Animal Friends Reviews

1.7 Rating 532 Reviews
15 %
of reviewers recommend Animal Friends
1.7
Based on 532 reviews
Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods
Courier
Customer Service
Communication Channels
Telephone, Live Chat, Email
Queries Resolved In
Over A Week
Customer Service
1.2 out of 5

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Animal Friends 1 star review on 30th November 2021
Roger Rothery
Animal Friends 1 star review on 6th April 2021
Angela
Animal Friends 1 star review on 23rd February 2021
J Sewell
Animal Friends 5 star review on 15th October 2020
Paula Mccur
Animal Friends 1 star review on 25th September 2020
Paige
Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
If I could leave NO STARS I would! DONT INSURE YOUR PET WITH THIS COMPANY UNLESS YOU ARE AN EXPERT AT READING SMALL PRINT - THEY WILL DO EVERYTHING IN THEIR POWER NOT TO PAY OUT! I have paid them hundreds over the last 3 years and when I need to claim they wriggle out! ANIMAL FRIENDS...THEY ARE NOT!!
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Posted 3 years ago
Before you consider taking out insurance with these thieves....stop....put your debit card down. Don't believe their "animal friends" nicey nicey name/image...these guys will whatever they can to not pay you the money you're owed. My dog has been left lame and in pain for nearly 2 months while I've had two different claims denied. I've now just had to bite the bullet and pay for it myself. I've had insurance with them for 4 years and never claimed a penny. Then when I need them... guess what, they try to wriggle out of paying and couldn't care less about your pet. Best advice I can give you is to direct debit the money you would pay to them monthly into a savings account and further down the line if/when you need it you will have a pot of money to at least lessen the burden
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Posted 3 years ago
2 years ago I decided to look around for cheaper pet insurance for my dog who was 13 years old at the time. I chose Animal Friends as the price was much lower and policy cover seemed to match my previous insurer. Sadly around 18 months after I took out my policy with Animal Friends, my dog became ill, and despite both the emergency out of hours vet, and my regular local vet both confirming he had no previous medical issues, even providing copies of his health record, Animal Friends somehow put this down to a "preexisting condition" and therefore not covered by the policy, therefore refusing to pay out on the claim. Am devestated as had to have my pet put down 2 weeks ago, I'm not saying the outcome would have been different if Animal Friends had payed out on the claim, maybe I could have had further tests done, but it is more the fact they showed no compassion or support and just refused to deal with myself, or my veteniary practice in trying to resolve the dispute, adding more stress at an already difficult time. Lesson learned not to go with cheap insurers but stick to someone you can trust. Only posting review as seems so many have had similar experiences and hope that either Animal Friends will review their method of dealing with claims, or people will go elsewhere for insurance.
Animal Friends 1 star review on 23rd February 2021
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Posted 3 years ago
Firstly I am surprised that they score so high on Trust Pilot and so low here. Makes me question how they did this??? So the only thing I can say is AVOID AT ALL COSTS. They cause dog owners so much additional stress at a time when you are worried sick already about your fur baby. Pet Owners BEWARE If I could give this company a zero rating I would. Do not be fooled by the friendly, we care for your pet, marketing. They really do not! When you have a pet that is never or rarely ill they are could be fine as per my Border Terrier BUT BE WARNED if you have a pet with a lot of issues they try everything they can NOT to PAY. I have a Parson Russell, that is a longer legged Jack Russel breed. Sadly he has serious issues with his spine and now pancreatitis and along with that, his friendly and energetic lifestyle pre the spinal injury has led to a lot of claims. As a result of his bad experiences he is not best pleased at the vets but a super happy, friendly gorgeous boy who loves everyone and all dogs equally and just wants a good play session. Here is the RUB with Animals Friends. Every time we have a claim, they try to pull the dangerous dog card. They literally go back years on the vets records and say 'he had to be muzzled' 'is he dangerous' 'have you ever had an incident' 'your claim is on pause' any excuse not to pay. Three times I have had to justify his friendly character despite the fact that his illnesses have absolutely nothing to do with the conditions being claimed for. I have even invited them to visit us to see for themselves but of course they do no such thing and would rather prefer to stress pet owners out and try and avoid their obligations. WORST decision I ever made by moving to them and now I am stuck with them ! I am serious people, trust me, AVOID! I have had dogs all my life and claimed for all over the years with companies and have never experienced anyone as bad at this company. I have spoken to professionals in the animal sector and they are also all shocked.
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Posted 3 years ago
My policy started with Animal "friends" in October 2020. My cat had treatment and medication after a diagnosis of Glaucoma in December 2020, they really clawed for reasons to refuse the claim. They never maintain communication, I had to phone them 6 times over the space of 2 weeks to get any kind of update and the answer you get is "it's on our missed claims spreadsheet that we keep of things that are urgent and haven't been dealt with by the team". That really says it all. DO NOT INSURE YOUR PET WITH THESE PEOPLE!!!! If you care about your fur baby at all, pay the little extra and find an insurer that cares about animals and the wellbeing of their customers. They should not be in business!
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Posted 3 years ago
Everybody please be aware!!!!! Everybody please be aware!!!!!! we have insured our dog for over five years with animal friends we wanted to upgrad our policy through the go compare site because our renewal quote for almost the same policy was a lot more, unfortunately we had to claim for Coco who is now seriously ill We have been told us we can’t claim on the old or new insurance due to the new policy has to be wait 14 days before it can be activated ...... we even overlapped the date so there would never be a gap in our insurance for our little princess ... But the sad sad news is it’s costing us over £7,000 and we may still lose our little princess xx All this is over a large company trying to charge more people money for being loyal customers....... the exact same policy every year for five years this year we are going through a pandemic and people are losing their jobs livelihoods, Loyal customers find themselves in this position Being charge almost 20% more for the same cover FOR BEING LOYAL!,,,,
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Posted 3 years ago
If i could face given zero stars i would have I changed to them in autumn 2020 when my insurer almost doubled my premiums and got what I thought was a good quote from animal friends Put a claim in end of January 2021 for a serious eye complaint and was refused saying it was a pre existing condition he had before the start of the policy August 2019 I explained ( my vet agreed ) that was mild conjunctivitis or allergy reaction with no follow up and nothing like the serious glaucoma he was suffering with for the claim I was told it was his eyes that were not insured for anything and would not change the decision so I will be taking it to the ombudsman and let as many people ( Facebook ect ) not to deal with these crooks take your money but do not pay out when you need them too Disgusted
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Posted 3 years ago
My experience of this company is that they will do anything they can to get out of paying by using previous illnesses and injuries to say they are pre-existing when they are not. Bacterial infections are not pre-existing, they occur and they are cured! They have not paid out on any of my claims this last year. I have just been advised of my renewal and they are asking if I have taken my pet to the vets for anything other than vaccinations and if so these things will be excluded. I will not be renewing. I have looked at other pet insurances and have found one that offers reasonable cover and will include any current or recent illnesses. My advice is look elsewhere.
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Posted 3 years ago
We have been with Animal Friends Insurance for 5 years, have never made a claim and our elderly cat has been very healthy. However, this year they increased the premium by 35% (stating it was due to him being over 10 years old - he is now 12 ½ so why didn't they increase the insurance 2 years ago? - and they added that they would not cover 'any illness or condition linked to the Pyrexia'. Our cat had a raised temperature in 2012 (9 years ago) which the reason was never discovered - he could have been bitten by another cat / rat etc. or maybe had an illness of unknown origin. No further episodes and the vets said it had been a mystery as to why he got ill all those years ago, but not to worry as it was obviously a 'one off'. But their new exclusion meant that, if our cat got ill, they could simply point to the fact that he had a temperature (which tends to happen with illness / infections etc!) and refuse to pay. Our vets wrote to them and said this was ludicrous, Pyrexia is a symptom and not a condition, but they refused to remove this. So we cancelled and went to a new insurer, slightly more expensive but I just had the feeling that this company were looking for excuses NEVER to pay out if we ever made a claim. Reading some of these reviews, it is a well founded concern.
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Posted 3 years ago
I have been with Animal Friends for many years who provided cover for my two German Shepherds. Recently one of my dogs had to undergo an exploratory procedure which cost £1,000. The vet submitted the claim on my behalf. After a couple of weeks I sent an email to Animal Friends enquiring as to what progress had been made. Eight days later I received a response which was asking me to provide security details to reassure them that they were corresponding to a genuine customer. I provided the necessary information. Two days later they informed me that they were still awaiting a breakdown of costs from my vet. I contacted the vet who assured me that they would take immediate follow-up action. The following week I contacted Animal Friends yet again. The following day they replied stating that my vet had still not responded! On speaking to the vets for the second time they assured me that the initial claim included a full breakdown of costs. They then took up the case on my behalf and gave the Insurance Company both barrels. The following day, Animal Friends contacted me stating everything was now in order (which was the case from the outset) and payment would be paid shortly. I was horrified to learn that their total payment was only £320. They explained that under their Ts & Cs, (dogs being over 8 years of age, together with maximum payments permitted) I wasn’t entitled to anything further. Like other customers on this forum, they had me over a barrel. I cancelled policies for both dogs. The following month they had the audacity to send me letters informing me that I had failed to meet the premium payment. Devious practices, exacerbated by complete and utter incompetence has made me bitterly regret doing business with these sharks.
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Posted 3 years ago
Raised my premium by 40% this week. I am leaving. Read the reviews!
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Posted 3 years ago
Will be changing Lots of loopholes to avoid paying out
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Posted 3 years ago
As with most of the reviews posted, I have found Animal Friends to be an extremely poor provider of pet insurance. I strongly recommend pet owners to seek insurance elsewhere as you would not find a worse service than the one they provide. They will do everything in their power to find any loophole to avoid making payments. The complaints department is useless, arrogant and rude. Hopefully all these bad reviews will eventually lead to this disreputable company going out of business.
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Posted 3 years ago
Terrible service does not pay out for anything misleads you with their policies have not paid out like they should stay away from them not worth one star
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Posted 3 years ago
I tried to claim last year for gastroenteritis and was told it was pre existing and refused to pay anything. After reading these reviews, I'm thinking of cancelling.
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Posted 3 years ago
Yes, if your pet does more than breathe before you took out your policy it will be “a pre existing condition or clinical sign” don’t be fooled.... I only gave 1 star so I could leave a review, a minor cough, some minor diarrhoea, minor ear infection, common urinary infection, bout of sickness, a limp....they will literally find any excuse to not pay out... apparently they’ve advised me you have to tell them every time you have been to the vets which isn’t part of their annual vaccination? They will then add a clause to your policy that anything! And I mean anything linked to that vet visit isn’t covered.... so a cough, diarrhoea, sickness...you name it, they won’t for example cover ‘digestive’ related problems in the future. Now I’m a reasonable person, I have 4 dogs and have only ever made a claim on pet insurance twice in ten years (obviously NOT with this ridiculous company) my dog who’s nearly ten had a common UTI over 6 months ago which cleared up after 3 days with antibiotics, no issues since, she was rushed in as an emergency 6 months later as she couldn’t urinate, she had surgery which removed 50 tiny stones from her bladder, an overnight stay and a bill of £2500.... very relieved to say she’s doing great! However they are trying to link a common UTI which occurs commonly in older female dogs and is stated in veterinary research that a uti can be a sign but cannot be solely relied upon to diagnose bladder stones... I have undertaken much research and sought advice from numerous vets who confirm a common uti could not be linked to these bladder stones 6 months later without her suffering some sort of urinary issues during the past 6 months, it’s not possible.... my advice is, if you are considering changing your policy to this company do not expect them to pay out if your beloved pet unfortunately needs veterinary treatment because they scrutinise your pets medical history and find something to link it to. I can’t bare to think how many pets have suffered and been put down due to this unscrupulous companies decisions and heartbroken owners who can’t afford to pay because they won’t cover the cost... don’t do it! I have made a complaint to the financial ombudsman, which by the way costs you nothing and is easy to do, however due to the current climate this may take some time.... I have one of the more expensive lifetime policies which obviously means nothing, I’ve made my complaint to them and they have given their ‘final decision’ so the battle goes on..... Just don’t do it please!
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Posted 3 years ago
they dont deserve even one star, absolute rubbish, please dont buy insurance with them.
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Posted 3 years ago
I have 5 dogs insured with animal friends and recently one seemed to have a sore throat as it was coughing. At the vets it was found to be a heart problem. I had to answer lots if questions about the dogs history. They questioned the breed if dog, they say he is a jack russell, he is in fact a multi breed, all my dogs are, and most if them related in some way. Ages between 5 and 11, always with same vet, annual checkups, no other medical issues. Its now nearly 3months and still no decision on payout.
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Posted 3 years ago
Awful, deceitful company, who has no interest in your pet. Our beloved dog Max was diagnosed with Nasal cancer, and Animal Friends declined any costs towards Chemotherapy, and also wouldn't contribute to a Ct.scan prior to diagnosis. We paid for everything. Unfortunately our beautiful boy passed away, on 22nd September 2020, which was heartbreaking, they refused to pay for Euthanasia and also for the cremation, saying it wasn't covered..previously another instance, they deducted all their 20% and any excess, and sent 80pence..for a £300 bill. Find a good insurance company for your pets, your wasting your money on animal friends, they certainly are not your pets friend, they really dont care.
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Posted 3 years ago
Extremely disappointed with this company having paid for insurance for two dogs for nearly 12 years with no previous claims. They have refused to cover my dog's arthritis which was diagnosed in April this year because 4 years ago, when visiting the vet's for a routine appointment, I mentioned that she had a stiff leg. Animal Friends have decided that her arthritis is therefore a previous condition and will not pay for any treatment. My advice would be to avoid this company when choosing insurance for your pets.
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Posted 3 years ago
Animal Friends is rated 1.7 based on 532 reviews