatinine, glucose and total T4 and TSH,
• veterinary treatment (excluding surgery) to restore fertility.

Pregnancy and Giving Birth - covering complications from pregnancy, giving birth, weak or fading puppies.

Death from Pregnancy or giving birth - A death benefit if your pet should die due to complications of pregnancy or giving birth

Veterinary Fees for Puppies - Covers veterinary fees to treat an illness or injury to your pet's puppies from the day they were born up to the age of 14 weeks or when the new owner collects them whichever comes first.

For more information on this cover we recommend reading the policy carefully.

Having left the European Union, the Pet Passport is no longer valid and has been replaced with the Animal Health Certificate.

This means that you can still take your pet abroad without the need for quarantine and The Kennel Club will extend your policy to cover vet fees whilst abroad for up to 120 days per year. In addition they will cover additional quarantine costs, repeat worming, loss of your animal health certificate and emergency expenses whilst abroad.

The Kennel Club policy excludes;

An illness or behavioural disorder that first showed clinical signs in the first 10 days after your policy started; or,
• an illness that is the same as, or has the same diagnosis or clinical signs as an illness or clinical sign your pet had in
the first 10 days after your policy started; or,
• an illness that is caused by, relates to, or results from, an illness or clinical sign your pet had in the first 10 days
after your policy started;

If your pet dies as a result of an illness in the first 10 days of your policy.

The Standard policy excess is £105, but you can opt for £170, in exchange for a reduction in the premium.

The excess for each claim in respect of damaged or destroyed property and third party liability is £250.

In addition to the fixed excess, you are required to pay a further 10% contribution towards each claim that you make.

For example if your claim was for £1,000, you would need to pay £105 plus 10% of the balance totalling £194.50.

The website layout provides access to an explanation of the policy, a comparison of benefits table and access to policy documentation. There is a good section on Frequently asked questions. The Kennel Club do not operate live chat
but you can phone them or request a call back.

The quotation system is quick and easy to use and there is a lot of flexibility in the quote allowing you to create a policy that meets your needs such as the excess, and optional add-ons, taking your pet abroad, breeding cover, holiday cancellation and or death benefit.

The policy provides a useful Key Features and Benefits section including significant exclusions which offers a good overview of the policy and an index to help with navigation.

The layout is OK if a little monotonous. In readability tests the wording scored 51.5 out of 100 and was classed as fairly difficult to read, although only a reading age of between 14 - 15 is required to be able to understand it.

Kennel Club Pet Insurance is not available on any comparison sites. Visit the site direct for a quote.

Kennel Club operate a pet health helpline for free, round-the-clock, veterinary advice if your pet appears to be injured or unwell
but you are not sure if they need to see a vet.

We were unable to find enough meaningful customer reviews on Kennel Club Pet Insurance.

There are no administration charges.

£25 voucher towards your dog’s annual health check or vaccination. The Kennel Club will send you a £25 voucher, each and every year, to help with the cost of veterinary health checks and vaccinations.

Both the Kennel Club pet insurance policies provide high levels of cover, in fact £15,000 is the highest level of vet fees cover currently available on the market. You have the flexibility of choosing benefits to suit, including a unique section which covers vets fees for problems when breeding and during pregnancy.

However you have to pay a lot for the cover and during our tests we found their premiums expensive. The excess is at the higher end of the scale and on top of that you have to pay an additional 10% of any claim.

The company states they pay 97% of claims, can settle directly with your vet and operate a UK customer service and claims team.

If you need a policy that covers breeding and or pregnancy then this is one to look at.