Animal Friends Reviews

1.7 Rating 528 Reviews
16 %
of reviewers recommend Animal Friends
1.7
Based on 528 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
DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY TO INSURE YOUR PET - I am disgusted with this company. Our dog could not walk and had pooring diarrhea so we took him to the emergency vet. They x-rayed him to check for obstructions in his stomach. We sent the claim in and Animal Friends retrospectively added this clause to our 'Lifetime-Super' cover: "Diarrhoea - Excludes cover on all claims with respect to the Digestive System with effect from 23 May 2019." We are furious. How can a company retrospectively add an exclusion to avoid paying a claim!! Utterly disgusted with them.
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Posted 2 years ago
Animal Friends? I don't think so! All I can say is...with 'friends' like these, who needs enemies!
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Posted 2 years ago
I have made two claims with this company but unfortunately due their small print, lack of knowledge and empathy I have found them to be a complete rip off. If you have a pet please could you ask them to time their illnesses (or in our case, death) to be more in line with the policy timings. Only had two claims in two years - first was an ear infection. We went to the vets on day 18 of first taking out the policy to be told by Animal Friends "well the infection must have started within the 14 day initial period" - must get the dog more educated on when she can time this better in future. Second claim - leg lame in last month of policy (April) and Xrays followed by euthanasia in first month of the new policy (May). All one event but - two excesses and 2 x 20% of costs to ourselves. Animal Friends paid less than we did and minus a much loved dog! Okay so we are one week into paying you for a full month of insurance - you said you have automatically cancelled further payments from us so do I get a refund for the three weeks of insurance I don't need as this works both ways? No that that either...... I was made to feel like a hinderance when I queried it. Appalling service and feedback will be left to other sites and animal services so others don't fall foul.
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Posted 2 years ago
Do not use this company. If you have a policy, cancel it immediately. Dishonest company that try to avoid paying all claims. Go somewhere else.
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Posted 2 years ago
We have been paying for pet insurance SUPERIOR COVER for our Dog Ruby for 4 years. In March this year she was diagnosed with Damage to her Cruciate Ligament to her right rear Knee. I phoned Animal friends to inform them of this, I was disturbed to be told that " Looking at the policy, she SHOULD be covered for this". I said to the woman on the phone that my dog is covered for £2000, what do you mean SHOULD? The woman couldn't answer me and said I need to ask the Vet to request Pre-approval because the cost would be over £1000. The Vet sent the request on 26th March, we have heard nothing since and Animal friends won't answer the phone, (Probably blame covid) like every other chancer in the UK. It's now Thursday 22nd April and my dog's operation was due tomorrow, Friday 23rd April. We are absolutely disgusted with this, and our dog has to go without her operation that she badly needs, we can't afford £2000, that's why we took out the insurance for problems like this. I should have took more notice of the reviews for Animal friends as a lot of them have had bad times with them not paying out. I have cancelled the direct debit now as it seems the policy is not even worth the paper it's written on. THE GOOD REVIEWS ARE MOST LIKELY ADDED BY THEMSELVES. IF YOU LOVE YOUR PET, AVOID THESE RIP OFF MERCHANTS, THEY WILL DO ALL THEY CAN TO GET OUT OF PAYING FOR YOUR PETS CARE. Animal friends, Don't insult my intelligence by replying with a generic answer to this review. I DON'T WANT AN ANSWER, WE ARE FINISHED WITH YOU. Man up and do what people are paying in for years for. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED
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Posted 2 years ago
Like the previous reviewer I had superior cover for my cat which I never claimed on. My cat had dental treatment under anaesthesia which I know they don’t cover but during the operation they discovered she had oral cancer which was in operable and terminal. I was very reasonable with my claim and knew non of the dental work was covered and I only asked for a contribution towards medication for her palliative care already subject to £99 excess and 20percent co payment but they wiggle and squirm there way out of any payment.
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Posted 2 years ago
I have ‘superior’ policies for each of my 4 cats. I have never submitted a claim until recently when my cat had to have emergency surgery for an abscess. Animal friends have refused my claim as they have regarded it as dental treatment. Looking at reviews, it seems they always find find a way to get out of paying out for claims. They refer to their terms & conditions, however this information isn’t in your policy. Us pet owners take out insurance to cover the costs of unexpected accidents or illness, however you will not get this reassurance with Animal Friends. I’d advise you to look elsewhere or save the monthly premiums instead. I will be cancelling my policies & will be writing to this ombudsman. Very disappointed.
Animal Friends 1 star review on 6th April 2021
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Posted 2 years ago
Corrupt insurance company, they try everything to get out of paying a vet bill, yet they take thousands off individual pet owners, it’s unbelievable the excuses they come up with. Please please stay clear of this so called insurance company
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Posted 2 years ago
What a con, had to put dog down for medical reasons costing me £100, excess = £99 with %20 co-payment charge on the £1 remainder which means only 80p is returned. What a absolute joke of a company, spoke to advisors who were useless and gave the wrong information\missed out the info I needed twice. Will never use them again. Be warned. Seems when others have put in a claim, that they will find the slightest thing in a pets medical history to try to link to the existing condition and call it a pre-existing condition so they don't have to pay. Typical insurance company just with a pretty website. No doubt will be given the standard response from them. Find a decent pet insurance company, avoid these clowns.
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Posted 2 years ago
If I could give 0 stars I would. This company are the lowest of the low. Premium policy an yet they will not pay the £2114 for diagnosed IBD in my dog due to her vomiting a year earlier due to eating cat faeces. DISGUSTING COMPANY!! AVOID AT ALL COST!!
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Posted 3 years ago
Like the other readers dont bother with these cowboys. On the surface nicey, nice but underneath ruthless money grabbers. I wont say why but do not bother with these. They like to threaten, change wording and rob people. seriously stay away and pay a bit more with a reputable company.
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Posted 3 years ago
They are the pits......as with all pet insurers, they refuse to let you know whether or not they will pay on a claim BEFORE taking on a procedure/ treatment. No other insurance operates this way....but this lot are the worst. They actually changed the wording of my vets report in order to reduce cover. Anothr time, my dog had to have a grass seed removed from her paw.....then this lot said she would no longer be covered for that again.....HELLO.....this is not a ‘condition’ to be regarded as pre-existing.....it’s an ACCIDENT. They will use any tactic to reduce/deny cover...it’s all about the money, not the animals. The entire way these pet insurers operate needs to be investigated and changed. They are the reason dogs are left in shelters because of the highly inflated expenses with vets and insurers. Surely, if a ‘condition’ is later regarded as pre existing and no longer covered, the premiums should be reduced since the over is reduced.
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Posted 3 years ago
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
Avoid this company. They took ages to reply or to request information from the vet. Then they tried everything to get out of paying the claim, and in the end they found a way. Very frustrating, and left me to pay nearly £500 in vets fees.
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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
I had insurance with so called Animal friends till November 2018. My two dogs were rough housing as they were still getting used to sharing. They liked to mouth each other and sometimes their teeth clashed together. Well the youngest broke the older ones front tooth, only one tho. We noticed it was bothering him so took him to the vets. The vet had to take it out so he had to go into surgery. The vet said as it was an accidental break they will claim direct from the insurance. Well, Animal Friends came back saying as it was a routine tooth extraction they wouldn’t pay out. This lead to emails and phone calls from myself and my vets to them informing that it was not routine and was caused by another dog rough playing. How can that treatment be classed as routine? Understand perfectly if his teeth were in bad shape because of poor care but this is a healthy dog with no underlying issues. Animal Friends stood their ground and refused to pay. Left them not long after that and went elsewhere. I’m sure I’m owed some money as I had recently paid for the month when I left. They didn’t even fight to keep my custom, more of ‘whatever, bye’. Avoid this so called insurance company. My vets won’t recommend them anyway as they had issues in the past with them.
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Posted 3 years ago
My rating would be no stars however the lowest this allows is 1. This company are your typical insurance con outfit. My dog was very ill with several issues having to be dealt with at same time....final bill over 5k....my 'Prime' policy had maximum allowable payout of 2k....however these con artists dug thru yearly vet check ups etc and cited an instance several years ago where as a responsible pet owner....when vet asked if i had any thing i wanted to check i mentioned my dog had vomited....i was told just to monitor but like babies these things happen likely passing bug and nothing to worry about. As a result these thieves have refused the claim stating my dog had a stomach issue from several years ago.....they wrote the full claim off even though there were other issues which included Pneumonia and a spinal deformity. Please beware of these people....they care not about your pets welfare or providing the assistance that you would expect. They will find any excuse to refuse a claim. There are far better providers out there who really do want to provide cover that you pay for and woulc expect. Dont say you havnt been warned.....these are insurance scammers.
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Posted 3 years ago
AWFUL... they don't care about your pet, they don't care about you, they 100% DO care about taking your money for many years! Pay extra and get an insurer who isn't a con artist. I hope none of these people have pets, I feel for them if they do! Should be ashamed.
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Posted 3 years ago
I have been using this company for many years ( 5 cats) and on the surface they appear very good, that is until you have to make a claim and then their true colours come out. I had to put one of my cats down on the 16/11 and I am still trying to get this claim sorted, the vets were at fault sending through an invoice incorrectly however I have phoned Animal friends nearly every week for the last month to go through with them the rational of the invoice, I have chased the vets to also email them with an explanation and still today I am told that it is not sorted, I was told last week that someone would chase it and come back to me but no call back. The lack of communication from them is shocking and during one conversation I was even told that it was not their job to chase vets ! That may be the case but surely it is there job to let their customers know ( I can't even see the claim on my account so have no idea what was happening) Needless to say I have now cancelled the remaining policies and gone to another company. I would not recommend this company at all .
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Posted 3 years ago
Animal Friends is rated 1.7 based on 528 reviews