ManyPets (formerly Bought By Many) Pet Insurance Review

ManyPets (formerly Bought By Many) Pet Insurance Review

Innovative cover with features that real pet owners want. See how Bought By Many is different than alternatives in the UK market.

Good for

  • Vet fee policies include unlimited free video vet appointments
  • Cover for older pets
  • A plan for pre-existing conditions
  • All previous conditions cease to be "pre-existing" after 2 years
  • Euthanasia cover
  • Competitive prices

Bad for

  • Dental illness only available on their top-tier "Complete" plan

Editor's Rating

4.3/5.0

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.

Between rave customer reviews and award-winning cover, ManyPets pet insurance is considered to be one of the best pet insurance companies in the UK. But how do the customer reviews, prices and features really compare? Let's find out. When you're ready to get a quote for your pet, click here.

In This Review

ManyPets Pet Insurance Review

ManyPets is an owner-friendly pet insurance brand that listens to pet owners to create plans that owners want, such as cover for pre-existing conditions and an option to get 20% money back if you don't claim with some policies. Given how much pet insurance premiums rise for older pets, this can be a real bonus. As can cover for pre-existing conditions since only a handful of companies cover pre-existing conditions. (In fact, we rate ManyPets as the best provider of pre-existing pet insurance in the UK.)

Additionally, strong customer reviews and solid features make ManyPets an attractive option for pet insurance. But which policy would be best for you? Let's see what ManyPets has to offer.

ManyPets offers many different Lifetime cover options and a Liability Only plan. Here's a quick overview of their Lifetime policies so you can roughly see how they differ. For more information on the details and exclusions, please refer to the policy and coverage options or the policy documents.

ManyPets Policy Overview
Complete£15,000 of Lifetime cover, including cover for dental illness
Regular£5,000 or £7,000 of Lifetime cover; option to pay no excess
Value£3,000 or £4,000 of Lifetime cover; option to pay no excess
Pre-existing£7,000 of Lifetime cover; £1,500 cover for pre-existing conditions once treatment-, medication- or advice-free for 3 months

ManyPets Stand Out Features

Why choose ManyPets? There are many reasons! Here are a few:

  • Pet Insurance Provider of the Year at the 2024 Moneyfacts Consumer Awards
  • Peace of mind through unlimited vet video calls, available 24/7
  • Cover for conditions that ended at least two years ago, plus a policy that can cover pre-existing conditions
  • Choose a pay monthly option, at no extra cost
  • Rated 4.3/5 on Feefo (year through July 2024), which is really quite high for an insurance brand, and thousands more 5* reviews than other pet insurers
  • Free and discounted flea, tick and wormer (read more here)
  • They can cover behavioural and complementary treatments
  • You can claim a free Amazon.co.uk Gift Card worth at least £20 when a friend joins us from your referral
  • They can insure pets from 4-weeks old, and have no upper age limit
  • They can pay your vet directly, to take the stress away from claiming

In particular, ManyPets Lifetime policies are notable for a few reasons, such as euthanasia cover, a 24/7 vet helpline and favourable treatment of previous conditions. Lifetime plans include:

  • Unlimited vet video calls available 24/7 (and it doesn't affect your renewal price if you use it)
  • Cover for travelling abroad with your pet (not on the Value plan)
  • If your pet hasn't had treatment, advice or medication for a previous condition in the past 24 months, that condition is no longer considered "pre existing"
  • £300 for euthanasia
  • Dental illness (Complete plan only)
  • Lifetime cover for older pets

ManyPets Customer Reviews

Is ManyPets any good? We think so. Not only does the company offer cover when others won't (e.g., for older pets and pre-existing conditions) but the customer reviews for ManyPets are really quite good. That said, we do think there is a backlog in claims right now, but they have apparently been working to hire more team members to speed things up.

Close to 3.9 customers have rated ManyPets with 18344 stars on Trustpilot. Their ratings have dropped slightly in the past year, but all around customers seem quite happy.

To find out what real customers have to say, we scoured online customer reviews to look for common complaints and see what people really like. The only common problem we noticed was related to the time to receive settlement for a claim, with some customers unhappy that the settlement process took weeks or even longer—that said, there were also many comments praising the ease and speed of the ManyPets claims process. Perhaps it depends on your expectations and also the difficulty of the specific situation. Here are some quotes from ManyPets customers:

"The most important part of insurance is when it comes to paying out. Manypets make this so simple and quibble free, fill in and submit an online form and its sorted within days. So happy with this and would happily recommend."

"A stressful morning at the vets followed by a £302 bill for which I submitted the receipts to Many Pets early that afternoon. I was shocked and delighted to see the money go into my account before 5pm THE SAME DAY!! Well done Many Pets. I’ve since told everyone this story. X"

"Such a useful service, very professional. Got an appointment within 30 minutes of logging on. It was too late to visit our local vet, so to be able to get reassurance about our dog quickly was very helpful. The fact that the video enabled the vet to "examine" him, visually assess etc makes this a great addition to our insurance policy."

"... I still haven’t received payment almost £1000. I have contacted BBM via telephone and email only to be told they have a back log of claims..."

"Fast hassle free payment—great claim web site."

"Extremely easy to navigate the website to find the perfect policy for my dog."

"Very easy to make claim ManyPets sorted everything out."

"Great price compared to my previous insurer."

Top tip to save time on recurring claims: So that you don't have to reenter all the information for continuation claims, you should be able to upload the relevant treatment information directly to the claim at the time of submission or attach this to an email in correspondence with your claim ID.

ManyPets Excess

Until your pet turns 9, you can choose a pet insurance excess on ManyPets policies of £69, £99, £130 or £160; you can also opt for a 20% contribution to each claim (in addition to the fixed £ excess). The higher burden you take on (via a higher excess), the lower your premium should be. For example, choosing the £99 excess instead of the £69 excess drops the premium by roughly a few quid each month.

Once your pet turns 9, the excess for older pets is higher, because in addition to the fixed £ excess, paying 20% of claims becomes mandatory.

ManyPets Excess
Under age 9£69, £99, £130 or £160 (+ 20% is optional)
Age 9+£69, £99, £130 or £160 + 20%

ManyPets Insurance for Older Pets

There is no upper age limit on most new ManyPets policies. Older dogs can still get Lifetime cover through the Compete and Regular plans, even if they are older when you apply.

Owners of older pets will pay a larger share of vet bills due to the 20% copay for older pets, which is paid in addition to the fixed £ excess. As your pet ages and is likely to suffer increased health problems, ManyPets expects you to contribute more towards the cost of care. Typically a 20% excess (in addition to the fixed excess) is introduced at your pet's 9th birthday.

In contrast, they will cover pets as young as 4 weeks (which is younger than many other providers).

ManyPets Prices and Quote Comparison

According to our research, ManyPets is cheaper-than-average when it comes to value for money. Compared to the average cost of pet insurance, prices are usually attractive for the cover you get.

Direct quote comparisons can be tricky for pet insurance, since coverage levels, features and excess amounts vary across insurers, but we've compared the ManyPets Lifetime policies to competing lifetime policies with a range of vet cover limits to get a rough idea of how prices compare in the chart below.

chart showing how ManyPets dog insurance quotes compare to the average in the market
ManyPets has relatively attractive prices

As you can see, prices are towards the low-to-mid end of the market. We should point out that we think ManyPets offers some attractive features relative to the 'cheaper' options—in other words, we think ManyPets offers good value for money. For example, Tesco was cheaper in our tests but Tesco only gives you 60 days to submit claims. Same with Scratch & Patch, the other 'cheaper' option in our tests.

ManyPets Claims

To claim with ManyPets, customers use their online Snap Claims system—there are no paper forms like you'll find with most other pet insurance companies. To claim, simply:

  • Log in to your account
  • Click on 'My account'
  • Click on 'My quotes & policies'
  • Choose the policy you want to make a claim on.
  • Click "Make a claim"
  • Be ready to provide your vet's details and the amount you're claiming, and to upload a photo of your vet invoice (preferably itemised).

Once you've initiated the claim, ManyPets will contact the vet and keep you updated by text message as the claim progresses. Customers stuck along the way can call ManyPets at 0333 130 4552.

ManyPets is also willing to pay your vet directly, which you can indicate during the online claims process.

How long do you have to submit claims? ManyPets gives policyholders a year to submit claims after the event that caused it. This claim window is quite advantageous compared to many offerings in the pet insurance market. Some alternatives require that each claim is submitted individually, even for ongoing treatment, or have claims windows as short as 60 days. We view this feature as a major positive for ManyPets.

Types of ManyPets Policies

ManyPets offers two types of policies—Lifetime and Accident Only. Lifetime policies can protect a pet owner against the financial strain of recurring/chronic injuries/illnesses over the course of the pet's life, and ManyPets offers six different types to suit a variety of needs, from budget to premium and cover for pre-existing conditions. You even have the option to get money back if you don't claim in some cases.

ManyPets PoliciesVet fee coverType of coverDental coverLegal (dogs only)Pre-existing conditions cover
Complete£15,000LifetimeAccidents and illness£3mCover for conditions that ended 2 years ago
Regular£5,000 or £7,000LifetimeAccidents only£2mCover for conditions that ended 2 years ago
Pre-existing£7,000LifetimeAccidents only£2m£1,500 for pre-existing conditions once pet has been free from treatment, medication or advice for three months; after 2 years of no treatment, medication or advice for a condition, it's no longer classed as "pre-existing"
Value£3,000 or £4,000LifetimeAccidents only£1mCover for conditions that ended 2 years ago

They used to offer a money-back option where you could get 20% of the premium back if you didn't make a claim, but they are no longer selling this policy.

ManyPets Complete

ManyPets' highest-tier policy is their "Complete" plan. The Complete plan includes £15,000 of lifetime vet fee cover including dental (accident & illness) and £2,500 of cover for travelling abroad with your pet.

ManyPets Regular

ManyPets' Regular plan includes up to £5,000 or £7,000 of annually renewing vet cover.

ManyPets Value

ManyPets' Value plan includes your choice of up to £3,000 or £4,000 of annually renewing vet cover.

ManyPets MoneyBack

No longer for sale. Policyholders get 20% of their premium back each year that they don't receive a claim payout. How much is this really worth? ManyPets reported that customers who didn't claim got back £69 on average.

ManyPets Pre-Existing Conditions

£1,500 of vet fee cover for pre-existing conditions so long as your pet has been treatment, medication and advice free for three months before the treatment you’re claiming for. (A pre-existing condition is anything that occurred in the two years before your policy started.) Once they cover a pre-existing condition, they will continue to cover it no matter how often treatment is needed up to the annual £1,500 limit. If, after two years, your pet hasn’t needed any treatment, medication or advice for a pre-existing condition it will no longer be classed as pre-existing and you can use your full £7,000 vet fee limit for it in future if you need to.

FAQs

ManyPets pet insurance is now underwritten by Wakam SA (Wakam). Wakam is authorized and regulated by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR)—they used to be underwritten by Great Lakes.
ManyPets is a pet insurance company that used to be called 'Bought by Many'.
ManyPets can pay the vet direct—which you can indicate in the Snap Claims system when you make a claim.
ManyPets has impressive customer reviews and unique features, making them a solid choice to consider.
Once a claim is approved, ManyPets will pay by BACS transfer direct to your account.
Yes. ManyPets offers a 15% multi-pet discount, even if they're on different policies.

ManyPets Phone Number

If you have any remaining questions, you can call ManyPets:

Get in Touch with ManyPetsContact NumbersOpen Times
Claims0333 130 45529-5 Monday to Friday
Customer Service0345 340 4090Monday to Friday 9 to 7 and Saturday 9 to 5:30

Other Useful Information

How does ManyPets Insurance Compare to Competitors?

To better understand the value of ManyPets 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.

ManyPets Insurance vs Agria Pet Insurance

Agria Pet Insurance offers comprehensive Lifetime plans for lower-than-average prices. They're able to charge lower premiums by having the pet owner pay a 10% copay in addition to the fixed excess (of £95 or £160 for dogs, £85 or £160 for cats). We like that Agria is a specialist pet insurer with a long history. Agria plans offer some desirable features, such as dental, euthanasia and cremation/burial, plus congenital conditions are not excluded. The cost for a young, healthy crossbreed dog is around £350 per year for a plan with £6,500 of vet cover and a £95 fixed excess + 10% copay; a British shorthair with an £85 excess + 10% copay would cost around £325 for the same level of cover.

Bottom Line: If you want a lower upfront premium, Agria can be a good option—but you'll have to pay a larger share of any vet bills that arise. Agria doesn't cover pre-existing conditions.

ManyPets Insurance vs Petplan Pet Insurance

Petplan Pet Insurance offers time limited and Lifetime cover with limits from £3,000 to £12,000. Pet owners have a year to submit claims many vets are accustomed to working with Petplan, and can therefore submit claims on your behalf. A 20% copay is introduced on top of the fixed excess (e.g., £110 for dogs on Lifetime policies) for pets (aged 10+ in most cases).

Dental injury and illness are covered, but there's no 24-hour vetfone or euthanasia cover.

Bottom Line: The excess is higher with Petplan, and they don't cover pre-existing cover. Petplan is, however, the UK's largest insurer and they're known for quick payouts.

ManyPets Insurance vs Animal Friends Pet Insurance

Animal Friends Pet Insurance is a 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. Animal Friends also accepts older pets onto Lifetime cover. They don't have dental cover or a vet line to call with queries, however, plus claims need to be submitted more quickly, within 90 days.

Bottom Line: If finding a budget price is your main priority, try comparing quotes from Animal Friends against ManyPets' Value plan.

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.

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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.