Argos Pet Insurance Reviews.
At PetInsurance4u.co.uk we offer our Argos Pet Insurance reviews purely to help you decide if the plan may be suitable for you. We do not give advice or make a recommendation.
Argos Pet Insurance has prices for Cat Cover starting from as low as £3.95 per month for their basic (Silver) cover, and Dog Pet Insurance starts at about £7.50 per month. They have 3 cover levels which they call Silver, Gold & Platinum.
The thing to remember is you do get what you pay for so you don’t need to be a genius to work out that the Platinum cover will be a far more comprehensive cover than the basic Silver option.
All the levels you can claim will be higher and there will be some extra features that the Silver just doesn’t have but the main difference is the type of cover it offers.
For the Silver and Gold you can claim to have your pet treated for a maximum of a twelve month period. For the Platinum there is effectively no end date for the treatment though it is capped at £7,000 per year. So the Platinum is effectively a lifetime plan.
Platinum Cover, Defaqto 5 Star Rating.
Defaqto is an independent financial research company specialising in rating, comparing and analysing financial products. It rates the Argos Platinum plan as 5 stars (the highest possible rating) this is effectively saying it has all the bells and whistles.
However if you just need a simple Pet Insurance plan then the Silver or Gold will probably have all the features/benefits that you require.
There is no point in taking out a plan that has cover for things you will never need.
For the Silver and Gold 12 month period the Silver would pay a maximum of £2,500 in Vets fees and the Gold £4,000.
The compulsory excess * for each claim is £65. (*Whenever you see an * you can read an explanation of that term in our Glossary section)
Words of caution though, do not assume that as you have a cat it will definitely be £3.95 a month, other factors are taken into account when calculating a premium.
They offer a 5% discount if you take the policy out via the Internet and it is possible to get a further reduction if you take out cover on two or more pets.
A big plus for this policy is that Argos pays out in over 9/10 claims made to them. I’m a great believer that you never really know how good an insurance policy is until you come to claim on it.
They also allow you to pay monthly at no extra cost, some companies do charge extra for this.
By paying annually you do not run the risk of the direct debit not being paid, for whatever reason, part way through the year.
It is important to know that if you miss monthly payments and are in arrears it will effectively mean you are not covered anymore as it will invalidate any claim.
If you no longer want the plan for any reason you must cancel the direct debit or credit card mandate. Remember even if you pay annually you must cancel it. When the policy is up for renewal 12 months down the line they always assume you are having it again and continue taking the money unless you tell them otherwise.
It is wise to shop around each year for a new provider but if you do swap make sure you don’t end up paying for two policies!
Argos Pet Insurance 3 Cover Levels.
Silver Cover offers a maximum of £2,500 of protection. Gold, £4,000 vet fees payable for 12 months from the start of each illness or injury.
Platinum cover up to £7,000 vet fees per year. This is lifetime cover for illnesses and injuries with no limit to the length of treatment.
Argos pet Insurance covers all “reasonable” costs for treatment of your pet by a vet due to accident, illness or disease. I hate the word reasonable as it’s subjective but they have to be able to refuse you flying your pooch to Zurich to be treated in a five star private clinic I suppose.
Cover is provided for up to 12 months from the date of occurrence up to the Silver, Gold and Platinum levels.
What Does the Argos Pet Insurance Plan Cover?
Third party liability covers, for dogs. This has a £100 excess, and a maximum pay-out of £1 million for Silver.
Death of your Pet: The plan helps buy paying the price you paid to buy it initially up to £250 Silver, £750 Gold and £1,500 Platinum. So long as it is as a result of an accident or illness/disease or the vet puts the pet to sleep to “alleviate incurable and inhumane suffering”.
Please note that there are age restrictions to this. The pet needs to be under the age of 9 for dogs and for cats it is age 11 maximum.
If your pet is stolen then Argos will pay a max of £250 (Silver), £750 (Gold) or £1,000 (Platinum) for the cost of local advertising and a suitable reward to help with trying to get the pet back. “Dog napping” especially for top Pedigree dogs is far more common than you might think.
If the pet is not recovered within 45 days, then you can claim up to the same amount to help repay the purchase price of the pet.
You can claim £150 (Silver), £500 (Gold) or £1,000 (Platinum) in total for boarding your pet if you or a member of your family permanently living with you is hospitalised on medical advice for more than 4 days. (Not pregnancy or any medical condition you knew about when you took the plan out)
Also you can claim if your house is uninhabitable due to Flood, Fire, and Hurricane etc.
Holiday cancellation costs, for non-recoverable travel and accommodation expenses up to £250 (Silver), £1,500 (Gold) or £3,000 (Platinum) if you have to cancel or cut short your holiday because your pet needs immediate lifesaving surgery within a week of the date you were due to leave for the holiday.
Accidental damage is included in the Gold and Platinum plans though the maximum claim is £500. This only covers property that is not owned by you. So if your dog is going to each some furniture make sure it’s someone else’s. Accidental damage has a £100 excess.
What does Argos Pet Insurance NOT cover?
As is normal with virtually any form of insurance no pre-existing conditions are covered, and you are duty bound to disclose any “material facts”.*
The first £65 of any claim is down to you as is any treatment lasting longer than 12 months and price wise it max’s out at the £2,500, £4,000 or £7,000 depending on the level you choose at the outset.
Obviously once the policy expires that’s the end of any treatment costs they will pay. It does not cover dental treatment unless it is caused by an accident.
Also you cannot claim for any illness or disease within the 1st 10 days. This 10 day waiting period from when the policy starts is to stop you taking out the plan and then claiming immediately. It is only a 48 hour waiting period though for an accident claim.
They don’t allow you to claim for any “preventative treatment”, which is a shame and in some ways short sighted in my view. They will however allow you to claim for repeat tick and worming treatments. Up to £1,000 for the platinum cove, £250 Gold and £150 Silver.
They do not cover “Rabies”.
Do not take this plan out if your pet is younger than 8 weeks old as it will not be covered if anything goes wrong.
You are not covered if anything happens outside the UK, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, Eire and the member countries of the PETS travel scheme.
Standard insurance exclusions, such as war, terrorist activity, etc.
They will not cover any dogs which are listed or should be listed on the UK Dangerous Dogs Act.
Again you have the industry standard 14 day right to cancel the plan for a full refund but if you wish to cancel after that date then a pro rata amount will be charged.
As with all companies regulated with the FSA they have to have a clearly defined complaints procedure for you to follow and this can be found in the policy documents. In practical terms just get in touch with them right away if there is a problem as they will wish to resolve the matter quickly.
Make sure you have the policy number handy and call them on 0845 640 0723.
Claims Procedure, ring the claim department ASAP, they have qualified veterinary nurses answering the phones which is useful. Phone the claims team on 0870 606 0523 within the opening hours:
8.00am to 6.00pm Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm Saturday.
Summary
The Argos Pet Insurance Plan offers 3 levels of cover and there should be something to suit most pet owners needs within the range. Whether it's the all singing all dancing 5 star Platinum cover or the the basic Silver plan or something in between you are after.
As we are always keen to pointy out at Petinsurance4u.co.uk we do not advise or recommend we merely aim to help put you in a more informed position before you decide which plan to take out.
Please feel free to read the other reviews on the website relating to other companies if you which to compare with other plans available.
