Review: Petplan Insurance

Petplan is one of the UK's biggest and best known pet insurers. It provides insurance policies for a variety of animals including cats, dogs rabbits and horses. It also has a specialist product that insures breeders.

Key Petplan policy features:

• Petplan offers a choice between three policies and up to £12,000 vet fee cover
• Online quotes for dogs, cats and rabbits. Petplan Equine offers cover for horses
• 10% discount for new customers buying online Petplan is featured in our lists of the best pet insurance for dogs.

How does Petplan insurance compare to ManyPets?

All ManyPets policies are lifetime which means the vet cover level resets every year you renew so it can cover ongoing illness and conditions throughout the lifetime of your pet.

Petplan has three levels of lifetime cover: Ultimate, Classic Plus and Classic. It also has a time-limited Essential policy with £3,000 cover for 12 months.

The 12 Months policy will only cover an illness for up to 12 months. After that period ends that illness or condition will become excluded and you will no longer be able to make a claim.

ManyPets believe pet insurance should last a pet’s entire life and that's why we only offer lifetime policies. It means pet owners can make a claim for all ongoing medical conditions that develop during the lifetime of their pet.

Petplan's highest level of vet fee cover is £12,000 which by comparison is £3,000 lower than the £15,000 on offer through ManyPets Complete policy.

Both ManyPets and Petplan offer lower cover levels. Petplan's Classic Plus has a vet fee limit of £7,000 and Classic has £4,000. ManyPets' lifetime policies include Regular with up to £7,000 of vet fee cover and a Value policy with £3,000.

ManyPets' policies can cover conditions that ended more than two years ago. We also have a Pre-existing policy that can cover more recent health problems. PetPlan says it treats each pre-existing condition on a case-by-case basis. It may cover conditions that have ended a certain time ago, but is unlikely to be able to cover conditions that will be with your pet for the rest of their life, like arthritis.

ManyPetsalso allow new customers to make an immediate claim if they switch from another pet insurance provider straight to ManyPets. Petplan along with many other pet insurers apply a 14 day waiting period before customers can make a first claim.

Both Petplan and ManyPets have a multi-pet discount available. With Petplan, you can get a £12 per year discount for each pet you have insured. ManyPets offers a 15% discount for each pet pet insured on the same policy.

If you're worried about your pet and need quick advice, ManyPets customers can get free 24/7 unlimited access to video consultations with a qualified veterinary professional with FirstVet. Petplan currently do not provide any video or telephone help service for customers.

Petplan is one of the largest and best known pet insurers in the UK. By comparison, ManyPets are a more recent addition to the pet insurance market. But since launching in 2017, ManyPets now insure over 562,000 cats and dogs.

We've compared the top levels of cover that we and Petplan offer. The table uses our Complete pet insurance policy.

Petplan offer other types of specialist insurance

Some of Petplan's products are offered under different brands, for example, Petplan Equine covers horses, ponies and riders.

Its breeder insurance scheme lets breeders give new owners four weeks of free Petplan insurance. New pet owners are provided with immediate cover for illness and injury up to £4,000 as soon as the policy is activated.

Petplan Sanctuary offers business insurance for companies that work with pets. Read our review of Petplan Sanctuary.

How much does from Petplan pet insurance cost?

With almost all pet insurance companies, the cost of pet insurance varies widely depending on factors like the age and breed of your pet, and which part of the UK you live in.

If you have a pedigree dog, it could cost hundreds of pounds a month to get comprehensive cover. However, a moggy cat on a cheaper policy can cost under £20 a month. Price ranges can be wide so it's worth getting a quote and shopping around.

Petplan's Ultimate policy is one of the more comprehensive pet insurance products on the market so it may cost more than some other providers.

Find out how much your quote is on the Petplan's site.

Are promotional codes available for Petplan?

We couldn't find any voucher codes for Petplan although it does offer a 10% discount to new customers buying online and there is a multi-pet discount of £12 a year per pet.

How to make a claim on Petplan

To make a claim your vet may be able to submit the claim to Petplan. If they can't you'll have to do it yourself by logging in online. Petplan will process it and let you know if your claim's successful.

You can call Petplan on their customer services telephone number - 0345 071 8000.