Pet insurance renewal gone up — should you switch?

The renewal letter for a five-year-old dog can be startling. Before you race to a comparison site, pet insurance needs one question answered first — because it doesn’t behave like car or home cover.

The question that decides everything

Has your pet ever been treated for — or shown signs of — anything?

• Yes → a new insurer will almost certainly exclude that condition as pre-existing. If it’s the kind of thing that recurs (skin, joints, digestion, lumps, anything chronic), the cheap quote is cheap because it doesn’t cover the one thing you’re most likely to claim for. Staying often wins, especially on a lifetime policy.
• No, genuinely nothing → you can shop around like any other renewal. Compare like-for-like: vet-fee limit, lifetime vs annual, excess and co-pay.

If you stay: make staying cheaper

Ring the insurer and work the policy rather than the market:

• Raise the excess to a figure you could pay at the vet’s reception.
• Accept a co-payment (you pay e.g. 10–20% of each claim) — a common lever on older pets.
• Trim add-ons you’d never use (travel cover for a cat that’s never left Kent).
• Ask directly whether there’s a better equivalent product — insurers often have newer tiers.

If you switch: do it cleanly

• Start the new policy the day the old one ends — a gap of even a day can reset “continuous cover” and make everything in between pre-existing.
• Answer the medical history questions fully.
• Recheck the vet-fee limit is per year (lifetime) if your pet is getting older — that’s the number that matters in a bad year, not the monthly premium.

In short

Healthy young pet: compare and switch freely. Any medical history: the cheap quote probably excludes exactly what you need — negotiate the policy you have, and value a lifetime limit over a lower premium.