Lloyds and Halifax No Longer Offering Pet Insurance Cover

Pet Insurance Policy Holders Will Not be Able to Renew Their Cover Past Their Current Policies

Many news stories related to pet insurance refer to particular events (such as bonfire night) coming around that prompt experts to encourage owners to look after their pets and to ensure they have adequate cover in the event of an emergency. However, news of a different sort has emerged this time around as Lloyds Banking Group decides to pull out of the pet insurance market. The move means that those with a pet insurance policy with the group will have to look elsewhere for cover once their current policy has ended.

The move will affect tens of thousands of pet owners who have policies with either Lloyds or Halifax (Lloyds Banking Group is the parent group of them both) and they have been told that when their existing policy runs out their cover will end. It, of course, depends on the policy at hand how badly an individual will be affected by this and Halifax in particular has acknowledged that the decision is an inconvenient one.

For example, as the Guardian points out, Halifax offer a Halifax Extra Policy that see significant payouts a year for the pet’s life and those that have already paid for the service could find themselves faring badly, particularly if they cannot switch to an equivalent service with a rival insurer because of an ongoing ailment. In many cases pet insurance policies might not cover an existing illness so if the pet has an ongoing ailment that was covered by Lloyds or Halifax then the new insurer might refuse to cover it.

Rival insurance policy providers have theorised that Halifax was paying out too much on cheaper policies that were offered and as a result have decided to focus on other areas.

Various news sources have been quick to point out that many providers have backed out of offering pet insurance in recent years and this is despite the field being a multibillion pound market.