Rescue Dog Insurance

Rescue dog insurance covers new illnesses and injuries your dog develops after the policy starts, exactly like any other dog insurance. With our lifetime cover that’s up to £5,000 of vet fees per condition, per year, refreshing each year you renew.

All four of our cover levels are open to rescue dogs: Elite lifetime cover, Vital maximum benefit, Essential time limited and accident only. Free 24/7 Vet Assist is included on our lifetime, maximum benefit and time limited policies (it isn’t available on accident only), and we can pay your vet directly.

What’s not covered: pre-existing conditions, routine and preventative care like vaccinations, and dental illness (dental cover is for accidents only). Waiting periods of 5 days for accidents and 14 days for illness apply when cover starts. Our policy documents set it all out plainly.

Yes. You don’t need a full medical history to take out a policy, plenty of rescue dogs arrive without one. You’ll just need your best information about their age and breed, which the rescue centre can usually estimate.

Where records matter is at claim time: anything your dog showed signs of before cover began counts as pre-existing, whether or not it was written down. Whatever the rescue centre or a vet has noted forms part of that picture, so it’s worth keeping any paperwork they give you.

No, pre-existing conditions aren’t covered, the same as with almost all UK pet insurance. A pre-existing condition is any illness or injury that showed signs or symptoms before the policy started, whether or not a vet had diagnosed it.

For rescues, that typically means anything treated or noted while your dog was with the rescue centre or a previous owner. Everything new after cover starts can be claimed for as normal, which is why cover taken out soon after adoption protects more of your dog’s future.

There’s no required timeframe, and it’s entirely your call. Cover only ever starts from the day you take a policy out, and waiting periods run from that date too, 5 days for accidents and 14 days for illness. Nothing that happens before then can be covered.

Some owners sort a policy for the day their dog comes home, others settle in first. The one thing worth knowing is that any condition appearing before cover starts counts as pre-existing afterwards, so the timing changes what the policy can do.

Yes, and with no upper age limit, a rescue dog of any age can start a new policy, including lifetime cover. Adopting a senior is one of the kindest things an owner can do, and age doesn’t rule them out here.

Two things to know for dogs aged eight or over: a 15% co-payment applies on top of the £90 excess when you claim, and the death benefit no longer applies. Our older dog insurance page walks through senior cover in detail.

Yes, once your dog lives with you at your home in the UK, they can be insured like any UK rescue. Our policies cover UK residents, with treatment covered in the United Kingdom, so where your dog was born doesn’t change the cover itself.

The usual rules still apply: anything that showed signs before the policy started counts as pre-existing, and waiting periods of 5 days for accidents and 14 days for illness run from the start date. Keep any health paperwork the rescue charity gives you, it all helps build your dog’s picture.

Microchipping is a legal requirement for all dogs over 8 weeks old in the UK, and rescue centres routinely chip and register dogs before rehoming, so your rescue will almost certainly arrive with one.

Your job is simply to update the registered details to your name and address when you adopt. It’s the single best way of getting a lost dog home, and it keeps you on the right side of the law too.

Both are fair ways to handle vet bills, and the right one depends on your finances and how you’d cope with a sudden large bill. Insurance suits owners who’d struggle to find hundreds or thousands at short notice; savings suit those with a healthy fund already set aside.

The catch with savings is time. A rescue dog can need expensive treatment in their first months home, long before a pot has built up, whereas cover works once waiting periods have passed. Some owners do a bit of both.

Whichever way you lean, the decision is entirely yours. Weigh up what cover would give you against what you’d comfortably put aside, and take your time over it.

You can claim by downloading a claim form, completing it with your vet and sending it to us with your dog’s clinical history. Most claims are assessed within 5 working days, and 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 settle them in, we’ll handle the paperwork.