Specialist pet insurance providers have come out on top in customer reviews, scoring an impressive average rating of 4.88 out of 5, reveals data from more than 26,000 reviews across 57 providers, accumulated over five years on Smart Money People, the UK’s leading financial services review site.
These high achievers, companies that solely focus on pet insurance without offering other insurance types or additional financial products, have shown consistency in performance year-on-year. Hot on their tails, providers offering various insurance types received a slightly lower, but still commendable, average rating of 4.74.
Conversely, general financial providers, those offering a broad spectrum of non-insurance products, including various banking and financial services, lag behind with an average rating of 3.24.
The divide between different provider types was even more stark during the last full calendar year. In 2022, specialist providers and multi-insurance providers scored more than double that of general financial providers, averaging 4.9 and 4.84 respectively, compared to a meagre 1.93.
A recurring issue with general financial providers revolved around disputes over claims payouts, particularly concerning pets with pre-existing conditions.
This disparity is clearly reflected in Smart Money People’s top 10 pet insurance providers. Currently, eight out of the top 10 are specialist providers, one is a multi-insurance provider, and only one is a bank.
Despite the escalating cost of pet insurance, the average ‘value for money’ score across all providers has remained relatively steady year-on-year, underlining customers’ continued faith in the quality of pet insurance services offered.
Smart Money People’s Top Ten Pet Insurers can be found here.
“While premiums will of course be important to many households, especially at the moment, it’s important to consider more than just price, taking into account other aspects such as customer service, and how easy it is to make a claim. This is especially true if you have an older pet or one with pre-existing health conditions.
“Judging by our reviews, the smart money is on the specialists – they know their sector and customers inside out and because it’s the only thing they do, it gets their undivided attention.
“Checking customer reviews for your prospective insurer is advisable as it’s important to know that you’re buying from a reputable company. Whilst specialist pet insurance providers as a whole get good reviews, these are averages which means that some will still be better than others.”
Jacqueline Dewey, CEO of Smart Money People
