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.

How Much is Pet Insurance for a Labrador Retriever?

Compare Pet Insurance for Labradors

Pet cover can help with vet bills. Protect your Labrador today.

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Labrador Retrievers are once again the most popular dogs in the UK (they had been for decades but were briefly beaten out by the cute but very-expensive-to-insure French Bulldog in 2018). Whilst Labradors are luckily much cheaper to insure than a Frenchie, Lab owners will still pay at least £370 per year for Lifetime cover, with costs rising with the age of the dog and for more premium plans. We've researched dozens of UK pet insurance plans for Labs to learn more. Here's what we found.

Average Cost of Labrador Insurance

Our research discovered that the average cost of cheap Labrador insurance is £8 a month for Accident Only insurance and starts from around £28 per month for plans that cover both accidents and illnesses. Amongst accident & illness plans, the cheapest plans are usually Time Limited, which start from around £23/month for a Lab; next are Max Benefit plans, which start from around £30/month, and Lifetime, which start from around £31 a month.

The "best" type of pet insurance for a Lab is Lifetime cover, because the vet fee limit renews each year and it covers both accidents and illnesses. There is a wide range of price points available in the UK market, with the most expensive costing up to 6X more than the cheapest plans. Below we show the low end of pricing so you can see the least amount you'd need to budget for cover.

How much is Pet Insurance for a Labrador Puppy?Monthly PremiumPer Year
12 Month Time Limited£23.1£276.7
Max Benefit per Condition£30.6£367.0
Lifetime£31.1£372.8

With Lifetime plans, the vet limit resets each year when you renew your policy. This means that you have a full pot to draw from each year, which is especially beneficial for recurring conditions or those taking a long time to treat. As a result, Lifetime pet insurance is typically the most comprehensive type of cover—and also the most expensive. That said, prices are not that much higher than Max Benefit cover so Lifetime cover can actually be good value for money.

Chart showing the average cost of Labrador Retriever pet insurance

Insuring a Lab costs roughly 20% more than the average price of dog insurance for a crossbreed dog.

To put these costs into perspective, the average cost to insure a young Lab is 24% of the average amount spent per person on food each year in the UK. By the time your beloved dog has reached the age of 7, the cost of Lifetime cover for a Lab rises to close to 50% of average food spend per person. Whether you own a Lab already or are considering adding one to your family, use our research on the average cost of Labrador insurance to make informed decisions that fit within your budget.

How Age Affects the Cost of Labrador Insurance

Accident & illness pet insurance increases with age, most notably doubling in price by the time a Lab turns 8 years old or so. Why? Older pets are more likely to suffer from illnesses that require ongoing medical attention, just like humans.

How much is Pet Insurance for an Older Labrador?Monthly Premium
Puppy£27.6
1 year£25.4
3 years£28.1
5 years£36.2
7 years£47.5
9 years£60.2
11 years£67.8

Insurance is also a bit more expensive for young puppies than dogs a year or two older—perhaps not a surprise for anyone who has ever raised a curious pup! Tennis ball for lunch, anyone?

Cost of Labrador pet insurance by age of dog
The cost to insure a Labrador rises significantly with age for Lifetime cover.

Getting the Best Price

Where does this leave you? Given that insuring a Lab costs more than the average cost of dog insurance for a mixed breed or some smaller breeds, and premiums can vary widely from provider to provider, it's a good idea to compare prices to know if you're getting a good deal or not. You can do this by getting quotes from individual insurance providers and also by checking prices using pet insurance comparison.

Compare Pet Insurance for Labradors

Pet cover can help with vet bills. Protect your Labrador today.

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FAQs

Dog insurance for a Labrador puppy starts from around £23 for a Time Limited policy, £30 for a Max Benefit policy and £31 for a Lifetime policy. Click here to learn more.
The price of pet insurance for a Lab increases each year (click here to learn more). Pet insurance for a Labrador starts from £28 for accident & illness cover for a puppy and climbs gradually, essentially doubling in price by around 7 years of age.

Methodology

In order to determine the average cost of pet insurance for Labrador Retrievers, we gathered sample quotes from 6 dozen plans across nearly two dozen pet insurance companies. We then separated the data by Accident Only, Time Limited, Max Benefit and Lifetime in order to determine average costs by type of cover. We took the 5 cheapest quotes available with a minimum of £2,000 of cover for each type and averaged the results. This gives a proxy for the cost of "cheaper" cover in the UK—you can certainly pay more than this if you want higher coverage limits, for example. We also changed the age of the pet to gain an understanding of how the cost to insure a Lab increases with age.

You might want to consider some of the best, cheap Lifetime pet insurance providers, which may offer relatively attractive prices for Labrador health insurance.

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.