Debenhams Pet Insurance Review: Good Cover for Your Pet?

Debenhams Pet Insurance Review: Good Cover for Your Pet?

All around pet cover for a reasonable price with many features, but take note of when you need to submit claims

Good for

  • Lifetime policies for older pets
  • EU travel
  • Euthanasia cover

Bad for

  • Only 90 days to claim (or by renewal if sooner)
  • No dental illness cover
  • No vet helpline

Editor's Rating

3.5/5.0

The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.

Note: Debenhams is no longer offering pet insurance. Anyone with an existing Debenhams pet insurance policy can contact Purely Pets at 0333 234 0580—they've taken over Debenhams pet insurance policies. Read our review of Purely Pets here.

Debenhams offers Accident Only, Time Limited and Lifetime pet insurance for dogs and cats, but is it any good? Prices seem to be competitive and they include some nice features such as cancellation, emergency boarding, EU travel, etc. But there are some drawbacks to consider, such as no dental illness cover and a shorter time to submit claims (90 days).

Compare quotes from Debenhams against 25 providers by clicking the blue "Get Quotes" button below to see how much you can save:

Compare Cheap Pet Insurance for Your Dog or Cat

Pet cover can help with vet bills. Compare quotes from 25 providers, including Debenhams

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In This Review

There is no one "best" pet insurance—the best for you will depend on factors like price points and features that you might find valuable. Please use the information in this review to help you learn about pet insurance and narrow down your choices.

Debenhams Pet Insurance Review: What You Should Know

Debenhams offers five pet insurance policies, with your choice of Accident Only, Time Limited and Lifetime.

Plan NameType of PlanVet Cover Limit
ACCIDENT ONLY Accident Only/Time Limited£2,750 per condition
ESSENTIAL Time Limited£2,500 per condition
BASIC Lifetime£1,000 per condition, per year
EXTRA Lifetime£3,500 per year
ELITE Lifetime£8,500 per year

Debenham's plans are quite comprehensive—in addition to vet fees, and liability, they include dental injury (but not illness), euthanasia, holiday cancellation, emergency boarding, advertising & reward, EU travel, etc.

However there's no cover for burial or cremation, no dental illness cover and no 24-hour vet advice line to call with questions.

Be aware that the time to submit claims is on the short side: within 90 days, or before your renewal date (whichever comes sooner). In addition, if the total Veterinary Fees are likely to exceed £1,000 you must inform Insurance Factory Limited immediately on 0333 234 0580 for pre-authorisation; they may wish to obtain a second opinion from their veterinary advisor.

Another detail to take notice of—the annual Benefit Limit for Debenhams' cheapest Lifetime plan ("Basic") has a per condition limit. This £1,000 Benefit Limit is applied separately to every unrelated injury, illness or condition claimed for per policy period. (Meaning, you can only claim up to £1,000 each year per condition, but you could theoretically claim for multiple conditions each year, up to £1,000 for each.)

Other Key Debenhams Pet Insurance Facts

  • Dental injury due to accident covered only (not dental illness)
  • Euthanasia covered if to alleviate incurable and inhumane suffering and your vet has recommended it

While the offer may change, at the time of writing you could get a Debenhams' gift card for signing up (we've seen offers for £10 and £30 gift cards).

How to Buy Debenhams pet insurance: You can buy a Debenhams pet insurance policy from a comparison site or directly from Debenhams. When we checked, policy premiums were the same from both places.

Older Pets: In addition to the addition of a 10% variable excess for older pets, be aware that once your pet reaches 8 years of age, there is no longer cover under the Death of a Pet from Accident or Illness section of your policy.

Debenhams Pet Insurance Customer Reviews

We haven't been able to find a good source of Debenhams pet insurance customer reviews online. If you have experience with them, please leave us your opinion in the comments section at the bottom of this review.

Their car insurance is rated 3.5 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot, but that doesn't say much about the pet insurance experience, unfortunately. There, 55% rated the company as "excellent" but a third have had a "bad" experience.

Debenhams Price Comparison

We've researched prices from dozens of pet insurance policies, and found that Debenhams policies offer average value for money. Here are some sample annual costs for a young, healthy cat and dog Debenhams's 5 different plans, for comparison purposes.


Annual Cost of a New Debenhams Pet Policy, by Pet Age
Accident OnlyEssentialBasicExtraElite
Dog5 Months£91£264£338£395£527
5 Years£91£313£402£469£626
8 Years£91£522£670£784£1,045
Cat5 Months£54£209£240£300£343
5 Years£54£253£291£363£415
8 Years£54£360£415£518£592

Debenhams premiums seem to be around the average cost of pet insurance for dogs and cats. Prices will go up with your pet's age, as with most pet insurance plans, as you can see in the following chart.

chart showing a comparison of lifetime dog and cat pet insurance for Debenhams
Debenhams pet insurance prices

Debenhams Pet Insurance Notable Features

Below is a brief overview of the more notable features of Debenhams dog and cat insurance. For a complete rundown of the details and exclusions, please refer to the policy documents.

Debenhams Pet Insurance Features
Dental CoverCover for dental injuries only
Holiday CancellationCover for the cost of travel and accommodation expenses you lose up to £500 or £1,500, depending on plan, if you have to cut short/cancel a trip because you pet needs emergency lifesaving treatment/surgery while you're on holiday or in the 14 days before your holiday starts
Boarding Fees if You're UnwellBoarding costs up to £500 or £1,500, depending on plan, if you or an immediate family member are in hospital for 4 or more consecutive days, subject to some exclusions
Death and LossCover for the purchase price from £500 to £1,500, depending on the plan, if your pet strays or is lost, stolen or sadly dies from illness or injury
TravelCover for up to 30 days per policy year when travelling to member countries in the EU through the PETS travel scheme (or 90 days for Elite and Extra plans) made up of no more than 2 Holidays in total per Policy Period; provides up to the standard vet fee cover for emergency vet expenses (not for any conditions that were present before you left the UK)
Congenital & Hereditary DiseasesThese are not specifically excluded; as long as your pet showed no signs before your policy started or in the first 14 day waiting period, we think they'd be covered subject to other exclusions
Prescription DietsUp to a maximum of £100, for up to 60 days per Policy Period, as long as it is prescribed by your vet and can only be bought from a veterinary surgery or online pharmacy and it is to dissolve bladder stones or crystals in urine and for no other purpose. They will deduct 53p a tin and £1.00 per kilo as your normal feeding costs for your pet. They will not be liable for any other dietary costs under this policy. Once resolved, they will not continue to pay as a preventative measure to stop the stones re-occurring.
Cremation and Burialn/a
EuthanasiaCovered to alleviate incurable and inhumane suffering and your vet has recommended it; always excluding the costs of your pet being euthanised for financial reasons or because of behavioural problems; reimbursement depends on age
Pet Health Helplinen/a

Debenhams Coverage Amounts

EliteExtraBasicEssentialAccident Only
Policy TypeLifetimeLifetimeLifetime*12 Month12 Month
Vet Fees£8,500 per year£3,500 per year£1,000 Per Condition, per year£2,500 Per Condition£2,750 Per Condition
MRI^£1,500£1,250£1,000£1,000£1,000
Cruciate^£2,000£1,500£1,000£1,250£1,250
CT^£1,000£1,000£800£600£600
Death from illness£1,500£1,000£750£500n/a
Death from accident£1,500£1,000£750£500£500
Third party legal liability (dogs only)£1,000,000£1,000,000£1,000,000£1,000,000£1,000,000
Third party legal liability excess£100£100£100£100£100
Advertising and reward£1,500£1,000£750£500£500
Loss by theft or straying£1,500£1,000£750£500£500
Boarding fee£1,500£1,000£750£500£500
Holiday Cancellation£1,500£1,000£750£500£500
Overseas travel90 days90 days30 days30 days30 days
HelplinesYesYesYesYesYes
Pet minders helplineYesYesYesYesYes
Pay vet directYesYesYesYesYes
Find a vet helplineYesYesYesYesYes
Bereavement counselling helplineYesYesYesYesYes

^ Note: MRI, CT, Cruciate limits are sublimits within the overall vet fee limits, not in addition to the vet fee limit.

FAQs

Debenhams pet insurance is underwritten by HDI Global Specialty SE UK Branch who are registered in Germany, registration number HRB 211924. Registered Office Roderbruchstraße 26, 30655 Hannover, Germany.
Any costs for house calls/out-of-hours calls/non-essential hospitalisation and ambulance costs (where covered) are excluded unless a vet confirms that your pet was suffering from a life-endangering condition or your vet can confirm in writing that is was essential and not to have done so would have seriously worsened Your pet’s condition. If the out of hours visit was not essential Debenhams will cover the normal consultation fees only. Please note, they will not pay ambulance fees from your normal veterinary clinic to a transferred night veterinary clinic or referral clinic.
Debenhams will only pay for claims made within 90 days of the incident occurring or your renewal, if sooner. Pay particular attention to this—if an incident happens in the last three months of your policy year, you'll need to make sure to submit your claim before your renewal date. Regarding claims, also be aware of language in the policy wording that says they'll "pay the claim amount for normal and customary Veterinary Fees" that are "reasonable, necessary, essential and not excessive."
The excess and copay/variable excess are the amounts you pay toward a claim. With a Debenhams policy, the standard Veterinary Fees Excess is £85, whether you buy direct or from a comparison site. If your dog is aged 5 and over, or your cat is aged 7 and over, you also pay a 10% variable excess towards each claim for Veterinary Fees, Complementary Medicine, special diet, CT/MRI Scans and cruciate ligament claims. This is in addition to the applicable standard Excess and applies to continuation claims (meaning, besides the fixed £85 excess that is paid once per condition, per policy period—or just once per condition on Accident Only policies—you'll pay 10% of all vet bills after your pet reaches those cut-off ages).
Debenhams pet insurance covers euthanasia if recommended by your vet to alleviate incurable and inhumane suffering.

Excess Example

Wondering how the 10% copay amount works for older pets? It's calculated after the fixed amount has been deducted. Here's an example:

Example of Debenhams Excess for Dog Age 5+
Vet Fees£500
Fixed Excess£85
10% Variable Excess10% of £415 = £41.50
You Pay£85 + £41.50 = £126.50
Debenhams Pays£373.50

How does Debenhams Pet Insurance Compare to Competitors?

To better understand the value of Debenhams pet insurance you need to look at it in the context of other available options. We compared it to other plans in the market so you can see which may be more suitable for you.

Debenhams Pet Insurance vs PetPlan Pet Insurance

PetPlan Pet Insurance is the largest insurer of dogs and cats in the UK. Due to this, many vets are accustomed to submitting claims on behalf of pet owners, which might make getting reimbursed a bit easier. PetPlan policies include dental illness and injury but don't cover euthanasia. However, older pets (i.e., dogs aged 5 or 8 depending on breed, cats aged 10) are not eligible for new Lifetime policies and can only sign up for a Time Limited policy. Also, be aware that the excess increases for older pets through the addition of a 20% copay, but at potentially a higher pet age—8 years for most dogs (5 for some breeds) and 10 for cats.

Bottom Line: If you want euthanasia cover to help with the financial burden of end-of-life care should your vet decide that you pet should be put to sleep to alleviate suffering, Debenhams may be a better option. (Costs of cremation/burial aren't covered on either plan, however). If your priorities are dental illness cover, a longer time to claim or insurance from a pet specialist, then PetPlan may suit you better.

Debenhams Pet Insurance vs John Lewis Pet Insurance

John Lewis Pet Insurance offers comprehensive Lifetime plans with £3,000, £7,500 or £12,000 of vet cover. Pet owners have a long time to submit claims and have their choice of excess—so those hoping for a lower excess can choose one as low as £60. The excess will rise for older pets, however, becoming the higher of your fixed £ excess and 20% of the vet bill for each condition each year. Other features include travel for up to 3 trips up to 60 days each with your pet to EU countries that are part of the PETS scheme, dental injury (but not illness), a 24-hour vetfone, euthanasia cover, cover if your holiday is cut short due to your pet being ill and boarding cover if you are hospitalized unexpectedly. Expect to pay around £375 for £3k of cover with a £60 excess or £550 for £7.5k of cover. A higher excess will bring the price down.

Bottom Line: Another solid pet insurance option.

Debenhams Pet Insurance vs Animal Friends Pet Insurance

Animal Friends Pet Insurance is another specialist pet insurer, whose plans stand out for lower-than-average premiums (partially achieved through per condition limits, even on Lifetime plans) and they publicly state on their website that they don't penalize for claims by increasing premiums upon renewal. Those with older pets can insure their cats and dogs, as there is no upper age limit for new policies, even Lifetime cover. They don't have dental cover or a vet line to call with queries, however, plus claims need to be submitted quickly, within 90 days. Our price check showed a range of £130 to £390 for Lifetime cover for a healthy, young crossbreed dog, significantly lower than average. But beware of lower per-condition limits.

Bottom Line: Those looking for a lower-priced Lifetime plan might also want to consider Animal Friends, or those looking to insure an older pet—if you're comfortable with per-condition annual limits on Lifetime plans.

How to Claim and Other Useful Information

Erin Yurday

Erin Yurday is the Founder and Editor of NimbleFins. Prior to NimbleFins, she worked as an investment professional and as the finance expert in Stanford University's Graduate School of Business case writing team. Read more on LinkedIn.

Comments

The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.