Accident-Only Pet Insurance - Our Pick Of The Best Policies (2024)

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If you require any personal advice, please seek such advice from an independently qualified financial advisor. While we aim to feature some of the best products available, this does not include all available products from across the market. Although the information provided is believed to be accurate at the date of publication, you should always check with the product provider to ensure that information provided is the most up to date.

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Our data is based on a medium-sized mongrel dog and Domestic Shorthair cat born in January 2023. It assumes each animal is neutered/spayed, chipped with up-to-date vaccinations and has not been the subject of any complaints or legal action in the last five years.

We ranked the cheapest accident only policies we found using the following criteria:

• Monthly cost – the amount you pay each month for the policy
• Cover per accident – the amount covered for each accident claimed
• Policy limit – the total amount of cover provided on the policy per year
• Vet fees excess – the amount payable each time you claim for veterinary costs.

We also compared factors such as the range of cover included as standard on the policy, any additional optional cover, whether your vet can be paid directly, and the co-payment levied on each claim, if applicable (this is usually levied as a set percentage of the claim amount, once excess has been paid, and often applies as a pet grows older and more susceptible to illness).We then converted their total scores into Forbes Advisor star ratings.

Data is accurate as of August 2023, and is intended as guidance only.

If you opt for an accident only policy it will pay out for treatment for accidental injury caused to your pet. Certain policies may also cover treatment for illness caused by injury.

This type of policy sets a limit on the amount you can claim per accident, and sometimes includes a time limit on how long you can claim for treatment per accident. This is usually 12 months from when treatment resulting from an accident first starts.

You can renew your policy annually for continued cover for on-going treatment until either the time limit or the limit on the amount of cover for the accident runs out. At this point you will have to fund any further treatment resulting from the accident yourself. However, you will still be able to claim on your policy for other future accidents.

The main purpose of any type of pet insurance is to cover vet fees. Some accident only policies extend this cover to complementary medication, treatment for cruciate ligaments, and offer a 24/7 free vet advice line. They may also cover the cost to put the pet to sleep.

Certain accident policies also offer third liability cover for dogs, should a canine cause injury, or damage someone else’s property. You can find the specifics of what a policy offers in the small print.

More comprehensive forms of cover are available for your pet, from ’Time Limited’ to the most comprehensive of all, ‘Lifetime’. They all cover injury as well as illness. This is how they work:

• Time limited: Pays out for a condition, related to injury or illness, up to 12 months after the first claim for the condition is made. It also provides a set amount of cover per condition. Once the 12 months are up, or the money runs out for a condition – whichever occurs first – the policyholders will have to fund any further treatment for the condition themselves.
• Maximum benefit: Also known as ‘money limited’ or ‘condition capped’, policyholders can claim up to a set amount per condition, and conditions can relate to injury or illness. There are no time constraints on the use of cover, but when the money for a condition runs out, policyholders will have to fund any further treatment for said condition themselves. This type of policy is not designed for long-lasting conditions.
• Lifetime: Offers a set amount of vet cover for accidents and illnesses for the year and sets a limit on how much cover a policyholder can claim per medical condition. The annual limit and per condition limit on cover are reinstated annually, if the policyholder chooses to renew the policy. This means cover can last the duration of an animal’s life, making this policy the most comprehensive, with the highest premiums.

See a summary of the main differences and commonalities between the policy types below:

Insurers determine the cost of insurance for an animal based on a range of factors, such as its age, and your location. Insurance tends to be more expensive for older pets, reflecting the higher risk that you’ll claim for vet fees. Policy price will also reflect the cost of vet treatment in your area.

However, to give you an idea of how much a policy can cost, we ran quotes using our online pet insurance tool. We used the profiles of a rescued domestic shorthair and medium-sized, mongrel dog, bought for £200. A mongrel is a dog with parents of three breeds or more.

The table below shows how much an accident only policy can cost in comparison to other types of policy: