Waggel came to the market in December 2018. Their strapline is ‘Pet Insurance Sucks, So We Changed it’.
One of the biggest issues with pet insurance is that so many exclusions are often hidden in the fine print. Many people never knew their pets weren’t covered until they make a claim.
Their goal was to ‘improve pet insurance’ by offering comprehensive policies that are;
- Jargon-free, and
- Easy to understand, and
- Transparent
So, is Waggel the best insurance company for you and your pet?
Have a read of our Waggel review (and others) to find out.
- Up to £10,000/yr vet fee cover
- Simple claims process
- Free Calls to FirstVet
- Access to behavioural expert
- Discounts on partner brands
- First month free
Waggel Policy Options
In their bid to make their pet insurance easy to understand, Waggel only offers lifetime cover.
There are 6 levels to choose from. The only difference between them is the amount in vet fees you can claim each year.
| Policy 1 | Policy 2 | Policy 3 | Policy 4 | Policy 5 | Policy 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vet Fees (per year) | £1,000 | £2,000 | £4,000 | £6,000 | £8,000 | £10,000 |
| 24-Hour VetFone Helpline | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dental Injury | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| Complementary Treatment | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| Behavioural Treatment | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| Lost or Stolen Pets | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| Death From Accident / Illness | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| Third Party Liability (Dogs Only) | £2 Million | £2 Million | £2 Million | £2 Million | £2 Million | £2 Million |
As a customer of Waggel, you also get exclusive members benefits. One of which includes free consultations with an animal behaviour and wellness expert. Other benefits include;
- Free video calls with FirstVet so you can get free veterinary advice, and
- Special discounts on products from brands that Waggel partner with. These range from dog food to wine.
What’s NOT Covered
When shopping for pet insurance, it’s even more important to know what isn’t covered. That way you’ll not get a nasty shock if you need to claim.
Waggel won’t cover;
- Pets younger than 8 weeks old
- Claims made within 14 days of the policy start date
- Routine treatment like flea and worming
- Pre-existing conditions
- Claims submitted after 12 months or more after treatment
- Euthanasia (unless your vet confirms it was to prevent suffering)
- Cremation
- Pet’s used for breeding
- Dog breeds that are part of the Dangerous Dog Act 1991 and specific cat breeds. You can see a full list by clicking here
- Up to £10,000/yr vet fee cover
- Simple claims process
- Free Calls to FirstVet
- Access to behavioural expert
- Discounts on partner brands
- First month free
How Much Does Waggel Pet Insurance Cost?
The price you pay will depend on many factors, including;
- Breed
- Age
- Previous conditions
- Where you live, etc.
That said, we got two quotes; one for a dog and another for a cat.
Dog Insurance Quote
We based our quote for dog insurance on a large mixed breed as mixed breeds are the most common. It’s 2 years old, in good health and lives in Lincoln as that’s where Pet Checkers is based.
| Policy 1 | Policy 2 | Policy 3 | Policy 4 | Policy 5 | Policy 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vet Fee Cover | £1,000 | £2,000 | £4,000 | £6,000 | £8,000 | £10,000 |
| Claim Contribution | ||||||
| £0 | £23.37 | £33.02 | £42.52 | £48.27 | £54.06 | £60.55 |
| £50 | £16.73 | £22.79 | £28.88 | £32.58 | £36.23 | £40.44 |
| £100 | £14.40 | £19.76 | £25.19 | £28.60 | £31.95 | £35.78 |
| £200 | £12.13 | £17.19 | £22.58 | £25.72 | £29.13 | £32.91 |
| £250 | £10.61 | £14.24 | £19.51 | £22.98 | £26.52 | £30.42 |
Cat Insurance Quote
We based our quote for cat insurance on it being a mixed breed (again, they’re most common). And like our dog, it’s two years old, in good health and lives in Lincoln.
| Policy 1 | Policy 2 | Policy 3 | Policy 4 | Policy 5 | Policy 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vet Fee Cover | £1,000 | £2,000 | £4,000 | £6,000 | £8,000 | £10,000 |
| Claim Contribution | ||||||
| £0 | £12.90 | £16.33 | £21.60 | £24.68 | £27.73 | £30.35 |
| £50 | £9.12 | £11.01 | £14.41 | £16.42 | £18.33 | £20.01 |
| £100 | £7.81 | £9.64 | £12.63 | £14.44 | £16.17 | £17.70 |
| £200 | £6.54 | £8.33 | £11.19 | £13.05 | £14.84 | £16.44 |
| £250 | £5.50 | £7.06 | £9.58 | £11.22 | £12.87 | £14.35 |
How Changing the Excess Affected the Policy Price
As you can see in the table above, Waggel lets you change how much excess you’d pay in the event of a claim. They refer to excess as a ‘claim contribution’.
This means you can tailor your quote to fit your budget. You don’t have to pay any claim contribution at all. That said, this increases the monthly bill quite considerably.
As you’d expect, increasing your claim contribution will bring the monthly price down.
- Up to £10,000/yr vet fee cover
- Simple claims process
- Free Calls to FirstVet
- Access to behavioural expert
- Discounts on partner brands
- First month free
Making a Claim With Waggel
Making a claim with Waggle is easy with their ’10 second claims’ process. In reality it does take longer than ten seconds but it’s easy nonetheless.
All you need to do it log into your account, tell them what you need to claim for, which vet treated your pet and where to send the money.
Once you’ve filled in your part, Waggle will send the claim form to your vet to fill in their part. Then Waggle will process your claim. They can also pay your vet directly.
As a customer, you’ll get a dedicated ‘customer champion’ which is a posh name for a claims rep. You’ll be able to get your claim resolved or contact them to ask any questions.
You’ll also be able to track exactly your claim is up to in your customer dashboard.
When you look at their website it looks like they have a dedicated app on which to tack your claims. They don’t, although they do say they’re working on one.
How Industry Experts Rate Waggel Pet Insurance
All of Waggel’s pet insurance policies have been rated 3 stars out of 5 by Defaqto.
That’s not to say Waggel’s policies aren’t any good. As you’ll see in a moment, they’re very well-reviewed by their customers. It just means their policies are basic.
But that’s the whole reason Waggel was created in the first place.
- Up to £10,000/yr vet fee cover
- Simple claims process
- Free Calls to FirstVet
- Access to behavioural expert
- Discounts on partner brands
- First month free
Customer Reviews of Waggel Pet Insurance
Although star ratings from independent bodies like Defaqto are worth considering, they never tell the full story. They look at a policy from a completely different perspective than a customer would.
As such, it’s super important to look at reviews from actual paying customers.
The Good
Waggel gathers most of their reviews on Reviews.co.uk which is where these reviews are from. You can see more here.
Having spent time reading their reviews, it seems Waggel make claiming very easy, which is important. Needing to claim on your pet insurance generally means you’re having a stressful time. The last thing you need is the financial stress of waiting for a claim to be paid.
It’s not just the fact that Waggel makes claiming easy that customers like. Many people comment on the personal touches too.
People also seem to like having video call access to FirstVet. Sometimes you might need advice that doesn’t warrant a visit and the cost of a consultation. This is where the option to video call a vet is valuable.
The Not So Great
No insurance company gets 100% positive feedback. That said, you can often see patterns in their reviews that tell you where a company is failing.
We couldn’t see this in Waggel’s customer reviews and that’s a good sign. Of course, not every claim goes as smoothly as they’d like. That said, some of their lower-scoring reviews are of people’s opinions rather than facts.
All that said, Waggel do seem to be good at responding to their reviews. Either to reach out to the person who left it it or to clear up any confusion. To us, this shows that they work hard on getting things right.
The Bad
Waggel have very few negative reviews which, for pet owners is reassuring.
There’s nothing that stands out as a recurring theme like failure to pay or anything like that. There are one or two complaints of claims not being paid but when you read further, these were for pre-existing conditions, which most insurers don’t cover anyway.
- Up to £10,000/yr vet fee cover
- Simple claims process
- Free Calls to FirstVet
- Access to behavioural expert
- Discounts on partner brands
- First month free
To Sum Up
The founders of Waggel say their goal is to make pet insurance easy to understand. As such, they only offer a single lifetime policy. The only thing you can change is how much in vet fees you can claim each year.
It doesn’t come any simpler than that.
Access to FirstVet video calling as well as their behavioural and wellness expert makes Waggel pet insurance well worth considering.
They only score 3 out of 5 stars with Defaqto due to how basic their policy is. But that’s the whole point is Waggel’s existence.
And the very few negative reviews aside, they’re very highly reviewed by their customers with reliable pay-outs and excellent service with a personal touch.
Compare Waggel to;
- PetPlan
- John Lewis
- AgriaPet
- Bought By Many
- Up to £10,000/yr vet fee cover
- Simple claims process
- Free Calls to FirstVet
- Access to behavioural expert
- Discounts on partner brands
- First month free
