Review: Post Office Pet Insurance
By
Ronny Lavie
Summary
The Post Office is one of the leading service providers in the country, but few people realise they also offer insurance, including pet, travel, car and home insurance. With a well-established and well-trusted brand, plus more than 10,000 branches around the UK, getting your insurance from the Post Office is definitely worth considering.
See if Post Office feature in our list of the best insurers for dogs or our list of the best insurers for cats.
Overview of insurance cover provided by Post Office Pet Insurance
The Post Office offers 4 types of policies:
Essential – this is a Time Limited policy, meaning the medical conditions your pet develops are only covered for 12 months, afterwards you have to pay for the treatment yourself. This policy includes: £1,500 cover for vet fees, cover for death from accident or illness (£500 for dogs, £250 for cats), advertising and reward (£500 for dogs, £250 for cats), theft or straying (£500 for dogs, £250 for cats), emergency boarding (£500 for dogs, £250 for cats) and holiday cancellation cover for £500.
Standard – this is a Per Condition policy, which means you get a certain amount per medical condition your pet develops and, when the cover runs out, you have to pay for the treatment yourself. This policy includes: £2,000 cover for vet fees, cover for death from accident or illness (£500 for dogs, £250 for cats), advertising and reward (£500 for dogs, £250 for cats), theft or straying (£500 for dogs, £250 for cats), emergency boarding (£500 for dogs, £250 for cats) and holiday cancellation cover for £500.
Premium – This is a Lifetime policy, which means your pet's medical conditions are covered for his/her lifetime up to the amount specified every year. This policy includes: £3,000 cover for vet fees (limited to £1,000 per condition per year), cover for death from accident (£500 for dogs, £250 for cats), advertising and reward (£500 for dogs, £250 for cats), theft or straying (£500 for dogs, £250 for cats), emergency boarding (£500 for dogs, £250 for cats) and holiday cancellation cover for £500.
Premium Plus – This is also a Lifetime policy. This policy includes: £7,000 cover for vet fees, cover for death from accident for £1,500 (both dogs and cats), advertising and reward for £1,000 (both dogs and cats), theft or straying for £1,500 (both dogs and cats), emergency boarding for £1,000 (both dogs and cats) and holiday cancellation cover for £3,000.
All policies include overseas travel cover up to 90 days and a 24-hour veterinary helpline.
See if Post Office feature in our list of the best insurers for dogs or our list of the best insurers for cats.
How much does pet insurance from the Post Office cost?
Pet insurance premiums are affected by many different factors, including the type of pet covered, its breed, age and medical conditions. The owner’s personal details, such as postcode, can also affect the price. However, to give you an indication of cost, we got the following example quotes, based on a Milton Keynes postcode:
- 5 year old mixed breed dog: Essential - £16.32; Standard - £20.31; Premium - £20.07; Premium Plus - £32.55
- 5 year old Labrador Retriever: Essential - £21.90; Standard - £27.34; Premium - £27.02; Premium Plus - £44.04
- 6 year old mixed breed cat (moggy): Essential - £7.43; Standard - £8.68; Premium - £8.60; Premium Plus - £13.28
A 10% discount is available when you apply online.
What do Post Office Pet Insurance reviews from customer say?
There are not a lot of reviews for pet insurance from the Post Office online. However, what is out there is generally good. On money.co.uk the Post Office's pet insurance received 5 out of 5 stars, with both customers who left reviews saying they would recommend the service. There is also 1 review on pet-insurance-surveys.co.uk, giving the service 4 out of 5 stars.
To give you an better indication of Post Office insurance customers’ experience, here is how some of their other insurance products fared in online reviews: the Post Office’s car insurance service also received good reviews on money.co.uk – with a rating of 4.3 out of 5 and 93% of the 30 customers who left reviews saying they would recommend. Over on reviewcentre.com, things are not so good, with the Post Office’s car insurance service receiving just 1.2 out of 5 stars, and recommendations from only 7% of the 186 customers who left reviews. The Post Office’s travel insurance policy received 68% for customer satisfaction on financial review body Which?.
What do Post Office Pet Insurance reviews by the experts say?
Neither Which? Nor Defaqto (the independent financial services reviewing site) offer reviews of pet insurance from the Post Office. A good way to get more information about the quality of this product is by looking at another pet insurance product which is underwritten by the same insurance company (as it is likely these 2 products will be very similar). In this case, we will look at Helpucover Pet Insurance, which, like Post Office Pet Insurance, is also underwritten by Pinnacle Insurance Plc.
These are the reviews offered for Helpucover Pet Insurance online:
Which? Review
Helpucover Dog Insurance:
Premier: 64%
Classic: 48%
Helpucover Cat Insurance:
Premier: 67%
Defaqto Review
Premier: 5 stars
Classic, Vital, Essential, Standard: 3 stars
