Updated October 21, 2026 · SumCue Editorial Team
Top pet insurance compared
We earn a commission when you sign up through links on this site. Partner status can affect where a brand appears in our rankings. Partners with a live offer in your country come first, then every other brand by score. How we rank
| Order | Provider | Score | Key facts | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung ATTop pickPartner | 9.4/10 |
| ReviewCompareVisit |
| 2 |  CompassPartner Spese di istruttoria azzerate (Prestito Online): 0 EUR origination fee on online loans from 1,000 to 5,000 EUR | 9.4/10 |
| ReviewCompareVisit |
| 3 |  Income InsurancePartner Up to 20% off + 188,000 STAR$ on Domestic Helper Insurance: up to 20% off + 188,000 STAR$ | 9.4/10 |
| ReviewCompareVisit |
| 4 |  CHECK24Partner | 9.3/10 |
| ReviewCompareVisit |
| 5 |  TIPINSUREPartner TIP PET BUDDY: owner pays 50%, insurer pays the other 50% of veterinary treatment: 50% co-payment on veterinary costs up to 50,000 baht | 9.2/10 |
| ReviewCompareVisit |
| 6 |  LemonadePartner Rover gift card for new Lemonade Pet policyholders | 9.1/10 |
| ReviewCompareVisit |
| 7 | NationwidePartner | 9.1/10 |
| ReviewCompareVisit |
| 8 |  WAS InsurancePartner | 8.9/10 |
| ReviewCompareVisit |
| 9 |  Assurland.comPartner Abeille Assurances prevoyance - 3 months free | 8.7/10 |
| ReviewCompareVisit |
| 10 |  Napo pet insurancePartner | 8.7/10 |
| ReviewCompareVisit |
| 11 |  Cleos WeltPartner Cleos Welt offers pet insurance for dogs, cats, small animals and other pets, including health, surgery and liability cover. Its dog health insurance reimburses up to 100% of vet costs up to 4 times the fee schedule (GOT), with an annual preventive-care budget of up to 250 EUR. | 8.3/10 |
| ReviewCompareVisit |
| 12 |  die BayerischePartner Happybrush voucher or toothbrush with Zahnzusatzversicherung: Voucher or Happybrush toothbrush | 9.6/10 |
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| 13 | LV=Partner | 9.6/10 |
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| 14 |  American ModernPartner | 9.5/10 |
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| 15 |  Porto SeguroPartner Seguro Viagem cupom VIAGEM35: 35% OFF with coupon VIAGEM35 plus 5% OFF paying with Cartão Porto Bank (up to 40% OFF) | 9.5/10 |
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| 16 | TravelersPartner | 9.5/10 |
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| 17 |  UnumPartner | 9.5/10 |
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| 18 |  BarmeniaPartner | 9.4/10 |
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| 19 |  AvivaPartner Amazon.co.uk gift card reward for Life Insurance Plan: Amazon.co.uk gift card worth GBP 50 to GBP 200 | 9.4/10 |
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| 20 |  CosmosDirektPartner Risikolebensversicherung Amazon.de voucher action: up to 75 EUR in Amazon.de vouchers (5 x 15 EUR spread over 5 years) | 9.4/10 |
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About Top pet insurance compared
Pet insurance pays out when your dog or cat falls ill, has an accident or needs emergency treatment, and the bill can be substantial. This ranking covers 138 brands, so the choice comes down to what you pay each month and how the policy is arranged. Some entries are insurers that write the cover themselves. Others are brokers or comparison sites that put several insurers side by side, which matters if you want to move cover later. The main trade-off is price against flexibility. The lowest starting premium here is not always the cheapest over a full year, because the excess, the cover limit and the annual limit decide how much a claim actually pays. Many policies also reimburse you after the vet has been paid, so the speed of a claim and the way the money reaches you matter as much as the headline premium. Support routes tell you the same thing, because a phone line is worth more than a form when a pet is unwell. A broker can hold your cover for you and handle the admin when something goes wrong.
How we picked
Every brand in this ranking is scored on cost, offer and trust, weighted as follows: trust at 40%, cost at 35% and offer at 25%. Trust carries the largest weight, so the size of the operation, how it is regulated and how it pays claims come first. Cost looks at the starting premium and the price position within the category. Offer looks at cover breadth, support channels and whether monthly payments are available. Each score is read from the brand's own pages, its terms and conditions and its regulatory notices, then compared against the other pet insurance brands in the data, a category with 138 brands in total. Where a brand publishes a starting premium, that figure is used as listed rather than estimated, and the category median of €9 gives the benchmark. Partners are listed first, ahead of scored brands, so the opening positions reflect the commercial relationship rather than the score alone. The ranking then follows the score.
How we rankOur top picks
1. HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung ATHanseMerkur Reiseversicherung AT appears in this ranking as the company that underwrites the policy itself, founded in 1977, rather than a broker arranging someone else's cover. It covers customers aged up to 65 years of age and states a cover limit of 300,000 EUR for inpatient treatment abroad, so treatment costs abroad are met by the company that issued the policy. Claims run on online form and phone and support on phone, email and help centre, with premiums from €1.50. Underwriting the risk itself is why it is in this ranking. Compared with CosmosDirekt next, it is travel-led and narrower in range.
- Premium from: €1.50
- Insurance types: Travel, Pet, Gadget
- Provider type: Insurer
Pros
- Premiums start at €1.50, well under the site median of €8.31 and the insurance ranking median of €7.95.
- It is an insurer, not a broker, so insurer means the cover and the claims are handled by the same company.
- One insurer covers travel, pet and gadget, so you can hold travel, pet and gadget policies in the same place.
- Support runs on phone, email and help centre, and claims can go in by online form and phone.
- Inpatient treatment abroad is covered up to 300,000 EUR for inpatient treatment abroad on the travel protection policies.
Cons
- Entry is capped by age, at up to 65 years of age for the overseas health cover, so older travellers may be priced or turned away.
- Cover is limited to the categories listed in travel, pet and gadget, which do not include motor, home or life policies.
- A single competitor keeps its headline entry at €25, far above €1.50, though that figure is a savings product, not a policy.
- Claims can be raised by online form and phone only, so there is no app-based or in-app claims route in the listed channels.
4. CHECK24CHECK24 sits this high in the ranking as the broadest catalogue here, founded in 1999 with pet cover among auto, home and life and monthly payments available. Premiums start from €0.69, support runs on chat, email and phone and claims can be filed through CHECK24 Versicherungscenter online claim form, insurer online claim form and post. It publishes a recommended minimum cover limit alongside the range insurers offer, which helps when you compare policies on paper, and matching many insurers at once is why it is placed near the top of this ranking, since the choice of insurer and the wording stay with you. Compared with HanseMerkur Reiseversicherung AT below, CHECK24 matches policies rather than writing the cover itself.
- Premium from: €0.69
- Insurance types: Auto, Home, Life, and 7 more
- Provider type: Comparison site
Pros
- Broker model: broker means loan, mortgage and policy terms come from partner banks and insurers rather than from a single provider
- Daily-access savings with no notice period, cancellable at any time, at a headline rate of 3.82%
- A single catalogue covering auto, home and life, so most household policies can be compared in one place
- Support runs on chat, email and phone, with phone and a help centre listed alongside email and chat
Cons
- A comparison site rather than an insurer or lender: comparison site means the terms and the protections depend on the partner matched to you
- The median easy-access rate across the site is 3%, under the CHECK24 headline rate of 3.82%, so cheaper listings exist
- The listed credit check is soft prequal, which leaves any hard search to the partner bank once an offer is accepted
- Claims run on CHECK24 Versicherungscenter online claim form, insurer online claim form and post, so a claim is filed through an online form or by post and no counter service is listed
What to look for
- Check who underwrites the policy
- A broker or comparison site arranges the policy while an insurer underwrites it. Knowing which of the two you are dealing with decides who pays your claim and who answers when the vet bills arrive. Brokers such as Good Sam Insurance Agency and ClickFinance sit alongside insurers and comparison sites in this list.
- Read the excess and the annual limit
- The starting premium tells you little on its own. The excess is what you pay per claim and the annual limit caps the total in a policy year, so a low premium with a high excess can cost more once you claim. Compare both figures against your expected veterinary bills and against the starting premium spread here, which runs from €3.99 to €30.69.
- Look at how a claim is paid and made
- Some policies reimburse you after the vet has been paid. Others settle with the practice directly. Check the claim channels, since a claim filed online, by phone or by post sets the pace of the payout. Hansemerkur Reiseversicherung AT, CosmosDirekt and PANDA all list online and phone claims.
- Check the support you can reach
- Phone support is the most common route in this category, and a help centre is close behind, with email also widely offered. That matters when a pet is unwell and reading is not practical. In pet insurance, phone support sits at 89.1%, a help centre at 82.9% and email at 75.2%.
- Weigh monthly payments against the annual price
- Monthly payment plans spread the cost across the year but rarely lower the total, and most policies still renew annually. Being able to pay monthly is common in this category, so the real question is what the annual price and the excess look like. Monthly payment is available at 96%, and the median starting premium is €9.
- Confirm the cover limits for your pet
- Vet bills are only part of the cost. Look at the cover limit for treatment, plus any limits on surgery, dental work, alternative treatment and hereditary conditions. A higher premium often buys a higher limit, and the limit is what a claim settles against, so check it against the cost of the treatment you are most worried about.
Frequently asked questions
Is pet insurance worth it for a single cat?+
It depends on the cover limit and the excess rather than the pet. Vet bills for a single cat are usually modest, so a policy with a high excess and a low annual limit can pay out less than the premiums you pay. A policy is worth more where treatment limits are high, or where the practice settles directly with the insurer, since you avoid funding a large invoice yourself.
What is the difference between pet insurance and pet health plans?+
A health plan from a veterinary practice is routine and preventive care, often covering vaccinations, check-ups and routine treatment at that practice. Pet insurance is accident and illness cover, usually reimbursing unexpected treatment from any vet. Many households hold one or the other, and some hold both, since a health plan does not cover sudden illness.
How do I switch pet insurer?+
Check the notice period and any early cancellation terms in your current policy before you buy a replacement, since leaving mid-term can leave a gap in cover. A broker can move the policy for you, which is useful if the new insurer needs the old policy details. Keep the renewal date in view, as most pet policies renew annually.
Does pet insurance cover pre-existing conditions?+
Most pet policies exclude conditions that showed signs, were diagnosed or had treatment before the policy started, so a waiting period applies to what you told the insurer about. If your pet already has a known condition, cover depends on the specific wording of the policy. Declare everything honestly, since a claim on an undisclosed condition is likely to be refused.
What excess should I pick?+
The excess is the part of each claim you pay, so a higher excess lowers the premium but leaves more with you at the vet. Someone with a large emergency fund can often afford a higher excess, while a first-time owner may prefer a lower one for peace of mind. Check whether the excess applies per claim or per policy year.
Why does the starting premium differ so much?+
The starting premium reflects the cheapest cover available, often for an accident-only policy or a limited period. Broader cover, a higher limit, a lower excess and a younger or older pet all move the price. Across this category the starting premium runs from €0 to €670.88, with a median of €9, so treat the lowest figure as an entry point rather than a like-for-like quote.
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The data behind this ranking
| Metric | Value | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| Median headline rate | 2.35 % | 10 |