What are the waiting periods before I can claim?

A waiting period is how long you must wait before your insurance kicks in. The waiting period starts the day after you buy your plan or add a new pet to one.

You’ll have to pay for any treatment costs incurred during a waiting period. An insurer won't pay for it.

Usually, our waiting period is 14 days. But we'll remove the waiting period if you’re switching from another insurer and your pet has had 12 months of continuous cover with them until your policy start date.

The only exception to us waiving the waiting period when you switch is for complications from a pet's pregnancy. The waiting period for this is always six months.

If you're on a Complete, Regular, Value, Fixed For Life or Pre-existing plan, please read your handbook for exact details on pet pregnancy coverage. A waiting period of six months will still apply for these plans.

The following waiting periods apply if your pet hasn't had 12 months of continuous cover with another insurer and you switch to us:

• For accidents: 48 hours from the policy start date.
• For illness: 14 days from the policy start date. We'll classify any illness in the initial 14 days as pre-existing.
• For a pet passing away due to illness: 14 days from the policy start date.

There are no waiting periods if you renew with us.