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John Lewis: Pet insurance reviews

Name: Pet insurance
Rating: 2.90 (49 reviews)

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2.90

Based on 49 reviews, last reviewed 11th Sep 2026

No new 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

100% increase in 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

14%

78%

Latest highest rating:

5

Paid out nearly £12k in 10 months. Great service I had a completely different experience than most other reviews. Been insured for nearly 3 years., 2 cats for £240 per year and £360 the second year. ... Read more Reviewed on: 11th September 2026

Latest lowest rating:

1

Dreadful - avoid Very slow to assess claims. Using spurious delaying tactics. Our previous experience was excellent but John Lewis Pet Insurance recently changed thei... Read more Reviewed on: 10th July 2026

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About this product

John Lewis pet insurance is provided by Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Ltd.

There are six levels of vet fee cover and excess options with John Lewis pet insurance so you can pick what’s best for your circumstances. If your pet is over nine years old, you’ll need to pay 20% of the remaining vet treatment costs, on top of your excess.

John Lewis pet insurance reviews help you find out what it’s really like to be a customer. If you’ve used John Lewis before, you can also leave a review and share your experience.

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John Lewis Pet insurance reviews (49)

Don't use it!

I went for JL as I thought they have such a good reputation and their pet insurance would surely be good but unfortunately when it came to claim for an injury our dog suffered from a fall they would not cover, said it was pre-existing despite the vet fighting our corner on this as it clearly wasn't pre-existing, they have just refused to pay, our dog has since passed away which has made it all the more upsetting. Turns out Royal Sun Alliance actually are the insurers, JL are the name but it's Royal Sun Alliance that covers, please avoid as it's pretty bad when your vet is appalled by an insurance company! Reviewed on: 2nd October 2023

Refusal to pay claims

Our experience echoes many that are already posted on this site, that when we needed to make a claim, John Lewis Finance presented a series of different reasons for declining this without providing any evidence. The policy is underwritten by Royal Sun Alliance and certainly not what you would expect from the John Lewis brand. We would certainly not recommend. It might look competitive but ultimately, if a policy doesn’t honour claims, what is the point? Reviewed on: 1st October 2023

Always find ways out

We’ve had to claim twice now for our dog, and both times they have found excuses not to pay. The most recent excuse was because the two trips we took to the vet (for the same illness!) supposedly ran across two separate ‘policy years’ - meaning we had to pay two separate excesses for each vet bill, rather than treating them as a single claim!! Ridiculous considering they continue to put our premium up. What are we even paying for if they won’t pay out on claims? Will be leaving them and choosing a different provider. Avoid! Reviewed on: 28th September 2023

Atrocious service

We have always used them for pet insurance and they were brilliant for our last pooch who had a rare cancer, prompt payment and didn't raise the premiums excessively. Now, with our new dog, premiums raised by 25%, atrocious website and almost impossible to get in touch. Really useless. Reviewed on: 25th August 2023

Beware high premiums and old age cut-offs

When we got a puppy ten years ago we took out a lifetime "Plus" policy, deciding to go with John Lewis above cheaper competitors due to the excellent customer service that goes with that name. In his first year we had to make two claims when our dog had a couple of 3 day residential stays with the local vet due to gastric issues. He fully recovered from these with no recurrence, and John Lewis settled the claims minus excess, as expected. However, despite no further claims in the following years, as the dog got older the premiums really ramped up, going from around £37 per month at the age of two, to £100+ at the age of six, then up to £180 per month by the age of ten. Obviously we considered cheaper insurers but having a lifetime policy with a company of John Lewis's reputation, which still covered the pre-existing conditions from when my dog was young, we decided to stump up the extra and carry on paying top dollar to ensure he had full cover. Unfortunately a couple of weeks ago my dog suddenly fell ill; the vet did ultrasound, on-site blood tests, and visual examinations, etc., but sadly ended up having to put our dog to sleep and arrange cremation. The bill for all of the above came to over £1200. On submitting a claim to John Lewis we were expecting to pay the 20% excess specified in the policy document (standard when a dog is over nine years old, apparently). However, in their claim settlement they had broken down the itemised vets bill into the individual treatments listed and, quoting our dog’s age, had completely declined to pay for some bits and only paid a fraction of the others. We were left with £800 to pay ourselves. So if have an older animal and you’re renewing a high-premium pet insurance policy with John Lewis, make sure you’re aware of the age-related cover cut-offs and the ridiculously small cover limits for individual and specific vet treatments. This experience with John Lewis pet insurance has left us feeling grubby and used, but we hope this information helps someone. Reviewed on: 13th August 2023

Avoid - read reviews

Poor experience. We have paid for 2 years and have not made a claim. We have now moved house and they are charging a large premium as a result of the postcode change. Our previous house had no driveway, poor security and the front door opened straight out onto a busy road. Our new house is a 2 minute walk away from the previous house (no change to Vet catchment area / local area), but has good security, a driveway and is located in a much quieter col-de-sac. John Lewis are trying to charge us significantly more and even used a 'busy road' as an example of why this might happen in the generic response they sent us. Reviewed on: 7th November 2022

Disgusting Service

Sorry but will never use or recommend them again (and have recommended in the past). Had a claim which was paid quickly and saved our dogs life - so far so good as it's what we pay for and thanks for the quick turn-around. However, dog is only 6, made full recovery and has no expected risks now from the surgery, yet John Lewis put our monthly charges up from £90 to £149!! We've moved to Many Pets for a much better service. Reviewed on: 11th October 2022

Increased to a huge amount

Started at £30 a month 2 claims in 8 years now a extortionate amount of £400 a month avoid as huge increases if you claim or not. Reviewed on: 6th October 2022

dental care

we have a 5 year old dog who had 2 impacted teeth, when applying for the cover this was not an issues and online dental care was for 7500max. it was not clear online that we would only be covered for removing baby teeth if the dog was less than 16 weeks old and only covered for accidental damage. pointless going for the higher cover as the lower level cover would not reach the levels they show. just to know the cover the offer online does not clarify this issue really poor shame on John Lewis waste of time. Reviewed on: 28th September 2022

Avoid like a plague

Please Please stay clear of John Lewis pet insurance. They are happy to take you're money but won't pay anything back. Been with this company 3 years now. Vet made my very first claim and they have refused. Totally ignorant on the phone also. Please use another company John Lewis is a joke Reviewed on: 13th July 2022

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