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 mongrel: Essential - £16.46; Standard - £22.02; Premium - £16.01; Premium Plus - £42.20
- 5 year old Labrador Retriever: Essential - £24.28; Standard - £32.65; Premium - £25.30; Premium Plus - £63.01
- 6 year old mixed breed cat (moggy): Essential - £6.39; Standard - £8.05; Premium - £6.20; Premium Plus - £14.89
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. On petinsurance.co.uk, they have 2.5 out of 5 from only two reviews.
On TrustPilot they have 1.2 out of 10 from over 300 reviews. To give you an idea of how Post Office's other insurance products perform, their travel insurance policy received 77% for customer satisfaction on financial review body Which?.
Their car insurance product has 61% for customer satisfaction but has not been rated for claims, policy, transparency and value for money.
What do Post Office Pet Insurance reviews by the experts say?
Defaqto (the independent financial services reviewing site) gave their Premium Plus pet insurance policy 5 Stars, which makes it 'has a comprehensive level of features
and benefits'. Defaqto gave their Premium and Standard policies 4 Stars, indicating they are products with 'a good level of features and benefits' and their Essential policy was rated 3 Star, which makes it product with 'an average level of features and benefits'.
