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
Would not pay claim .. said it was pre existing condition , my vet even rang them to challenge them .. They ignored him .. Took my money for 8 yrs with no other claims the number refused this one . Rude and condescending.. AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL .. Stay well clear
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Posted 3 years ago
Animal friends is a shocking business , they use anything they can to wiggle out of a claim , even when advice from your vet obliterates their argument, leaving you no option but to pay the bill or take them to court. Their staff don’t really care , in fact they were clearly planning to reject the claim before I’d even submitted it ! My advice is to swipe right on this company, find a proper insurer that can give the security that you and your pet need because animal friends can’t Please note I gave it a 1 star because that’s the lowest score I can give them on this site but If there was a zero star option that’s what I’d score it
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Posted 3 years ago
This company is an absolute disgrace This company is an absolute disgrace. Refusing to pay out even when my vets have contacted them to confirm the reason for my animals claim - they still deny claims when animals are sick and poorly. DO NOT USE ANIMAL FRIENDS - they are cheap for a reason - because they do not care about animals or you! They are only interested in getting your money. An absolute joke! I have several policies with this company (superior cover, lifetime cover etc) and they still refuse your claims. It's cost me £thousands because of them. Shame on you Animal Friends you are not Friends of Animals or your customers!
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Posted 3 years ago
Frankly Im surprised at them scoring this highly, its a shame I cant give 0 stars. Due to CoVid-19 our vets refused the groom our long-haired cats coat, advising I would have to do it. It got so bad the cat was in distress, so I tried to remove one large matted clump of fur which was hard to see & puss was struggling. I unfortunately caused an accidental wound requiring stitches from an emergency vets. Four nights later he had projectile vomiting and was dehydrafted so had to go back for more treatment. Believe it or not Animal friends refused both claims, saying they were linked, and that they don't cover 'grooming'. I've asked for a review saying it wasn't grooming, and the vets wrote 2 letters to them saying it was accidental injury in understandable but very unusual circumstances and emergency surgery was required, imploring them to cover the claim, but they won't change their opinion. I have now taken the time to read through all the policy paperwork and the policy with Animal friends does have some very unhelpful clauses. These include that under vets fees it states that if out of hours charges for vets fees are being contemplated, not only must a pre-authorisation be obtained but also that they will not cover out of hours charges unless the animal is in a life threatening condition. If one would assume that might not for instance include a broken leg or similar injury, I find it quite shocking that there terms could result in an animal suffering over a weekend needlessly. After this experience we will be looking elsewhere for insurance for our cat and I would advise anyone to read terms VERY carefully before selecting ‘Animal Friends’ who I do not believe are as friendly as they claim!
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Posted 3 years ago
Do not use this company , make a claim after 8 years with them for just a few hundred pounds and they decided to link the condition to an entirely unrelated condition so that the policy terms allowed them to wiggle out of the claim , thank god I found out what kind of company they are before a significant bill came in. The staff are abrasive and unhelpful. I only wish I’d known sooner ***STEER CLEAR OF ANIMAL FRIENDS*** , if you are with them now beware making a claim
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Posted 3 years ago
Looks like I'm joining the unhappy Animal Friends club I got a stray off the streets, dog warden took him to the vets and said he had digestive problems I then got him insured, he has not had any problems until now, the vets wants to do stays and some internal investigations as it's his bowel AF have sent me an email questioning what the dog warden said. I never even knew he had said that! I'm waiting now to see if they will pay the vet before doing the investigation on Monday. I paid the insurance for a reason If they leave me skint from a vet bill I will be cancelling my policy and going elsewhere
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Posted 3 years ago
It would be 0 stars if we could. STAY AWAY FROM THIS FIRM. THEY ARE LIARS AND DO NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS. we have been mistreated for the last 4 months and will never reccomend them ever again. And we were with them. For years. 0 service. We phoned up last August (recorded call) and discussed our ongoing claim regarding our two pets. The women cleared stated over the phone we could allow the vets receipts to accumulate prior to sending them in, thus ensuring we wouldn't lose out too much for every £99. This is said clearly in the recorded call. But hey ho 4 months later, they are avoiding our calls, emails, letters, etc. Over £1000 in a claim being ignored and they have now done the same, to our other animal. What a joke. Using covid 19 as an excuse to process the queries and listen back to calls made. Disgusting attitudes received from two of the women we spoke too. My daughter had to step in and deal them as it proved too stressful for myself and my husband. We are disabled and currently isolated. This has been beyond stressful. I would advice anyone wanting to ensure their beloved pets are cared for, LOOK ELSEWHERE. Your loved pet is just a number to them. Avoid the liars. If anyone would like further information about their deceit, please get in touch. I will happily post the recorded call for everyone to listen too, the emails fobbing us off, etc. Disgusting behaviour by Animal Friends.
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Posted 3 years ago
I wish I had read the reviews before taking out insurance with this company. My old dog had a benign mass on his chest and due to the location he cut it, cut became infected and the infection went into the mass which needed to be removed. Put in a claim but declined as although I had premium cover to cover for pre-existing they dug up some fine print exclusion to avoid paying and declined the claim. Avoid
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Posted 3 years ago
We've held insurance with Animal Friends for 2 years. Our French Bulldog had no pre-existing health concerns or issues and has been a very healthy dog up until this year. This year our 3 year old dog has been really unlucky his health this year which as meant we've had to make a £6000 claim for neck surgery. Animal Friends paid out with no quibble for this and we were really impressed. Two months later and we've just received our renewal quote and our premium has increased by 400% to £283 a month! We hold a lifetime policy (and pay a premium for this) so I'm extremely upset that we now be forced out of this lifetime policy and will lose all of the benefits of a lifetime policy through extortion. We now are left without an option for adequate insurance for our 3 year old dog for the rest of his life because of this disgusting treatment. The law states that insurance companies cannot increase the premium to a point where they are trying to force non-renewal but that is exactly what Animal Friends have done to us. At best they are using people's love for their animals against them to extort money from them at worst they are punishing people for claiming and ensuring their quotes are unaffordable so that they can get out of 'Lifetime' policies, screwing people over in the long term. We are now left with only two options for insurance: Go to another insurer and not have any pre-existing conditions covered, which makes taking out 'lifetime' cover in the first place completely pointless and a waste of money or 2) Submit to extortion from Animal Friends and pay them £283 a month! Avoid Animal Friends at all costs unless you want to be left without insurance options for life.
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Posted 4 years ago
Offer by far the most competitive price with a very extensive level of cover. Over the 6 years we were with them we made a number of claims, relatively small (skin rashes, allergies, upset digestive system etc), nothing major but each year on renewal the price would sky rocket. In the the end what started off as a reasonable policy started to get ridiculous. £250 a month is not to be sniffed at. It got to such a level that we started to avoid claiming for anything that was relatively minor in fear of renewal time. Needless to say, we left as soon as we got the opportunity. This was when our dog had a fit bill of health for 2 years (yes 2 years claim free and premiums would still increase 20-40% per year). We switched to Bought By Many and the only regret was they weren't around when we got our pet nor could we have switched earlier. We managed to more than halve our premium with more cover. Their claims process is uber efficient, online with tracking and their staff show a level of care, attention and empathy that we were never afforded at animal friends. I just hope people do not make the same mistake and get tied in to Animal Friends with their 'welcome' offer just to be trapped later on when you need them most. Once you start a policy and claim, when you switch 'pre-existing' conditions are largely not covered hence being tied in. I could not recommend Animal Friends any less but also could not recommend Bought By Many more.
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Posted 4 years ago
We have paid insurance for our four dogs for many years, without a claim. In the past year we have had to make three claims. The first was for an operation to remove a mammary mass. We received about half of the cost, but were told that any further recurrence of the condition would not be covered. The tumour was found to be benign so this was totally ridiculous. More recently, one of our older terriers has had a crisis with a heart condition but Animal Friends had refused to pay anything towards her care. They are probably the worst insurance company we have ever dealt with. No more money from us and I would strongly advise to look elsewhere.
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Posted 4 years ago
Recently I had to have my dog put to sleep due to kidney failure. My vet submitted the claim form to Animal Friends and then it was up to me to provide the whole of my pets medical history all 12 and a half years!! That meant contacting 3 vets for the history. Seems that Animal Friends are looking after share holders and not our pets. They were not so picky about the medical history when i signed up!. I paid a loaded premium due to the age of my pets only for on pay out to find that Animal Friends took another 20% excess off the claim due to the age of my pets. Totally unsatisfactory if I ever get another pet I will avoid using these badly worded Animal Friends.
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Posted 4 years ago
Don't waste your time with this people and get a insurance with a decent company.
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Posted 4 years ago
An absolute sham. Our poor old dog developed a chest infection, he coughed up blood and we thought we would lose him and these cowboys...Animal Friends refused to payout. An absolute shower of S**t STEER CLEAR
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Posted 4 years ago
Awful, awful, awful, I have an ongoing claim with them because my vet went to the vets back in November for an ear infection - They sent me an e-mail to say it was being processed - good - I am a very busy working mum of 3 children with horses etc and last month I realised I hadn't heard back from them. I called and a adviser said that my claim had been 'forgotten' was still pending and couldn't explain why! I asked her to look into it and process - I am now on my third email from them - they keep asking me the stupidest of questions and I swear it is to avoid paying up - I had a big claim from them last time and they bearly refunded for all sorts of stupid reasons. Also some of their staff are cocky and you can tell they enjoy telling you you will not get a refund - disgraceful company - I am waiting for my claim to be sorted (just in case they were to refund me but doubt that will happen ) and then I cancel my policy with them. Thieves!
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Posted 4 years ago
My beautiful Labrador had ruptured his cruciate ligament approx 2 years ago and they paid the £4K bill! Our vet stressed it might happen to his other back leg, I checked with AF and they said it was covered, in the meantime I am paying nearly £40 per month for him as my premium went up! I also have 2 other dogs so pay just under £100 per month! He recently ruptured his other leg, they’re not paying as its time limited to 365 days! What the hell! So now have to take out a loan to pay this ridiculous amount of money! All I want is my labbie to be ok! What a rip off! I have cancelled all of my insurance and set up a savings account to put the money into! Please beware!
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Posted 4 years ago
Thanks Animal friends, We had no problems with our recent claim and the dog is recovering nicely thanks after the op. Yes we paid an excess and yes you took a percentage away because of my dogs age but hey any one reading this wouldn't expect not to pay excess on car insurance and even car break down cover has age related restriction and enhanced premium so give them a break, that's how insurance works if you want to complain about your excess charge may I suggest that you read your policy first. we have no problems with your cover Thanks Again. By the way if you are going to complain at least show your colours and tell us who you are.
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Posted 4 years ago
I knew that I had to pay an excess and 20% of the treatment, but the remainder of the vets bill is on the way to my bank, so 5 stars are deserved....
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Posted 4 years ago
Awful and totally unhelpful. Our Vet advised us in 2017 that the Lipoma lump on our dogs leg was harmless and no need to get it removed. Took him twice & got same advice. Finally took him to another vet as he was uncomfortable, & they removed lump the next week. We were advised by AF that as he is over 8yrs we would also be deduced a further 20% from any claims on top of the £100 excess. We have now been advised that our claim of over £900 has been declined as initial diagnosis was in 2017 - although we had simply followed vets advice. In addition we have were advised that as he has put on weight the premium goes up from £17.46 to just under £24. Followed by another email advising new premium will be £27.00. So even though we have not been paid for our claim the premiums have gone up by £10 pcm. In addition they have now told us that Lipoma is now excluded on our policy! What?? He is 12yrs old and is bound to get more lumps! Have now cancelled policy and would rather put money to one side for any future eventualities. Sad that they are quick to take money, increase premiums but reluctant to pay out claims.. Steer clear !!
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Posted 4 years ago
Worst insurer, whilst I appreciate insurance has exclusions, I’ve never know so many and at these high prices for older dogs, stay away from this insurer on reviewing I’d like to see how many claims they actually pay, will be looking around for a different insurer now..... stay away from Animal Friends they should be closed down by the regulator and not allowed to sell insurance .
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Posted 4 years ago
Animal Friends is rated 1.7 based on 532 reviews