Pet insurance is an insurance policy that can cover the cost of any veterinary treatment should your pet fall ill or get injured. The Insurance Emporium offers a range of insurance policies including caravan, equine, wedding and pet insurance. In this review, we will be looking at The Insurance Emporium's pet insurance policies including the key features, the different policies and how much it costs.
We recommend you read the review in full however you can skip to sections of the review using the following links:
- Who is The Insurance Emporium?
- The Insurance Emporium key features
- What does The Insurance Emporium cover?
- The Insurance Emporium policy types
- The Insurance Emporium policy exclusions
- How much does The Insurance Emporium pet insurance cost?
- The Insurance Emporium pet insurance policy excess
- How to make a claim with The Insurance Emporium
- The Insurance Emporium customer reviews
- Alternatives to The Insurance Emporium
- The Insurance Emporium pros and cons
- Summary
What is The Insurance Emporium?
The Insurance Emporium is a trading name of the Equine & Livestock Insurance Company Limited which also trades under 13 other names including e&l insurance, horse-insurance.co.uk and pet-insurance.co.uk. Equine and Livestock Insurance has been offering multiple insurances for over 70 years and prides itself in offering ' first-class claims and customer service, comprehensive cover and competitive premiums.'
The Insurance Emporium offers a range of pet insurance policies for cats and dogs, as well as senior policies for older pets. The Insurance Emporium offers all levels of dog and cat insurance which we cover in more detail below.
The Insurance Emporium key features
- Dog and Cat insurance
- Insurance for senior pets
- Equine insurance
- 20% introductory discount
- 10% multi-pet discount
- My Emporium customer portal to access your policy documents online
What does The Insurance Emporium cover?
The Insurance Emporium offers a range of pet cover, including:
Public Liability Only (dogs only)
The Insurance Emporium's Public Liability Only insurance protects you financially up to £1.5 million if your dog should cause damage to property or harm another individual. It does not provide vet fee cover for veterinary treatment due to illness or injury.
Accident-only
The Insurance Emporium's accident-only pet insurance covers the cost of veterinary treatment up to £3,000 per injury your pet sustains as a result of an accident. It does not cover the cost of treatment due to illness.
To find out more about accident-only pet insurance and how it works, read our article 'Accident-only pet insurance explained'.
Time-limited
The Insurance Emporium's time-limited pet insurance covers the cost of veterinary treatment up to £6,000 per illness or injury up until the set limit or for a set period of time (365 days from the date of the condition). For example, your pet will be insured up to £6,000 per condition for a period of 365 days or up until the £6,000 limit is reached. The Insurance Emporium has three time-limited pet insurance policies ranging from Bronze, Silver and Gold.
To find out more about time-limited pet insurance and how it works, read our article 'Time-limited pet insurance explained'.
Maximum Benefit
The Insurance Emporium's maximum benefit pet insurance covers the cost of veterinary treatment up to £7,500 per illness or injury. For example, your pet will be insured for up to £7,500 per condition for the duration of the policy or until the limit is reached. The Insurance Emporium has three maximum benefit pet insurance policies ranging from Bronze, Silver and Gold.
You can find out more about maximum benefit pet insurance in our article, 'Maximum benefit pet insurance explained'.
Lifetime
The Insurance Emporium's lifetime pet insurance covers the cost of veterinary treatment up to an annual amount of £8,000 per illness or injury. For example, your pet will be insured for up to £8,000 per condition per year, the limit will renew each year for the duration of the policy. The Insurance Emporium has three lifetime pet insurance policies ranging from Bronze, Silver and Gold.
To find out more about lifetime pet insurance, read our article 'Lifetime pet insurance explained'.
The Insurance Emporium policy types
The Insurance Emporium has 11 pet insurance policies to choose from and in the below comparison tables, we summarise the level of cover you can expect from the varying Insurance Emporium pet insurance policies. If you choose to pay your premium annually there is a lower level of vet fee cover for each of the policies. For example, the Lifetime Gold policy chosen to be paid monthly has £8,000 of vet fee cover but if you choose an annual policy there is only £6,500 of vet fee cover. The amount of cover for public liability also reduces to £1million from £1.5million.
A comparison of The Insurance Emporium pet insurance policies
The following policies are based on premiums that are paid monthly - either lunar monthly (every 28 days) or calendar monthly (every calendar month). If you choose to pay your premium annually there are some differences in the level of cover that you receive. More information can be found on The Insurance Emporium website.
(Scroll to see the full table)
| Lifetime Gold | Lifetime Silver | Lifetime Bronze | Maximum Benefit Gold | Maximum Benefit Silver | Maximum Benefit Bronze | Time-Limited Gold | Time-Limited Silver | Time-Limited Bronze | Accident-Only |
Public Liability Only
|
|
| Vet fee cover | £8,000 | £5,000 | £2,500 | £7,500 | £4,500 | £2,000 | £6,000 | £4,000 | £1,500 | £3,000 |  |
| Death | £1,500 | £1,250 | £1,000 | £1,500 | £1,250 | £1,000 | £1,500 | £1,250 | £1,000 | |
|
| Boarding fee cover | £1,250 | £1,000 | £750 | £1,250 | £1,000 | £750 | £1,250 | £1,000 | £750 | |
|
| Holiday cancellation cover | £1,750 | £1,500 | £1,250 | £1,750 | £1,500 | £1,250 | £1,750 | £1,500 | £1,250 | |
|
| Loss or theft | £1,500 | £1,250 | £1,000 | £1,500 | £1,250 | £1,000 | £1,500 | £1,250 | £1,000 | |
|
| Advertising and reward | £850 | £800 | £750 | £850 | £800 | £750 | £850 | £800 | £750 | |
|
| Accidental damage | £800 | £750 | £700 | £800 | £750 | £700 | £800 | £750 | £700 | |
|
| Personal Accident | £250 | £200 | £150 | £250 | £200 | £150 | £250 | £200 | £150 | |
|
| Third-party liability | £1.5million | £1.5million | £1.5million | £1.5million | £1.5million | £1.5million | £1.5million | £1.5million | £1.5million | |
£1.5million |
Optional benefits
You can choose additional benefits to enhance your policy and these can be added to your policy when you fill out the details for an online quote. The additional benefits you can choose to add to your policy, at a small additional cost, are as follows:
National pet register
A 24-hour lost and found service. You receive a tag that can be attached to a pet collar with a unique reference number. Alternatively, it is free to create an account with the National pet register to register a pet as lost or found, if you want to take advantage of benefits such as a pet I.D tag, you can pay £12 a year or £1 a month for the additional benefits which could work out cheaper than the offering with The Insurance Emporium.
European cover
Up to 100 days of cover for vet fees, death, straying or theft in Europe. Up to £1,000 of quarantine cover and travel expenses and up to £500 pet repatriation costs.
Euthanasia and cremation
Up to £200 towards the cost of euthanasia and cremation of your pet if your pet is under the age of 8 years old.
The Insurance Emporium policy exclusions
In the following section, we list the most common exclusions in The Insurance Emporium pet insurance policies. This is not a definitive list of exclusions and you will need to check the policy documents carefully before taking out any pet insurance policy.
The Insurance Emporium will not pay out a claim for the following:
- The policy excess
- Pre-existing conditions
- Any illness or condition that started in the first 14 days of your policy
- Any cost of treatment not evidenced with a receipt or invoice
- Death that occurs more than a year after the first signs of the condition
- Pet theft where there are no signs of forcible or violent entry
- Pets used in any trade or business
How much does The Insurance Emporium pet insurance cost?
We have gathered quotes for pet insurance for a 1-year-old dog (medium-sized mongrel) and cat (moggy) with no underlying health conditions and living in a South East postcode. The quotes should give you an idea of the monthly cost of pet insurance with The Insurance Emporium however these will vary depending on the age, type and breed of your pet.
You can choose whether to pay your insurance annually or monthly and your monthly premium can be paid 'lunar monthly' (every 28 days) or 'calendar monthly'. If you choose to pay your premium 'lunar monthly' the cost is reduced by a few pounds a month as you are paying over a 28-day cycle, meaning there will be more payments over the policy year. The following quotes are based on a 'calendar monthly' premium.
| Lifetime Gold | Lifetime Silver | Lifetime Bronze | Maximum Benefit Gold | Maximum Benefit Silver | Maximum Benefit Bronze | Time-Limited Gold | Time-Limited Silver | Time-Limited Bronze | Accident-Only |
Public Liability Only
|
|
| Excess* | Dog: £135
Cat: £135 |
Dog: £125
Cat: £135 |
Dog: £115
Cat: £135 |
Dog: £125
Cat: £115 |
Dog: £115
Cat: £115 |
Dog: £105
Cat: £115 |
Dog: £125
Cat: £115 |
Dog: £115
Cat: £115 |
Dog: £105
Cat: £115 |
Dog: £75
Cat: £75 |
Dogs only: £250 |
| Dog (1 year) | £22.14 | £19.16 | £14.48 | £19.88 | £17.08 | £11.21 | £17.42 | £15.10 | £8.39 | £5.87 | £6.25 |
| Cat (1 year) | £16.42 | £14.48 | £9.86 | £14.28 | £10.32 | £8.18 | £11.53 | £8.37 | £6.26 | £4.69 | N/A |
| Senior Dog (8+) | £74.42 | £65.17 | £48.20 | £62.13 | £52.18 | £32.94 | £46.34 | £35.44 | £21.11 | £5.87 | £6.25 |
| Senior Cat (8+) | £28.14 | £24.83 | £16.54 | £22.89 | £17.00 | £14.01 | £19.95 | £14.70 | £10.18 | £4.69 | N/A |
*for the lifetime policies an additional 5% co-payment is required for pets under 8, for pets over 8 the co-payment is 15%. For any senior pet policy, a 15% co-payment is required in addition to the excess amount
(Quotes correct as of 08/03/23)
The Insurance Emporium policy excess
The Insurance Emporium has a policy excess that is payable when you make a claim and is subject to change each year along with the premium. The policy excess varies depending on the policy you pick, the level of cover you choose and the type and breed of your pet. An example of the policy excesses can be seen in the above table, but these are based on mixed-breed dogs and cats and so may vary depending on the breed.
The Insurance Emporium's lifetime policies have a percentage co-payment payable in addition to the policy excess. A co-payment is a percentage contribution towards the vet fees when you make a claim. For pets under the age of 8 this is 5% of the veterinary fees up until the total amount of fees claimed reaches £20,000, a 15% co-payment is required thereafter.
For pets over the age of 8, a co-payment of 15% is required on all policies (excluding public liability only) until the total amount of fees claimed reaches £20,000, a 25% co-payment is required thereafter. There is no excess on the policy unless you are claiming for veterinary fees, so if you are claiming for loss or theft of your pet no excess is payable.
How to make a claim with The Insurance Emporium
If you want to claim on your Insurance Emporium pet policy you can do so via your 'My Emporium' account on the website. All you need to do is download the claims form and send it via the following methods:
- Email: [email protected]
- Fax: 03300 242 971
- Post: The Insurance Emporium, Thorpe Underwood Hall, Ouseburn, York, YO26 9SS.
You should receive acknowledgement of your claim within 2 working days and then your claim will be assessed and dealt with as quickly as possible. Your claim will be paid via BACS transfer if the details are held on file, if not, your claim will be paid by cheque which will take longer.
The Insurance Emporium customer reviews
The Insurance Emporium has a Trustpilot rating of 4.3 out of 5.0 stars from over 5,400 reviews. 77% of customers have rated it as 'Excellent' citing a quick and hassle-free claims process as well as great customer service. 8% rated it as 'Bad' with customers complaining about lack of clarity within the policy documentation which resulted in claims not being paid out. Other customers also complained about expensive renewal quotes.
Alternatives to The Insurance Emporium pet insurance
In this section of the review, we have compared The Insurance Emporium's Lifetime Gold policy to ManyPets* Complete policy and Animal Friends* Lifetime Prestige policy. The quotes are based on a 1-year-old mixed breed medium-sized dog with no underlying health conditions and living in a South East postcode.
If you wanted to compare pet insurance policies for a range of pet insurance providers you may wish to use a comparison site such as MoneySuperMarket* or Compare the Market*. This will allow you to compare the cost of a range of providers to find the best deal for you and your pet. One thing to consider, however, is that not all comparison sites are whole of market so you may find a better deal elsewhere.
If you would like to find out more about the pet insurance policies read our reviews:
The Insurance Emporium vs ManyPets vs Animal Friends
| The Insurance Emporium | ManyPets | Animal Friends | |
| Excess | £135 plus 5% co-payment | £99 | £99 |
| Monthly Cost | £22.14 | £38.24 | £24.92 |
| Vet fee cover | £8,000 per condition per year | £15,000 per year |
£6,000 per condition per year
|
| Public liability | £1.5million | £3million | £2million |
| Loss & theft | £1,500 | £6,000 | £1,500 |
| Death of pet cover (if pet dies through illness or injury) | £1,500 | £6,000 | £1,500 |
| Vet video calls | |
 |
|
| Trustpilot score | 4.3 out of 5.0 | 3.9 out of 5.0 | 4.4 out of 5.0 |
(Quotes correct as of 08/03/23)
The Insurance Emporium pros and cons
The Insurance Emporium pet insurance pros
- Multiple policies to choose from
- Up to £8,000 vet fee cover
- 20% introductory discount
- 10% multi-pet discount
- Insurance for senior pets
The Insurance Emporium pet insurance cons
- No online claims process
- A 5% co-payment is required in addition to an excess amount on all Lifetime policies (15% for pets over 8)
- 15% co-payment is required on all policies in addition to the excess for all pets over the age of 8
- Does not pay out for death or euthanasia if your pet is over the age of 8 and dies from an illness or injury
Summary
The Insurance Emporium has a vast range of pet insurance policies to choose from so it is likely you will find a policy to suit your needs. You can also choose to add additional extras to your policy such as cover for euthanasia and cremation or cover when travelling to Europe. For the range of cover, the cost of the monthly premiums is competitive in comparison to other providers. There is, however, a compulsory co-payment on any lifetime pet insurance policy (and all policies for pets over 8) which means that you have to pay a percentage of the vet fees in addition to the excess on the policy.
If a link has an * beside it this means that it is an affiliated link. If you go via the link, Money to the Masses may receive a small fee which helps keep Money to the Masses free to use. The following link can be used if you do not wish to help Money to the Masses or take advantage of any exclusive offers - Animal Friends, ManyPets, MoneySuperMarket, Compare the Market
