“Buyers beware, beware, beware. Petplan adding exclusions to policy without informing the customer. Also don’t like insuring pets from rescue centres, putting exclusions on that cover nearly everything
Decided to continue the insurance that came with my young dog from a well known rescue centre. The dog had been vet checked 3 times before rehoming with nil to find on examination. Petplan put so many exclusions on the policy, that it was pointless having the insurance.
So Petplan receive a detailed vet report from previous vets, saying no health problems with a dog and then exclude every part of the dog practically, and want to charge £700 for that privilege. I don't think so. I have cancelled the policy as it's not worth the paper its written on.
It is very evident they do not want to insure animals that come from rescue centres even though they have been vet checked!!
Also what is more worrying is the deception l experienced. I was sent a policy by email which had no exclusions, was informed that the underwriter would email me if there were exclusions. I got no email from the underwriter. I went online to set up my Petplan login 6 days later only to find they had added about 8 exclusions which covered every system of the dog. How sneaky is that Petplan. You are misleading your customers, adding things to their policy without informing them.”
“I've been with Pet Plan for 2 years now and never made a single claim for my 1 greyhound. He's just about 3 and never had a single issue and is in perfect health. My premium has just gone up by yet another £162 this year.
£541 1st year
£622 2nd year
£784 3rd year
That's a 50% price hike over 2 years for absolutely nothing. At this rate of price hikes, it will be £1000 next year. That is utterly ridiculous. Everyone bangs on about how great petplan are but they are just another greedy cut-throat company bleeding you dry as they know once you are locked in you are stuck.”
“Don't buy insurance from Petplan. I pay out almost £80 per month for my cats and they have refused to pay anything towards the latest claim and tried to wheedle out paying for the last one. Fees go up every year, now they ask for 20% on top of the excess. If I had banked the money instead of giving it to them I would have enough to pay the £1600 dental bill I've just been given, as it is, I have nothing to pay towards it but they will still take their money every month. I honestly think people are better off creating a savings account and banking their own cash. Vets seem to recommend Petplan so the kick back must be handsome, because they won't help pets in distress or people in financial stress, so there's nothing in it for animals or their owners!”
“I recently started using Pets at Home and was recommended to use Petplan for my pet insurance. Surprisingly, it turned out to be more expensive than the competition, but I decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, when I attempted to make a claim for an unexpected vet bill in December, right around Christmas, it has been over a month, and there has been no progress on my claim.
Despite my efforts to get updates by calling them every day, they repeatedly assure me that someone is looking into the matter and it will be resolved within the week. However, several weeks have passed, and there has been no resolution. The customer service has been very poor, with no one reaching out to provide updates or fulfill their promises.
Frustrated with the lack of progress, I have decided to cancel my insurance with Petplan and am currently searching for a better alternative. If they cannot handle a small claim like mine promptly, it raises concerns about their ability to handle larger and more serious claims. I would not recommend this insurance to anyone who cares about their pet's well-being.”
“Useless company - they use any and all excuses not to pay. Look further back at the reviews on this site and notice that all the 5 star reviews are very short and anonymous - I wonder who has posted these wonderfull reviews ?”
“Like other pet plan customers I to have had my cats monthly plan amount go up by £6.47. Making the monthly payment £40.37 . This is double the amount last year. Given they dont pay the first £80 plus our vet charges £24 to fill out a form !!! This is no longer viable. I have cancelled the policy. Like another pet owner has said, I will also put the money into an account for when its needed.”
“This is a cynical business abusing customer loyalty and our love of pets: Shame on you Petplan!
Petplan have increased cost of cover by 400% over 9 years, relying on the customer to not requote each year, I have just had a quote from John Lewis on slightly MORE cover, with less excess and it is 1/3 of the price of Petplan....saving £1,000 per year!
I urge all Petplan policy holders to go out to requote today!”
“Signed up to Pet Plan as my last dog passed away in 2022 with a tumour in her foot, and after several thousands of pounds she passed away but I knew she was old so I was at peace with this.
After getting another dog shortly after I decided to take out pet insurance even though I hadn't before for the previous 15 years of owning a dog, due to hearing from several people that pet insurance companies fail to pay out.
I decided to take my own opinion this time and take out pet insurance with Pet Plan, after doing my research.
With Pet Plan a new injury you can claim immediately, and illness is after 14 days of taking out the policy.
Unfortunately the dog had a fall in the park a few days after taking out the policy and very badly injured his leg. He still limps today nearly 4 weeks after the injury.
We took him to the vets and paid the consultation fee and he was given tablets.
After 3 weeks we took him back as he still wasn't walking on it, and asked the vet for an xray.
After the vet contacted the insurance company for approval, they denied as it was too soon after taking out the policy, even though they advertise as injury claim is immediate.
Our dog is now still in pain and cannot walk on this foot.
I have to say it's an utter disgrace how we have been treated, and the lies of this company is unbelievable.
A typical insurance company that doesn't care about your animal and is only interested in taking money.
Myself and my wife are at an utter loss and lost confidence in this company.
Stay away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“The premium goes up year on year until you simply can’t afford it. My dog has just turned nine and is now £1014.86 a year up from £849.00 last year. I really wish I hadn’t bothered and saved my premiums in a bank account.”
“Pet Plan is an Absolute SCAM. You’re premium goes up every year excessively in jumps like £15 to £20. Started off at £35 and eight years later is £105 . They cover absolutely nothing . The £780 dental work was considered cosmetic and not covered . I have stopped the insurance now as the first time I make a claim because my dog got sick, nothing was covered because I had to pay 20% excess deductible which was the cost of the visit and so Pet Plan wiggled their way out of paying anything. I paid and they didn’t . I cannot for the life of me understand why I have been paying thousands of pounds over the years and nothing nothing nothing was ever covered under their terms . Pet Plan are a scum insurance . Put your money in a bank account for your pet and pay for things this way . Note I was paying £105 per month for a £4000 coverage Do you know that a simple scan and test was priced at £8000 so even if you have pet insurance your £4000 doesn’t even get you a test result let alone any treatment . And your excess on a £4000 claim will be £800 . So the actual coverage is only £3200. Meanwhile in four years you could have £5000 in your pets bank account and in 8 years over £10,000 saved for treatment . I massively regret paying into Pet Plan all these years . They only care about making money and not you pet.”
“They use any one of illness. Tell you that’s a pre-existing condition. (Really 2 or more yes. One NO!) and then add it to “get out clauses” onto your policy.”
“Petplan, yet again have gotten out of paying for one of my pet’s treatments!! Even worse was the way I was interrogated by a phone call they made to me!! All I can say is that they made me feel like a criminal leaving me so upset, it was truly awful!! Never ever have I been cross examined like that, it was an awful experience I truly hope I never have to go through ever gain!! And, let’s put this in perspective...it was for pet insurance...NOT any sort of sinister crime!!! Abhorrent behaviour and totally unacceptable!!!”
“Be very careful if you are sent a renewal. A sudden exclusion was applied to mine.
Myself and my vet could not understand it, other than PetPlan trying to save on costs of people making claims perhaps? My vet was so adamant that they submitted a full clinical history for my pet, as asked by Pet Plan. Pet Plan did not accept it or my vet's opinion. I didn't want to insure my pet with a company who makes up exclusions, tries to get them past the customer in very small print, and does not accept the professional advice and medical facts from a qualified vet.
I am very concerned that this company has had a sharp rise in complaints over the last 2 months and that they are not going to pay out for any genuine claims, so I have cancelled and renewed elsewhere. 2 of my colleagues have also done this, finding other issues with them recently. They also emailed me twice asking the same question, and just will not accept the facts. I see that they are emailing people who post a negative review on other sites too. I just would like my pet to be safe and not to be harassed by this company, and for my vet's opinion and medical fact to be accepted as such. Disgusting. The poor pets and customers.”
“If I could vote 0, I would. Petplan have provided by far the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I have been waiting for six months for them to deal with a claim I have made. They are utterly uncommunicative, negligent and disorganised. Every few weeks, I make yet another call to this company in the hopes that I can motivate them to, at the very least, contact me with a decision. But, despite repeated apologies and assurances from their reps that they will be in touch, they never are. Dealing with petplan is the customer service equivalent of being 'ghosted'. Do yourself a favour and insure with ANY other company, if you think you might ever want to actually make a claim.”
“I tried to claim for my kitty's dental operation - he needed a fang extraction, the dentist told me that he chipped it and he was probably in pain and hiding it.
I contacted Petplan, and they told me that "you must arrange and pay for your pet to have a yearly dental examination " and that I couldn't have cover because I didn't do that. That wasn't true, I took him to the vet every year.
Now what am I supposed to do? I can't afford to pay for the operation, but I feel guilty every time I look at him...
The irony is that if I hadn't been paying Petplan the quite expensive premiums, I'd have saved up enough by now to pay for the operation myself. Petplan was supposed to help me when things like this happen and they didn't.”
