It’s every pet owner’s worst nightmare – an unanticipated emergency trip to the veterinary doctor after finding out that your furry friend is seriously injured or ill. These times are difficult for your pet and yourself, and the least you want to worry about is how to handle the vet bill. Pet insurance is a blessing in these kinds of situations, allowing you to afford the best treatment for your lovely pet without compromise, or having to make a heartbreaking decision.
Of course, choosing the right Pet insurance company may also be a pretty stressful and confusing moment. That is why we have made this series of pet insurance guides for you to look at – so you will be able to find the best deal and provider for you.
“Research suggests that Emerald Pet Insurance offer excellent value for money and are very competitively priced for the high levels of cover provided. Even taking into account the optional extras. When these are removed, they are even more competitively priced.”
– Thatsinsurance.com
Today, we will be doing an in-depth review of Argos dog pet insurance policies to see if this is the perfect provider for you and your pet. Let’s begin!
Table of Contents
Who Are Argos Pet Insurance?
Argos is a brand that many people know and trust, and many have found them to be reliable and honest when it comes to business practice. Argos is a British retailer that was established in late 1972 and is currently a subsidiary of Sainsbury’s. Along with its retail stores, Argos also offers financial services including credit cards and has started offering pet insurance since 2002. Argos Pet Insurance is underwritten by Pinnacle, which also underwrites many other UK pet insurance brands.
Types of Argos Dog and Cat Insurance Policies
Argos offers three types of pet insurance—Maximum Benefit, Time Limited, and Lifetime, with vet cover ranging from £2,500 and up to £7,000.
Argos Maximum Benefit
The Maximum Benefit plan will cover vet fees for new illnesses and accidental injuries up to a maximum of £2,000 or £5,000 per condition. This limit per condition is not reinstated and once it is all used up, you won’t be able to claim further treatment for that condition.
Argos Time Limited Plans
There are two levels of Time-Limited plans that will cover vet fees of £2,500 and £4,000 for up to 12 months from the start of treatment. Once the limit is used up or the 12 month period has passed, you will no longer be able to make a claim for that specific illness or injury.
Argos Lifetime plans
Argos’s Lifetime plan is available with both £2,000, £4,500, or £7,000 of cover, which provides protection for all conditions throughout your pet’s life with no time limitations for treatment. Your vet fee limit is topped u with every yearly renewal.
If you use up the whole vet cover limit in any policy year, you won’t be paid for any more vet fees until your policy is renewed.
For Lifetime plans, the excess is paid once per condition for the whole year. The fixed excess is set at only £65.
For example, if your cat is being treated for an ongoing ear infection, you’ll need to pay the excess for the first claim in each policy year.
Let’s see what are the three different levels of the lifetime policy from Argos Pet Insurance:
Argos Pet Insurance Silver Cover – £2,500
- Up to £2,500 of cover per condition for 1 year.
- Advertising and reward up to £250.
- Theft or straying up to £250.
- Death from illness up to £250.
- Death from an accident up to £250.
- Pet funeral care up to £100.
- Holiday cancellation up to £250.
- Kennels up to £150.
- Public liability of £1 million.
Argos Pet Insurance Gold Cover – £4,000
- Up to £4,000 of cover per condition for 1 year.
- Advertising and reward up to £750.
- Theft or straying up to £750.
- Death from illness up to £750.
- Death from an accident up to £750.
- Pet funeral care up to £100.
- Accidental damage up to £500.
- Holiday cancellation up to £1,500.
- Kennels up to £500.
- Public liability of £1.5 million.
Argos Pet Insurance Platinum Cover – £7,000
- Up to £7,000 of cover per condition for 1 year.
- Advertising and reward up to £1,000.
- Theft or straying up to £1,500.
- Death from illness up to £1,500.
- Death from an accident up to £1,500.
- Pet funeral care up to £100.
- Accidental damage up to £500.
- Holiday cancellation up to £3,000.
- Kennels up to £1,000.
- Public liability of £2 million.
Argos Pet Insurance Cost
The price of the pet insurance will vary widely depending on factors such as age, breed, existing illnesses, which part of the UK you live in, etc. But in order to provide you with a sample of Argos Pet Insurance pricing, we have asked them what is the cost for several breeds, and here is what we got:
- Maximum benefit – We asked for a quote for our 4-year-old mixed breed and we have received an offer of £385 per year.
- Lifetime Policy – We requested a quote for our 5-year-old Labrador Retriever and the final price was £573 per year which is almost £50 per month
- Time-Limited Policy – Lastly, we have requested a quote for our 3-year-old mixed breed cat and the price was £198 per year
And if you are interested in requesting a quote from
Customer Reviews Of Argos Pet Insurance
Waggel has a rating of 2.9 out of 5 stars in Trustpilot with over 800 reviews. Over 60% of the people rated Waggel as “Excellent”, and they say that they are pretty satisfied with the fast and simple claims, great website, and the very straightforward process of requesting a quote for their pet.
We have managed to find a lot of negative reviews as well. Up to 20% of the customers rated their services as “Bad” – the reason for this was because of problems with their claims not getting paid, high renewal premiums after the first year, and cancelling problems.
Here are some of the customer reviews from real and genuine customers:
“It was a really straightforward process, felt reassuring and easy. To start I received a really good value and extensive cover. The true review though will be how well the claim will be dealt with, though hopefully, this won’t be necessary.” – Fiona R.
“Seems OK at first but then the price rockets as your pet gets older. I didn’t realise that renewal was automatic and thought I had cancelled, due to confusion and distress dealing with all the paperwork after my husband’s death and had had 3 months of very expensive insurance taken from my bank account until I noticed and phoned them up.That comes at a time when my household income has dropped alarmingly and I’m really worried about finances. This is not what I need.” – Justin M.
“Scam folks dont sign! Absolutely a terrible experience with this company and a total waste of my money. Made a claim and they just rejected it saying they haven’t received the right info they need of the vet but they’ve been sent the info 4 times!!! Scam company just takes your every month and does absolutely nothing when u need them” – Gemma H.
Make a Claim From Argos
The Argos claim process can be completed in five really simple steps, and they are clearly explained on their website. To give you an idea of how the process works, we have posted the steps here:
#1. Review your policy to make sure that your claim is covered by their pet insurance.
#2. You can make a claim by downloading a claim form from the Argos pet insurance website. You will then need to send the form to claims@argospetinsurance.co.uk or you can simply call them at +0345 078 7500.
#3. Next up, you need to ask your vet doctor to fill in all the sections of the form. You will need to provide the following information:
- Policy number
- Details of the claim
- Your pet’s medical history
- Any relevant receipts
- Any additional information you feel could be useful
#4. Argos Pet Insurance strives to assess your claim within 5 working days, but some claims may take even longer – up to 15 days. You can track the progress of your claim on their official website dashboard.
#5. Once you have received information that your claim has been approved, Argos Pet will either pay you or your vet directly or as you prefer.
Alternatives to Waggel Pet Insurance
To better understand the value of Argos Pet Insurance we have compared this insurer to Emerald Life to see which may be more suitable for you and your pet.
Emerald Life is an excellent alternative to Argos pet insurance. A lot of the customers at Argos have argued about the higher renewal prices and slow customer support.
Emerald Life Pet insurance is very clear when it comes to renewal prices and has pretty fast and polite customer support that will get back to you as soon as possible.
Even though Argo’s pet insurance policies are overall great they are priced at a pretty expensive price, pet owners might be looking for a more affordable option.
Emerald Life pet insurance offers you the best value for your pet and has the most comprehensive plans. It starts at only **$2.59 per week which makes it ***$10.36 per month. This is one of the most affordable packages when compared to all the other UK pet insurance providers.
- Four levels cover up to £7,500
- Pay monthly at no extra cost
- Use your preferred vet
- Starts at only **2.59 per week
At Emerald Life, we always put the customers in the first place. If you are interested in learning more about Emerald Life Pet Insurance, then be sure to check out this blog, where we completely explain everything about pet insurance policies. Or if you want to get a quote right now, then just click here. Our customer support is available 24/7 and is always open to any kind of questions and requests.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this short guide to Argos pet insurance has helped you to understand what type of policies they are offering, as well as give you an idea of what you are looking for from an insurance company. What did you think about Argos pet insurance? We love to hear from you, so let us know in the comment section below.
FAQ
Is there a waiting period before the Argos Pet Insurance starts?
You won’t be able to claim for death or treatment for accidental injury within the first 3 days of the beginning of your policy plan.
You won’t be able to make a claim for death or treatment for any illness within the first 14 days of the beginning of the insurance plan.
And lastly, you are unable to claim if your cat or dog is stolen or strays within the first 14 days of the policy.
How do you cancel Argos pet insurance?
To cancel Argos pet insurance you will need to call 0344 543 1053. You may get a pro-rata proportion of the premium already paid if you haven’t made any claims during the year— to see all the other details be sure to check page 17 of their Policy Wording which can be also found on their website.
– If you cancel within the 14 days cooling-off period and haven’t made a single claim, Argos will refund your premium in full.
– If you cancel the policy outside the 14-day window, and haven’t made any claims, then Argos will only refund the portion of the premium that isn’t used.
– If you cancel outside the 14-day window and have made claims, then Argos will not refund anything.
Does Argos Pet Insurance offer a multi-pet discount?
Yes, they are currently offering a multi-pet discount, but be sure to double-check! If you have more than one pet that you want to cover, you are qualified for a discount. Whether you insure your pets with the Maximum Benefit, Lifetime, or Time-Limited policy, you will get a 10% discount per pet for every month they’re insured.
