VetsMediCover Pet Insurance Review

You must be over 18 years of age and be the registered owner and keeper of the pet, which lives with you in the United Kingdom.
Your pet must be over 8 weeks but under 8 years of age at the start of the policy (certain dog breeds must be under 5 years of age).
You must take your pet for a health check up at least once a year, including dental checks and vaccinations as required.
You must take reasonable stepts to prevent injury or illness, but if your pet is ill or injured, you must immediately arrange for a vet to provide treatment.
You must vaccination your pet against;
DOGS: distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis and parvovirus.
CATS: cat flu, feline enteritis and feline leukaemia.
You must vaccinate your pet against kennel cough before your pet enters a boarding kennel or a show.
Your pet must not be used in any connection with any business, trade or profession. This includes taking your pet to work with you or a place of work.
You must take reasonable steps to prevent your pet causing damage to property.

Vetsmedicover offer two types of policy Time Limited and Lifetime.

The Silver policy covers up to £2,000 of vet fees per condition, covered up to 12 months from the date of the occurrence or until the benefit limit is reached.
The Gold policy covers up to £4,000 of vet fees cover per annum, which is reinstated every 12 months, provided the policy has been renewed and is designed to cover long term illnesses.
The Platinum policy covers up to £6,000 of vet fees cover per annum, which is reinstated every 12 months, provided the policy has been renewed and is designed to cover long term illnesses.
The Diamond policy covers up to £10,000 of vet fees cover per annum, which is reinstated every 12 months, provided the policy has been renewed and is designed to cover long term illnesses.

Many complaints about pet insurance happen because a claim is declined or the agreed settlement amount is less than the customer was expecting. One of the common reasons for this is due to a lack of understanding of the policy by the customer.

It is essential that you read your policy wording carefully and understand the terminology. We have produced a Comprehensive Pet Insurance Buyers guide to help explain the different types of cover. We have also listed below the important exclusions that we think you should know about.

Vetsmedicover does not cover;

1. Any treatment recommended by your vet that prevents illness or injury.
2. The cost of routine or elective treatments, as well as any complications arising from these.
3. The cost of vaccinations or any claims that result of illnesses not vaccinated against.
4. The cost of titre testing prior to vaccination or microchipping.
5. The cost of routine worming and flea treatments.
6. Grooming, trimming, claw clipping, routine ear flushing or plucking, the removal of undamaged dew claws.
7. The Cost of Spaying, castration or retained testicles.
8. Costs for routine pre-operative or pre-anesthesia blood and urine tests carried out on a healthy or young pet.
9. Vet fees for treatment required as a direct or indirect result of a non-claimable condition.
10. Costs for cosmetic or aesthetic surgery, including but not limited to eye tacking, tail docking and including pre-operative and post-operative care.
11. The costs of purchasing or hiring equipment for your pet.
12. Claims arising from aggressive tendencies or behavioural disorders shown by your pet.
13. Ambulance/taxi fees unless your pet is on a nasal/IV drip and is being transferred between a referral practice/emergency vet and your normal vet up to one journey.
14. Vet fees caused by an injury or illness arising directly or indirectly from negligent mistreatment of your pet, whether by you, your immediate family.
15. House calls, our outside of normal surgery hours, unless your vet confirms that an emergency consultation was essential to your pets life or suffering.
16. Vet fees for treatment of conditions arising from your pet being overweight, except weight gain as a result of a diagnosed illness.
17. Costs for artificial prostheses, for example an artificial limb, including any veterinary treatment needed to fit the prosthesis. Vet fees for hip, knee or elbow replacement(s) are covered.
18. Vet fees arising from treatment incurred whilst your pet is competing in any type of competition, including but not limited to field trials, dog/cat shows and breeders competitions.
19. Claims including Third Party Liability caused by your pet straying, escaping, damaging property, attacking the general public or other animals not owned by you, if the pet has previously carried out any of these actions.
20. Dogs which are used as gundogs, working dogs, guide or assistance dogs, or for security, commercial security, any form of racing, hunting, guarding, track racing, coursing, fighting, shooting or breeding, including commercial breeding.
21. Any dog registered under The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and The Dangerous Dogs (Northern Ireland) order 1991 or Dangerous Dogs (amendment) Act 1997 or any subsequent amendments or any of these breeds or a dog crossed with any of these. American Bully, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Canary Dog, Cane Corso, Cane da Pastore, Carolina Dog, Coyote, Dogo Argentino, Dogo Canario, Dogo Guatemalteco, Dogo Sardesco, Fila Brasilero, Gull Terrier, Irish Staffordshire Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Kohati, Neapolitan Mastiff, Pakistani Bull Terrier, Perro De Presa Canario, Pit Bull Terrier, Presa Canario, Saarloos Wolfhound, Tosa Inu, Wolf, Wolf Hybrid.
22. Any pet, which has aggressive tendencies or has been trained to attack or begins to have these tendencies.
23. Any claim for a pet over 5 years old for selected breeds at the start date of your Policy.
24. Third Party Liability insurance is excluded for the following breeds, or any dog crossed or mixed with these breeds: Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog, American Bulldog, Boerboel.

The silver policy covers complementary treatments up to £500 and the Gold, Platinum and Diamond policies up to £750. (The market average limit is £1,000).

Complementary treatment means physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic treatment hydrotherapy, acupuncture and homeopathic or herbal medicines. All complementary treatment must be recommended by your vet and carried out by either a vet or a person registered with or a member of a professional organisation.

All policies cover dental care as a result of illness up to £350 and as a result of an injury up to the vet fees limit.

This does not include vet fees resulting from dental treatment carried out six months or more after the recommendation of the vet or costs for dental descaling, polishing, prosthodontics, orthodontic appliances, crowns, caps or splints, or veneers.

The Silver policy does not cover prescription food. The Gold, Platimum and Diamond policies cover clinically formulated pet food prescribed by your vet as part of a treatment plan for your pet for a specific covered condition.

Prescription food does not include food prescribed for weight loss or dental ailments or conditions.

The Gold policy covers 20% of the cost up to £150.
The Platinum and Diamond policies cover 40% of the cost up to £200.

All policies cover MRI/CT Scans and Cruciate Ligament claims up to the vet fees limit, depending on the policy you have chosen.

All policies cover the cost of having your pet put to sleep (on the recommendation of your vet) up to £200, but excludes costs relating to the cremation, burial or disposal of your pet.

Vetsmedicover only allow you insure one pet on the same policy.

Vetsmedicover does not cover your pets pre-existing conditions and these are described as;

Any injury or illness that:
a) happened or first showed clinical signs; or
b) has the same diagnosis or clinical signs as an injury, illness or clinical sign your pet had; or
c) is caused by or relates to, or results from an injury, illness or clinical sign your pet had before the start of cover for your pet, and regardless of whether the illness or clinical signs appear in the same or different parts of your pet’s body.

However in respect of the Gold, Platinum and Diamond policies, A condition will cease to be a pre-existing condition, if for twenty-four consecutive calendar months:
a) your pet has shown no clinical signs or symptoms of the condition
b) you have not consulted a vet with respect to the condition
c) your pet has not received treatment for or in connection with the condition.

Vet fees for treatment recommended by your vet to prevent or treat an injury or illness directly or indirectly as a result of breeding, whelping and pregnancy are not covered under the Vetsmedicover policy.

Since leaving the European Union on the 1st January 2021, the rules on taking your pet abroad with you have changed.

Pet Passports are no longer valid, having been replaced with an Animal Health Certifcate. It is still possible to take your pet abroad, without the lengthy quarantine periods and Vetsmedicover will extend vet fees to cover your pet for up to 3 months each year.

However unlike some policies, they only cover the vet fees and not additional quarantine costs, emergency expenses abroad or the cost of replacing your animal health certificate.

There is no cover under the Vetsmedicover pet insurance policy for illnesses which occur during the first 14 days of any new policy and any Injuries which occur during the first 5 days of any new policy.

Veterinary fees, for each illness or injury treated in each period of insurance: an excess of £90.

Third party liability - The first £250 per incident.

Pets 4 years and over – a further 10% of the remaining cost of treatment – this is deducted after deduction of the excess.
Pets 6 years and over – a further 20% of the remaining cost of treatment – this is deducted after deduction of the excess.

The website is nicely laid out and provides plenty of information of the different types of policy they offer, which we always recommend you read. A nice breakdown and comparison of cover is available and although they do not offer live chat, there are plenty of frequently answered questions, to satisfy most customer queries. Failing that you can phone or email them for more information.

The quotation system is extremely quick and easy to use. Just a few questions and you are presented with a side by side comparison of all available policies, together with the premiums and access to policy documents.

Although the policy at 31 pages long doesn't contain a summary of cover, there is a useful index and page of contact numbers and we found it easy to navigate and use. Surprisingly in readability tests the policy wording only scored 45.2 out of 100 classed as difficult to read and a college level reading age required to understand it.

Vetsmedicover can be found on Moneysupermarket and Confused.com comparison websites. However in tests, we found that some of the premiums were more expensive than those being offered by Vetsmedicover direct on their website.

There is no specific vet health helpline offered.

The only customer reviews we could find were on Feefo with 47 reviews, scoring 4.3/5.

The majority of customers were happy with the service and there were no specific problem areas to point out.

There are no administration charges.

Vetsmedicover offer a 25% introductory discount for new policyholders.

Vetsmedicover provide a good level of cover for the policies offered. During tests they appear to be a bit more expensive than other policies, and remember that your premium will be 25% more expensive after you lose the introductory discount at renewal.

However from reading customer reviews, the claims service seems very good and although you are required to submit claims within 3 months, you are able to track the progress via texts to your mobile.

If your pet suffered from a medical condition that is now more than 24 months old and has not re-occurred within that period, Vetsmedicover will cover this under their Gold, Platinum and Diamond policies.

You are unable to insure certain breeds of dog if they are aged 5 years and older. We were unable to find a list of the specific breeds. When your pet becomes 4 years old, you will be required to pay an additional 10% of any claim over and above any fixed excess.