Older Dog Insurance

Older dog insurance covers new illnesses and injuries your dog develops after the policy starts. With our lifetime cover, that’s up to £5,000 of vet fees per condition, per year, with no upper age limit and no cap on the number of conditions you can claim for.

It comes into its own with the conditions vets see most in senior dogs, like arthritis, heart disease, kidney problems and lumps that need investigating, as long as they’re new and not something your dog already had. Complementary treatments like physiotherapy and hydrotherapy are covered too, when your vet recommends them.

Some things sit outside the cover: pre-existing conditions, routine care like vaccinations and boosters, and dental illness (dental cover is for accidents only). The death benefit also no longer applies once a dog turns eight, and for dogs aged eight or over a 15% co-payment applies on top of the £90 excess. Our policy documents spell all of this out plainly.

No. Perfect Pet has no upper age limit on any policy, including lifetime cover, so you can start a new policy for a senior dog of any age. Many insurers stop offering lifetime cover past a certain age, but yours is never too old with us.

Cover carries on for as long as you renew, too. A lifetime policy started at ten keeps renewing at twelve, fourteen and beyond, with your vet fee limit refreshing each year.

The co-payment is a 15% share of each claim that you pay once your dog turns eight. It applies on top of the £90 excess: you pay the excess first, then 15% of the remaining eligible claim amount, and we cover the rest up to your limit.

As an example, on an eligible £1,000 vet bill you’d pay the £90 excess, then 15% of the remaining £910 (£136.50), so £226.50 in total, and we’d pay the £773.50 that’s left. Your policy schedule confirms the excess and co-payment that apply to you.

Arthritis, lumps and growths, heart disease, kidney disease and thyroid problems are among the most common reasons older dogs see a vet. A policy taken out before these appear can cover the new ones; anything already diagnosed counts as pre-existing.

Signs can be easy to miss early on, a stiff first few steps, drinking more water, slowing down on walks. Our free 24/7 Vet Assist line means you can talk to a real vet nurse the moment something seems off, without it counting as a claim.

You can switch dog insurance providers at any age, and there’s no upper age limit on starting a new policy with us. The main thing to weigh up is that conditions your dog developed under your old policy count as pre-existing under a new one.

That trade-off matters more for older dogs, so it’s worth checking what your dog is currently being treated for before moving. If your dog has a clean bill of health, switching works the same as it would for a younger dog, with waiting periods of 5 days for accidents and 14 days for illness at the start.

Dental cover on our policies is for accidents only, so a broken tooth from a fall or a knock can be claimed for, but dental illness, routine cleaning and gum disease can’t. That’s worth knowing for senior dogs, as dental issues get more common with age.

The policy wording sets out exactly what counts as dental cover, and our Vet Assist nurses can help you work out whether a problem looks like injury or illness before you claim.

Premiums usually rise as dogs age, because the chance of illness increases, and your price can also change at renewal. That’s normal across pet insurance rather than something unique to us, and your renewal always sets out what’s staying the same and what’s changed.

Choosing a different vet fee limit is one way to manage the cost, and you can pay monthly to spread the cost, or annually, whichever suits.

Yes. Lifetime cover has no upper age limit with us, so a dog aged 10, 12 or older can start an Elite lifetime policy. Their vet fee limit, up to £5,000 per condition, refreshes every year you renew, so new ongoing conditions stay covered.

The one thing lifetime cover can’t do is reach back in time: conditions your dog already has count as pre-existing, which is why cover tends to do more the earlier it starts.

You can claim by downloading a claim form, completing it with your vet and sending it to us with your dog’s clinical history. We can pay your vet directly so you’re not left finding the money first. Claims need to reach us within 90 days of treatment, and our claims team can talk you through anything you’re unsure about. You focus on your dog, we’ll handle the rest.