Petplan: pet insurance for cats, dogs, rabbits and horses

Petplan is one of the UK's largest pet insurers, with more than 45 years' experience helping pets through illness and injury¹. It sells insurance for cats, dogs, rabbits and horses, and its policies are underwritten by Allianz¹. For dogs and cats it offers a selection of lifetime policies with annual limits for vet fees, as well as time-limited cover¹.

That choice of policy type is the single biggest decision a Petplan customer makes, because it decides whether a long-term condition such as diabetes or arthritis keeps being paid for year after year, or stops being covered after a set period. Petplan also differs from most of the market on one point: it says its policies can cover some pre-existing medical conditions, where there have been no recent symptoms, if they are agreed when the policy is taken out¹.

This page covers what Petplan insures, how its policy types differ, how premiums and vet fee limits work, how to claim, what its service record looks like, and how you are protected if something goes wrong.

What Petplan insures: cats, dogs, rabbits and horses

Petplan's small-animal business covers cats, dogs and rabbits, and it also writes equine cover under the Petplan Equine name¹. The cat and dog range is the core of the business, and it is where the choice of policy type matters most, because those are the policies that carry annual vet fee limits and lifetime or time-limited structures¹.

For anyone comparing Petplan with the rest of the market, it helps to know how large that market is. Which? rated 380 pet insurance policies and, where possible, insurer customer and claims service, analysing 38 elements of cat policies and 42 elements of dog policies, plus how much each costs¹. That is the scale of the choice a new owner faces, and it is why the policy type matters more than the brand on the letterhead.

Petplan is not the only insurer with a long history. Agria, which arranges and administers some rival policies, has been providing pet insurance since 1890 and describes itself as the world's first pet insurer³. Longevity is not a measure of value, but it does tell you the firm is established and unlikely to be a short-lived operation.

If you are starting from scratch, the insurance guide explains how general insurance works and where pet cover sits alongside home, travel and motor policies. If you want to see how Petplan sits against other insurers, the insurers directory lists the firms operating in the UK market.

Lifetime or time-limited: how Petplan's policy types differ

Pet insurance comes in three broad shapes, and Petplan sells two of them for dogs and cats: lifetime policies with annual limits for vet fees, and time-limited cover¹.

Lifetime policies pay out indefinitely for treatment over your pet's lifetime, subject to annual limits⁵. The limit is the most the insurer will pay in a policy year, and it refreshes each year. Limits vary widely between policies, and the figure that applies to your pet is set out in the policy schedule Petplan issues when you buy. Some lifetime policies do a bit of both, paying a limited annual amount, with a smaller annual benefit within that for any single condition⁵.

Time-limited cover pays for the treatment of a condition for a set period, which at Petplan runs up to 12 months¹. After that, the condition is no longer covered, even if your pet still needs treatment.

Per-condition or maximum benefit policies pay a limited amount for each condition, and once that limit has been reached the insurer stops covering it⁵. This is the structure that catches people out, because a chronic condition such as arthritis will eventually exhaust the pot.

The practical difference is stark. A lifetime policy keeps paying for a long-term condition as long as you renew; a time-limited or per-condition policy does not. Which? sets minimum criteria for the lifetime policies it rates most highly, requiring high policy scores, minimum amounts paid out in vet fees each year, and dental cover for both accidents and illnesses¹.

Pre-existing conditions: what Petplan may cover

Most providers exclude pre-existing conditions from any new cover, although in some cases these may be allowed if your pet's medical history supports it⁵. Which? research found that only a few policies, around 29% for dogs and 21% for cats, may cover pre-existing conditions⁶.

Petplan is one of the insurers that may. Its policies can provide cover for some pre-existing medical conditions, for example if there have been no recent symptoms, but this depends on the pet's medical history and must be agreed with Petplan when the insurance is taken out¹. If those conditions are declared when you buy the policy, Petplan may arrange to waive or limit the exclusion in some instances⁸.

By default, Petplan excludes covering pre-existing medical conditions, as does Direct Line⁸. The difference is the discretion: a declared condition can be assessed and, in some cases, written back into cover.

Other insurers take a firmer line. Post Office Pet Insurance says it is unable to cover pre-existing conditions that are known before you take out your policy⁹. Lloyds Pet Insurance excludes pre-existing conditions that started before the policy, along with illness occurring in the first 10 days of the policy, everyday care costs such as vaccinations and grooming, routine dental work, and preventative parasite control¹⁰.

How Petplan premiums and vet fee limits work

The vet fee limit is the maximum the insurer will pay, and it is the number that decides whether a serious illness is affordable or not.

How the limit is structured matters as much as its size:

• Annual limits reset each year on a lifetime policy, so a condition treated in one year does not eat into the next year's cover⁵.
• Per-condition limits apply to each condition separately, and once that limit is reached the insurer stops covering it⁵.
• Combined limits give a large annual pot with a smaller cap inside it for any single condition⁵.

Premiums are priced on the pet's age, breed, species and where you live, and they rise as the pet gets older and as vet costs rise. Petplan does not publish a single rate, and the figures change, so the current premium and the vet fee limit for your pet are only available from Petplan itself.

Two market comparisons show the scale of what a claim can cost. Tesco Bank claims data put the average claim for dogs at £822⁶. Which? has reported that heatstroke is a summer hazard behind costly dog insurance claims, and that most pet insurance covers emergencies and unexpected illnesses, so it should cover your pet for heatstroke¹¹.

How to make a claim with Petplan

Petplan accepts claims through its website, by post, or through your vet¹. Letting the vet submit the claim is often the quickest route, and it is the approach most insurers recommend.

The pattern across the market is consistent. Lloyds Bank tells customers to ask their vet to make the claim, describing it as the quickest and easiest way to get help, and says claims can be paid directly to the vet if the practice agrees¹². Agria says your vet can fill out the claims form on your behalf and that it can pay your vet directly¹³. Tesco Pet Insurance lets vets submit claims through Vet Pawtal, which it calls the quickest way to submit and process claims, with a Pet Portal online form as the alternative if the vet is not registered¹⁴. Post Office Pet Insurance says the easiest way to claim is through My Account Pet¹⁵.

A few practical points that apply to Petplan claims as much as to any other:

1. Tell your insurer as soon as your pet is treated, rather than waiting for treatment to finish. Tesco says claims can be made on an ongoing basis, whenever a vet bill is received¹⁴.
2. Keep the clinical history and the receipts. If you pay the vet yourself, you claim back with your pet's medical history and receipts for treatment paid for¹².
3. Expect updates by email, text or letter depending on how the claim was submitted¹⁴.
4. For a death benefit, insurers typically require confirmation from your vet of the pet's death along with the purchase receipt¹³.

Petplan's claims and service record

Petplan scores well for service and its cover is rated by Which?, according to Which?¹. That is an independent assessment based on policy scoring and, where possible, insurer customer and claims service¹.

The wider picture on complaints comes from the Financial Ombudsman Service, which publishes quarterly and annual data on the complaints it receives by product. In the first quarter of 2025/26, 509 pet insurance complaints were opened and 49% were upheld¹⁶. In the first quarter of 2026/27, 593 pet insurance complaints were opened¹⁸.

Those figures cover the whole pet insurance market, not Petplan alone, so they are a benchmark rather than a verdict on any one insurer. An uphold rate is the share of complaints the ombudsman decided in the customer's favour, and a rate near half suggests a meaningful number of disputes turn on how a policy was sold or how a claim was assessed.

If a complaint about a pet insurance claim is not resolved by the insurer, the Financial Ombudsman Service can look at it. The service is free to consumers.

Who is behind Petplan cover and how you are protected

Petplan policies are underwritten by Allianz, the insurer that carries the risk and pays claims¹. The brand has been active since 22 October 1976, and its registered trading names include Petplan, Petplan Equine, Scottish Equestrian Insurance Services, DBI and Allianz Cornhill, with its website at www.petplan.co.uk².

Pet insurance is a general insurance product, and the firms that arrange and underwrite UK policies are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK's financial services conduct regulator²⁰. You can check any firm's status and reference number on the FCA Register². Regulation matters to a consumer because it is what gives you access to the Financial Ombudsman Service when a complaint is not resolved, and it is the framework the insurer has to follow in how it sells and administers the policy.

Where a policy is arranged by one firm and underwritten by another, the underwriter is the one that ultimately pays valid claims. That is the case with several pet brands: Lloyds Pet Insurance is arranged and administered by Agria and underwritten by Agria Försäkring and Ecclesiastical³, and Tesco Pet Insurance is arranged, administered and underwritten by Pinnacle Insurance Ltd²¹. With Petplan, the cover sits with Allianz¹.

If you need free, impartial help understanding a policy or a complaint, MoneyHelper offers guidance on insurance and on how to complain. The consumer protection guide explains the ombudsman and what it can and cannot do for you.

How to contact Petplan and complain

Petplan's website is www.petplan.co.uk, and existing customers manage claims and policies through the online account area². Claims can be started online, by post, or through your vet¹.

If something goes wrong, the route is the same as for any financial firm:

1. Complain to Petplan first, using its published complaints process. Give it the policy number, the claim reference and the dates.
2. If you are not satisfied with the response, or eight weeks pass without a final answer, you can take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The service is free and its decisions are binding on the firm.
3. Keep copies of everything: the policy schedule, the claim correspondence and any vet records.

The Financial Ombudsman Service publishes complaint data by product, which is a useful way to see how often disputes about pet insurance end in the customer's favour¹⁶. For a broader look at how complaints and redress work across financial services, see the consumer protection guide.