Pet insurance helps take care of your furry friend’s medical needs, so you can rest easy and assured that your family is safe and protected.
To help ensure that your pets are getting the best care, we’ve put together a list of the best pet insurance providers in Ireland. We also reviewed them to see what each one can offer.
Pet Insurance Costs
Pet Insurance is important for taking care of any unexpected medical issues that may pop up in your beloved pet’s lifetime.
It should typically cover the following:
- Vet fees – This excludes routine check-ups and vaccinations.
- Death by accident or illness – If your pet dies before a certain age limit, insurers will usually cover up to €1000.
- Injury and illness – This includes surgery, medication, treatments, and testing.
- Lost & found ads and rewards – In the event of you losing your pet, insurers will help with the costs of advertising and rewarding.
- Third-party liability (for dogs) – Insurers will usually cover damage or injury caused by your dog up to €250,000.
- Holiday cancellation – If your vacation ends abruptly due to your pet falling sick or getting injured, your insurance provider will cover what you lost.
- Emergency kennel or cattery – This happens in the event of your pet being admitted for hospitalization.
Prices for pet insurance are dependent on a number of factors, such as the cover level or policy you choose, and the breed, age, and health of your dog or cat. On average, it will cost around €16 per month. Take note that more benefits means more pay.
Always make sure to read your policy document carefully, as they may come with certain exclusions.
Top Pet Insurance Providers in Ireland
We’ve evaluated the following pet insurance providers according to the following criteria:
1. Pet Insurance
| VALUE | ★★★★☆ (4/5) |
| COVERAGE | ★★★★☆ (4/5) |
| BENEFITS | ★★★★☆ (4/5) |
| CUSTOMER SERVICE | ★★★☆☆ (3/5) |
Pet Insurance is an award-winning insurance provider for dogs and cats in Ireland. They have three levels of coverage available: Essential, Premier, and Premier Plus.
Essential Cover is an injury-only option that lasts 12 months. This covers vet fees and third-party liability (for dogs only) and starts at €8.33 a month.
The Premier option covers illness and injury for 12 months since the first clinical sign. This covers all the typical bases for insurance, along with an optional overseas travel cover. It starts at €12.85 a month.
Premier Plus covers all of that for your pet’s lifetime up to the vet fee limit of €4000, as long as you have the money to keep the insurance going. This is great for pets with chronic conditions such as cancer or eczema and starts at €15.52 a month.
Pet Insurance also has a 24/7 vet helpline with kind and professional customer service. A number of clients have also praised their claims line for their prompt response to queries.
However, because they experience a high volume of calls every now and then, others have complained about how hard it is to reach them.
Prices will differ according to a few factors such as the age and breed of your pet. Pet Insurance now accepts pets up to 6 years, by the way.
They also can and will pay your vet directly, which means there’s less for you to worry about as they’ll take care of it for you.
If you want to learn more about your possible premiums, you can get a quote from their website, which we found organized and easy to use.
For this value and coverage, we see why Pet Insurance has won Deloitte’s Best Managed Company Award in 2018 and continues to be a favorite of many pet-owners in Ireland today.
Pros
- Multi-pet discount
- 3 cover levels
- Pays vets directly
- 24/7 vet helpline
Cons
- Reports of delayed claims processing
Customer Reviews
Great customer service, quick and reliable. Automatic renewal, good communication, clear and simple service. Amazing value for money, great prices!! Highly recommended!! -Magdalena, TrustPilot
It’s a good insurance. I had two claims and was happy with the outcome. Only downside is the delays in getting answers. Especially frustrating when dealing with a claim. -Claudia Baess, TrustPilot
2. An Post
| VALUE | ★★★★☆ (4/5) |
| COVERAGE | ★★★★☆ (4/5) |
| BENEFITS | ★★★★★ (5/5) |
| CUSTOMER SERVICE | ★★★☆☆ (3/5) |
An Post is a 100% Irish-owned company that also offers three levels: Essential, Premium, and Premium Plus.
Aside from vet fees and other standard policies, all three levels include Cover Abroad of up to 90 Days (EU), Quarantine Cost of up to €1,500, Emergency Repatriation Costs of up to €500, and Loss of Pet Passport of up to €250.
As a bonus, all policies come with a complimentary bag of pet food (2kg for dogs and 400g for cats from the Red Mills Leader & Supreme food range). These additions are a great bonus that we note aren’t standard features offered by other insurers.
An Post also has a 24/7 vet helpline with nationwide access to Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons-registered veterinarians. Their Claims line operates 5 days a week.
However, there have been some claims of difficulty getting a quote from the website and reaching their customer service lines.
They accept new business with pets from eight weeks until six years of age. If you consistently renew each year, there is no upper age limit.
An Post also has a Multi-Pet discount available for pet-owners with two or more four-legged friends. That’s not groundbreaking, but we always appreciate it when it’s available!
Pros
- Multi-pet discount
- 3 cover levels
- 24/7 vet helpline
- Cover abroad and loss of pet passport costs included
- Quarantine and emergency repatriation costs included
Cons
- Online quote system can be slow
- Customer service lines are often busy
Customer Reviews
Competitive pricings on all products from pet to car insurance.Great customer service straightforward and good communication good service all round. -Richard Newbanks, TrustPilot
I found an post great value and customer service team were extremely helpful with me switching insurance provider. We also have pet insurance so it was an easy choice to move to an post -Mr. Shane O’Connor, TrustPilot
3. Allianz
| VALUE | ★★★★☆ (4/5) |
| BENEFITS | ★★★★☆ (4/5) |
| COVERAGE | ★★★☆☆ (3/5) |
| CUSTOMER SERVICE | ★★★☆☆ (3/5) |
Allianz Ireland’s pet insurance only has one policy. Although they have flexible options, this already puts them at a disadvantage for not giving concerned pet-owners the same level of variety as other insurers.
Their standard features include vet fees, third-party liability, death from illness and injury, boarding fees, theft or straying, holiday cancellation, and recovery costs.
They do offer premium reductions or discounts for pet owners who are over 60 years old, multi-pet discount, and a once-off reduction for microchipped pets.
Do note that unlike the other options in this list, to avail of the multi-pet discount you would need not two but three or more pets insured on a policy. If you have two pets, we would sooner recommend the other insurers we evaluated for the multi-pet discount.
One thing we found clients often praise Allianz for is their quick response to claims and amazing customer service. We love that the people involved show that they truly care about the wellbeing of your furry friends.
They are also known for their user-friendly website that is quick and simple to use.
Although they do not have a variety of cover levels like the others, the flexible options and stellar customer care make Allianz a more than viable option for most, we think.
Just be sure that the policy they do offer is really the one that suits you best, because you can’t migrate to a different one in their roster (what with there being no other options!).
Pros
- Discounts for senior pet owners
- Once-off discount for microchipped pets
- Multi-pet discount
- Good customer service
Cons
- Only one policy
- Multi-pet discount needs at least 3 pets
Customer Reviews
“online system is so user friendly and customer service is excellent. wait times on calls are a little long but not surprised as the service is excellent.” -Angela, Allianz website
“Never had any problems over 3 years with a dog being treated for cancer, they’ve always paid quickly.” -Claire Pearce, Save Money People
4. Pet Insure
| VALUE | ★★★★☆ (4/5) |
| BENEFITS | ★★★★★ (5/5) |
| COVERAGE | ★★★★★ (5/5) |
| CUSTOMER SERVICE | ★★★★☆ (4/5) |
PetInsure is widely considered one of Ireland’s leading pet insurance providers for a reason. Let’s start with their variety: as with other insurers on this list, they offer three cover levels and various discounts.
Their Care and Care Plus plans cover all of the standard features of pet insurance from as little as €2.29 and €2.67 a week respectively. They also have an accident-only option at the fixed price of €2.11 a week.
One of the best things we found about PetInsure is they do not limit what you can claim by condition. Their Lifetime Cover also means they do not want to put a cap on the amount you can claim or the length of time you can claim for a condition.
We also love that they have a simple flat rate policy excess, which means you will not be charged a higher excess once your claim has surpassed a specific amount.
They also offer discounts for the first year for microchipped pets and online applicants, and a discount for owners with multiple pets.
Pet Insure also offers a 21-Day Money Back Guarantee, meaning you can cancel for any reason within 21 days of enrollment. We really like this policy, although we do think it could stand to be extended even further.
Although there have been some incidents of delayed response, most clients rave about their quick, professional, and meticulous customer service. That’s something we can agree with, based on our interactions with them.
Pros
- Good customer service
- 3 cover levels
- Flat-rate policy excess
- No limit to what you can claim by condition
- Once-off discount for microchipped pets
- DIscount for online applicants
- Multi-pet discount
- 21-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Delayed response on occasion
Customer Reviews
Prompt and professional
Exceptional prompt service especially in relation to pre-authorisation. Such relief and peace of mind to know that expensive procedures can be done so quickly when necessary without putting a hole in personal finances. All staff I dealt with were kind and professional – special mention to Seán whom I dealt with today. -PSJ, TrustPilot
Excellent customer service
All my interactions with the staff at PetInsure have been excellent. They have been really helpful at every stage of the claims process and have shown excellent attention to detail. -Customer, TrustPilot
5. Blue Insurance
| VALUE | ★★★☆☆ (3/5) |
| COVERAGE | ★★★★☆ (4/5) |
| BENEFITS | ★★★★☆ (4/5) |
| CUSTOMER SERVICE | ★★☆☆☆ (2/5) |
Blue Insurance is another insurer that offers 3 levels of cover: Essential, Premium, and Premium Plus.
They also offer a multi-pet discount and access to their 24/7 vet helpline. They are also one of the insurers that pay vets directly.
Blue Insurance also has a 0% annual percentage rate on monthly payments, which is definitely one of the things we like most about it.
Their policy documents are all available for reading on their website, by the way. These contain information about relevant exclusions and limitations, such as treatments for medical conditions that existed before the first fourteen days of enrollment.
We recommend going through their policy documents for important information before enrolling your pets under their insurance.
As with other insurers, the number one complaint we found about Blue Insurance is the difficulty of reaching them for queries and concerns. Many clients have expressed trouble getting through their phone lines.
We have also noted clients complaining about the delays in claims processing. This should definitely be considered because if something happened to your beloved pup or kitten, you’d want their assistance to be quick and efficient.
On the other hand, the website is praised for its simple interface and clearly laid out information, which is important for interested clients as well.
Pros
- 3 cover levels
- Multi-pet discount
- 24/7 vet helpline
- Pays vets directly
- Clear information on website
- 0% APR on monthly payments
Cons
- Difficulty going through phone lines
- Delayed claims processing
Customer Reviews
I rang regarding an amend to our pet insurance and requested someone contact me later that day regarding a discount or home insurance.
On time I got a call from a lovely lady who explained everything regarding the policy and payments which I accepted as I have hunted around and found that Blue had the best deal. I took out the two year policy which was better value than some of the annual policies I had looked at. – Ms. Eva Mahony, TrustPilot
I lodged a Pet Insurance claim with regards to my dog at the end of June and I have to say Blue Insurance, or ‘tif-group’ who handle them, are painfully slow. Out of pocket about €1,000 for X-Rays & CT scans at this stage and no sign of anything coming. All documents etc provided. No excuses for any further delays. No update in well over a month. Do they not get it… customers are out of pocket for big sums of money and then they never hear anything back… this is what leads to these kind of reviews. God help us with Blue Insurance when the treatment actually starts… They’re quick to take your monthly payments but not so quick to process your claim. -Ian, TrustPilot
FAQS about Pet Insurance in Ireland
We hope our list of the top pet insurance providers in Ireland helps you keep your furry friends safe and protected. If you need more advice regarding your finances, here’s our guide for Financial Literacy 101.