What a pet insurance quote depends on

£27.36 a month for a Bernese Mountain Dog. £7.46 for a Chihuahua. Those are average quotes from Go Compare for 1 January to 18 May 2025, as Which? reported on 29 July 2025.

So asking what pet insurance costs gets you a range and a shrug. This page explains what moves a quote, using UK sources I read and checked 2 November 2026. It compares no insurers and names no policy to buy. Get your own quote. Yours will differ.

The benchmarks disagree

That's a wide spread for the same product. None of the three explains the gap. Which?'s number comes from quotes on a comparison site, and the article doesn't say what level of cover they were for. The charities don't show their workings for this line. I'd use the table for scale and nothing more.

Which? also reports that quotes fell over the year: 12% for dogs, from £13.24, and 3% for cats, from £9.39. That's one comparison site over one five-month stretch.

Things about the pet

Breed. Which? reports pedigree dogs averaging £13.13 in those quotes and mongrels £7.90. Battersea says flat-faced breeds such as bulldogs generally cost more, along with other breeds at high risk of health problems.

Age. Which? says insurers typically treat cats and dogs over eight as older pets and are likely to charge more for them. Excess or co-payments can rise too, with co-payments of up to 25% of a claim. Battersea says costs can rise significantly during a dog's life, which makes today's quote a poor guide to year eight.

Health history. Which? lists current health and medical history as price factors. Most providers exclude pre-existing conditions from new cover, and some may allow them after a symptom-free period or medical screening. Illness in the first 10 to 14 days is usually excluded as well.

The rest. Which? names size, behaviour and what you paid for the pet. It says spaying or neutering can lower premiums.

Where you live

Go Compare's averages, again via Which?, run from £9.61 in Wales to £11.34 in England and £11.66 in Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Scotland is £9.99 and Northern Ireland £10.75. Which? puts the differences down largely to vet fees and treatment costs.

Vet fees are the wider backdrop. The Competition and Markets Authority's final report, updated 25 March 2026, found average vet prices rose 63% from January 2016 to December 2023, and that average first-year treatment expenses, its measure of overall vet bills, rose 53%. General inflation was 32%. Its vet review may change what owners pay for treatment. I haven't read anything that says what it will do to premiums.

Things you choose

These are the levers you control. Most cut the premium by moving risk onto you. The Which? points below date from 29 July and 4 December 2025.

• Cover type. Which? separates lifetime, per-condition, time-limited and accident-only. Lifetime and time-limited cover behave very differently once an illness drags on.
• Vet-fee limit. Which? says limits range from £1,000 to as much as £25,000, and the higher the limit, the higher the premium.
• Excess. Which? says a higher excess lowers the premium. Co-payments, where you pay a percentage of each claim, come on top.
• Extras. Some parts of a policy may not earn their keep. Which?'s example is a house cat that may not need generous missing-pet cover.
• How you pay. Which? calls a monthly plan "essentially a high-interest loan", and says annual payment may save a significant amount.
• How many pets. Which? says some providers discount multi-pet policies.

Why a low quote can mislead

Compare limits before prices. Two quotes for the same dog can buy very different things, and the price alone won't show it. Which? (4 December 2025), citing the Association of British Insurers, gives an average claim of £685 in 2024, and says treatment for serious conditions can run into the thousands. As a rough starting point, it suggests avoiding policies that pay less than £2,000 a year.

Renewal is the other trap. The Financial Ombudsman Service says it doesn't tell insurers what to charge, though it can look at whether a premium was set fairly. It also expects insurers to warn customers before they buy if rises could be substantial, particularly as a pet ages. Ask about that when you get your quote, and keep the answer.

A word on the sources. Which? says it earns commission from links to its commercial partners, and its price data comes from a comparison site. This page doesn't link to insurers.

Routine jabs and flea treatment are often excluded, so budget them separately with a routine vet year. The pet cost calculator leaves its insurance line blank. Your own quote goes there.