Pet Insurance FAQs

The Tesco Pet Portal is your go-to online destination for managing your pet insurance policy.

The portal allows you to track your cover, access your Policy Documents, Certificate of Insurance, and submit vet fee claims online. You can also use the portal to get in touch with us as well as the vetfone team.

You do need to register for the Pet Portal before you can discover all the portal's features.

The portal is only available to customers who renewed their policy after the 1st January 2025 and new customers who took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025.

Please see our question "How do I register for the Tesco Pet Portal?" for registration eligibility information.

Only new customers who have taken out a policy after the 21st January 2025, or existing customers who have received their renewal invitation, which includes portal registration information, can register for the Pet Portal.

If you are buying a new policy after the 21st of January 2025, we can automatically register you for the portal when you take out the policy. All you need to do is set a password. If you have taken out a policy since then, you can register for the Pet Portal here.

If you have renewed your policy after the 1st January 2025, we will have sent you an invite to register for the Pet Portal with your renewal information.

If you took out your policy before the 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, you won't be able to register for the Pet Portal yet. We will send you an invite to register with your renewal information.

You will need your email address and the password you set when you registered to sign in to the Pet Portal.

You need to register for the Pet Portal to be able to access it. Please see our question How do I register for the Tesco Pet Portal? for registration eligibility information.

If you took out your policy before the 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, you won't be able to sign in to the portal yet. We will send you an invite to register with your renewal information.

No, unless the problems are unrelated. For example, if your dog cut their leg before your policy start date and this healed, and then your dog was unfortunate enough to cut their leg again, this would be classed as a new injury and would be covered under the terms of the policy (subject to the limits, excesses and exclusions that apply).

However, if the original cut did not heal properly and your pet needed further treatment, this would not be covered as it would be considered a pre-existing condition.

Symptoms exhibited before the policy start date that are diagnosed later are not covered either.

If your pet is ill or injured and you are concerned whether this will be covered by your Tesco Pet Insurance policy, please refer to your policy documents, including your Tesco Pet Insurance Policy Document, Insurance Product Information Document and Certificate of Insurance.

If you are still in doubt, you can get in touch and one of the team will be happy to help.

For customers who renewed their policy after the 1st January 2025 or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, you can get in touch through the 'Contact us' page of the Pet Portal, or you can call 0344 543 1132*.

Conditions your pet has suffered in the past are considered as a pre-existing condition. Pre-existing conditions are not covered by the policy. Accidents that happen within the first 3 days or illness within the first 14 days of taking out the policy may not be covered. Policy exclusions will apply.
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If you took out your policy before the 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, you can call us on 0345078 3895.

Pre-existing illnesses and injuries that your pet(s) may have at the time of taking out the insurance are not covered.

Your policy will also not cover the costs of treating an illness that first showed clinical signs within the first 14 days of your policy start date.

If you have an accident or injury policy, your policy will not cover any accident or injury that happened in the first 5 days of your policy start date. Illness is not covered unless caused by an accident or injury.
Calls may be recorded. *This number may be included as part of any inclusive call minutes provided by your phone operator.

These can include but are not limited to:

For customers who take out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, new policies can be taken out for cats and dogs over 8 weeks old up to the upper ages of the policy.

For cats, new policies can be taken out up to 10 years old, for most dogs up to 8 years old, and for the breeds listed below, up to 5 years old. As long as you have taken out a policy before these ages and renew it every year without a break, we will continue to cover your pet.

Beauceron, Bernese Mountain Dog, Bulldog, Bullmastiff, Deerhound, Dogue de Bordeaux, Estrela Mountain Dog, Giant Schnauzer, Great Dane, Irish Wolfhound, Leonberger, Mastiff, Neapolitan Mastiff, Newfoundland, Old English Bulldog, Old English Sheepdog, Poodle (Standard), Pyrenean Mountain Dog, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rottweiler, Shar Pei, St Bernard, Standard Poodle, Tibetan Mastiff, Utonagan.

Our policies do not cover any pre-existing illness or injury that your pet(s) may have when taking out the insurance. Accidents from the first 3 days and illnesses from the first 14 may not be covered. Death from illness is covered up to the upper ages of the policy listed above.

For policies taken out before the 21st January 2025, there is no upper age limit on new policies.

Death from illness is not covered for pets aged 9 or older.

Pre-existing illnesses and injuries that your pet(s) may have at the time of taking out the insurance are not covered.

Your policy will also not cover the costs of treating an illness that first showed clinical signs within the first 14 days of your policy start date.

If you have an accident or injury policy, your policy will not cover any accident or injury that happened in the first 5 days of your policy start date. Illness is not covered unless caused by an accident or injury.

Yes, but your policy does not cover any pre-existing illness or injury that your pet(s) may have at the time of taking out the insurance. Accidents that happen within the first 3 days or illness within the first 14 days of taking out the policy may not be covered.

If you switch to Tesco Pet Insurance from another provider and can prove your cover ended on your start date, we can look to cover accidents and illnesses in those first 14 days. Provided they are not a pre-existing condition.

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If you purchased your policy before 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew you would still have been able purchase a policy through our call centre.

However your policy will not cover that condition or any other pre-existing illness or injury that your pet(s) may have at the time of taking out the insurance.

Your policy will also not cover the costs of treating an illness that first showed clinical signs within the first 14 days of your policy start date.

If you have an accident or injury policy, your policy will not cover any accident or injury that happened in the first 5 days of your policy start date. Illness is not covered unless caused by an accident or injury.

For new policies taken out on or after the 21st January 2025, we do not cover the following breeds and crossbreeds of dogs:

We do not cover any dog that must be registered under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and/or the Dogs (Muzzling) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1991, or any American Bulldog, American Indian Dog, American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Bully, Bandog, Boerboel, Bully Kutta, Canary Dog, Cane Corso, Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, Dingo, Dogo Argentino, Dogue Brasileiro, Fila Brasileiro, Gull Dong, Husky Wolf Hybrid, Irish Staffordshire Blue Bull Terrier, Irish Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Pit Bull Terrier, Saarlooswolfhound, Tosa, Tosa Inu, Wolf Hybrid, Wolfdog, XL Bully, or any dog crossbred with any of these breeds.

We also do not cover dogs with XL Bully characteristics. You must establish whether your dog's characteristics meet the Government's XL Bully definition. If you take out a new policy and it's later discovered that your dog meets the XL Bully criteria, then we won't be able to pay any claims, and your policy will be cancelled from the start date.

We do cover the following breeds and crossbreeds: Akita, Cirneco dell'Etna, Dogue de Bordeaux, Japanese Akita, Korean Jindo, Mexican Hairless, Neapolitan Mastiff, Northern Inuit/Eskimo Dog, Portuguese Podengo, Seguguio Italiano, Shar Pei, and Utonagan, but we do not cover them for third party liability.

For policies taken out before the 21st January 2025, any breeds that do not appear in our breed list will not be covered unless agreed otherwise.

Third party liability can help cover claims if your dog injures someone else or causes damage to their property. For example, if your dog ran out into the road and caused an accident, you may be liable to cover the cost of damage to any vehicle. Tesco Pet Insurance's third party liability cover for dogs up to a maximum of two million pounds.

Third party liability cover is only available for dogs. Exclusions apply, and you must pay an excess of £250 for each claim.

If you take out a new policy on or after the 21st January 2025, our dog policies come with third party liability cover included. However, the following dog breeds and crossbreeds are excluded from third party liability cover:

Akita, Cirneco dell'Etna, Dogue de Bordeaux, Japanese Akita, Korean Jindo, Mexican Hairless, Neapolitan Mastiff, Northern Inuit/Eskimo Dog, Portuguese Podengo, Seguguio Italiano, Shar Pei and Utonagan.

If you took out your policy before 21st January 2025, our dog policies come with third party liability cover included. Outside of the breeds we do not insure, there are no specific dog breeds or crossbreeds excluded from third party liability cover. Providing you have accurately provided your pets breed details and we agreed to provide cover at point of sale, third party liability will be included.

We do not sell third party liability cover separately.

If your pet needs treatment, we can pay either you or the treating vet, you just need to make sure your vet accepts direct payments. All you need to do is tick a box on the claim form.

An excess is the amount you must pay if you claim on your insurance.

For customers who renewed their policy after the 1st January 2025 or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, the excesses you pay can be found in the Tesco Pet Portal and on your Certificate of Insurance.

For customers who took out a policy before the 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, your excesses are detailed in your policy documents.

When you get a quote, you can choose to increase the excess, which will help reduce your monthly payments, but you will pay more if you need to make a claim. You are responsible for paying the excess. You must also pay the first £250 on all Third Party Liability claims.

No, claims can be made on an ongoing basis, whenever you receive a vet bill. All claims need to be made within 12 months of the treatment date.

Please note that the way you need to submit a claim may be different depending on when you took out or renewed your policy. Before you submit your claim, please make sure you are submitting it correctly.

For customers who renewed their policy after the 1st January 2025 or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, the quickest way to submit a claim is through the Pet Portal. Sign in, complete a claim form, and as long as we have all the details we need, we'll take it from there.

Once our assessors have reviewed your claim, it takes around 5 days to assess it; we'll let you know the outcome. If you submit your claim online, you'll be able to monitor its progress with our claims tracker. For customers who receive their documents in the post, we'll keep you updated via letter, and if you signed up for SMS, we'll also keep you updated with text messages.

If you don't have access to the Pet Portal, please call 0344 543 1132* and we will send you a claim form.

If you took out your policy before 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, you can easily submit claims for new and ongoing conditions online. Submitting online is the quickest and easiest way to submit a claim for all vet fees, but you can also download a claim form (143kb, PDF). Once you've completed it, email it to us at tesco.petclaims@uk.rsagroup.com.

Alternatively, you can call 0345 078 3860* and give the details by phone or get a paper form posted to you.

Calls may be recorded. *This number may be included as part of any inclusive call minutes provided by your phone operator.

For customers who renewed their policy after the 1st January 2025 or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025 and registered for the Pet Portal, you can track your claims straight away with the portal's claims tracker. We'll keep you updated once we've sent it to your vet, once they've completed it, when we're assessing it and once it's completed.

If you submitted a paper claim form, your claim will only appear in the tracker once we’ve received it and uploaded it to our system.

For customers who receive their documents in the post, we'll keep you updated via letter.

If you took out your policy before 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, you can track the status of your claim here.

If you change your mind for any reason, you can cancel the policy within 14 days of the cover starting. This is called the 'cooling-off period'. If you cancel during the cooling-off period, you will receive a full refund for any payments you've already made, provided you haven't made a claim.

After the cooling-off period, you can cancel your policy at any time, and there are no cancellation fees.

For customers who renewed their policy after the 1st January 2025 or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, you can cancel your policy on the 'Contact us' page of the Pet Portal. If you don't have access to the portal, call 0344 543 1132*.

For customers who took out a policy before the 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, you can call 0345 078 3895* or live chat to cancel your policy.

Calls may be recorded. *This number may be included as part of any inclusive call minutes provided by your phone operator.

If you have renewed your policy after the 1st January 2025 or taken out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025 you are able to use any vet to treat your pet.

If you took out your policy before the 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, if your pet is referred to a specialist, and it is not for emergency treatment, please choose a vet from the RSA Group Preferred Referral Network. If for any reason you wish to choose a referral vet from outside this network, please call 0330 100 6460*, otherwise you will need to pay £200 of the referral vet bill yourself. This amount is in addition to your policy excess.

If your pet needs emergency treatment for a situation that, if not resolved immediately, will lead to a loss of life or cause a serious threat to the present or ongoing health of your pet, you will not have to pay the additional £200 excess regardless of which referral vet you visit.

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You can pay monthly or annually, by Direct Debit for no additional charge. Or you can pay annually by credit or debit card.

If you are having problems adding a valid promotional code, please call 0345 078 3895*.

Opening hours: Mon - Fri 8.30am - 6pm and Sat: 9am - 1pm.

*Calls may be recorded. This number may be included as part of any inclusive call minutes provided by your phone operator.

Vetfone is our 24/7 vet helpline where you can speak to a fully qualified team of RCVS vets and vet nurses about any concerns you may have about your pet. From behavioural issues to feeding, training, health concerns or queries, if you have a question about your pet's health, care or well-being, just get in touch.

For customers who renewed their policy after the 1st January 2025 or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, you can find your dedicated vetfone page here.

If you took out your policy before the 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, you can find more information by visiting your vetfone page here.

If your pet requires emergency care, do not hesitate to contact your vet practice first.

Vetfone is only available to Tesco Pet Insurance customers. You'll be asked to confirm your identity and policy. The team cannot discuss matters related to your policy or any claims.

If you renewed your policy after the 1st January 2025, or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, you can update your details in the Tesco Pet Portal. If there are any details you can't change, leave us a message on the 'Contact us' page of the Pet Portal, and we'll update your information. If you don't have access to the Pet Portal, call 0344 543 1132*.

If you took out your policy before 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew it, please call 0345 078 3895* or live chat to provide the new details.

Please note that changes to your policy details may affect the price of your insurance.

Calls may be recorded. *This number may be included as part of any inclusive call minutes provided by your phone operator.

If you renewed your policy after the 1st January 2025 or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, you can find all of your documents, including your Tesco Pet Insurance Policy Document, Insurance Product Information Document and Certificate of Insurance in the Tesco Pet Portal.

If you took out your policy before the 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, you can call us on 0345 078 3895*.

Calls may be recorded. *This number may be included as part of any inclusive call minutes provided by your phone operator.

If you need to change how you pay for your pet insurance, the way you need to let us know will be different depending on when you took out your policy, or renewed your policy.

If you renewed your policy after the 1st January 2025 or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, you can submit updated Direct Debit details on the 'Contact us' page of the Pet Portal. If you need to update card details, please call 0344 543 1132*.

For customers who took out a policy before the 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, you can call 0345 072 112* or live chat.

Calls may be recorded. *This number may be included as part of any inclusive call minutes provided by your phone operator.

You should expect the price of your pet insurance to go up each year; there is no limit to price increases, and these could be significant to you each year and over the policy's lifetime. If a claim is paid out on your policy, your premium could more than double at renewal.

There are many reasons why your pet's insurance goes up. For example, we take into account your pet's age, any claims, where you live, and the cost of vet fees.

We know many people are facing money worries and how tough things can be. If you have concerns about being able to afford your pet insurance, please get in touch. We can discuss your eligibility and any options available to you that could lower your premium.

For customers who renewed their policy after the 1st January 2025, or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, please call 0344 543 1132*.

For customers who took out a policy before the 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, you can call 0345 078 3895* or live chat to cancel your policy.

Calls may be recorded. *This number may be included as part of any inclusive call minutes provided by your phone operator.

If you renewed their policy after the 1st January 2025 or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, it can take up to 120 days from your policy start date for points to be added to your Clubcard account. If the 120 days have passed and you still haven’t received your points, please call 0344 543 1132*.
Opening hours: Mon - Fri 8.30am - 6pm and Sat: 9am - 1pm.

If you bought your policy before the 21st January 2025 and are yet to renew, it can take up to 90 days from your policy start date for points to be added to your Clubcard account. If the 90 days has passed and you still haven’t received your points, please 0345 078 3895*.
Opening hours: Mon - Fri 8am - 6pm and Sat: 9am - 1pm.

Calls may be recorded. *This number may be included as part of any inclusive call minutes provided by your phone operator.

If you need to get in touch with us, there are a couple of different ways depending on when you took out your policy.

For customers who renewed their policy after the 1st January 2025, or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, you can get in touch with us through the Pet Portal. If you don't have access to the portal you can call 0344 543 1132*.

For customers who took out a policy before the 21st January 2025, and are yet to renew, you can complete our online contact form or you can call 0345 078 3895*.

Calls may be recorded. *This number may be included as part of any inclusive call minutes provided by your phone operator.

If you need to make a complaint, there are a couple of different ways depending on when you took out your policy.

For customers who renewed their policy after the 1st January 2025, or took out a policy on or after the 21st January 2025, you can submit your complaint on the 'Contact us' page of the Pet Portal. If you don't have access to the portal you can call 0344 543 1132*.

For customers who took out a policy before the 21st January 2025, and are yet to renew, you can complete our online contact form or you can call 0345 078 3895*.

Calls may be recorded. *This number may be included as part of any inclusive call minutes provided by your phone operator.