Petguard - www.petguard.co.uk

It has been nearly 4 months since I submitted my latest claim. Apart from the usual "we are busy" type of emails the claim has not been settled.

They are quick to prompt for renewal and take the subscription but painfully slow in paying out.

I would advise to avoid using this company and use Manypets. I use these for my other dog and claims settlement is very good.

Petguard are still assessing my claim after over 3 months! Excuse given is that they are having a high number of claims. Getting a claim form is time consuming and tedious as you have to phone them up and they are quite prone to not answering the phone! They are also trying to squirm out of paying by trying to prove a bout of diarrhoea, 19 months after the policy start date, is a pre-existing condition. Also, if your dog doesn’t have any previous veterinary history, it appears they won’t uphold your claim, even though this is not specified in their policy wording! Just don’t bother folks!

I had 3 dogs insured with socalled 'lifetime' gold cover with Petguard in 2009 - 2012, when their underwriter allegedly stopped offering pet insurance. Petguard ceased the opportunity and withdrew the offer of cover for the one dog which I had made one claim for during the insurance period. As a result I had a dog with a 'pre-existing condition' which no other insurers would insure. Petguard did not withdraw my insurance on the other two dogs, which I had never claimed for. Petguard acted disgracefully and have to date not even offered an apology. They are only interested in insuring healthy low risk animals and find it perfectly ok to get rid of any customers who might need to make a claim. Disgusting.

This company has thoughtfully cancelled my policy saying their parent company will no longer underwrite it meaning I have a cat with a pre-existing condition that will not be covered by any new insurer despite being only 3 years old. After taking out insurance to be a responsible pet owner I know have the propect of having to make life and death choices based on whether I can pay out or not. They took ages to pay out and I am feeling thoroughly disillusioned. I could understand if I was looking for insurance for the first time with a pre exisiting condition but through no fault of my own now have no cover for any reoccurance of the condition (a common condition with salts blocking up the urethra which is controlled by vet diet. Do not touch!