Tesco pet insurance renewal quote left my Mum in tears.

BigTezza

My (now late) Mum had pet insurance with Tesco. Her cat is 14 years old. The only claim she made was earlier in 2026 when the vet wanted to carry out a blood test. The cat is undergoing no continued treatment or check-ups.

The premium for 2025-6 was £233.
The renewal price quoted for 2026-7 saw a rise of 100% to £466.

At the time, Mum was nearly 90-years old, on a State pension, and her cat was her sole companion.

I was furious that a huge organisation was willing to try and blatantly rip off an elderly lady with a 100% increase in cost. I called them and the agent offered a price in the high £300s. I can't recall the exact price as I was still seeing red. I informed them that the insurance would be cancelled and I wanted to open a complaint for what I regarded as nothing more than blatant corporate greed.

The letter sent to my Mum, who had passed away in the interim, was little more than a standard rebuff template with the cat's name inserted. The crux of the letter was "Well, your Mum should have read the Ts & Cs of the policy because it clearly states that premiums will rise." There was no mention at all of the figures involved nor percentage increase and reasoned justification for it.

Shortly before she passed, I had in fact arranged replacement insurance with Sainsbury's. I had to declare that the cat had undergone a blood test earlier in the year and was aware that they would contact the surgery to check her records. Fine by me as there was nothing to hide. The result was a policy cost of £219. Their checking process saw that as a fair price but Tesco wanted £466.

This kind of greed leads to unnecessary euthanasia of pets or abandonment. It's as simple as that. Having volunteered for an animal charity in the past and still being involved with one, I see what happens when pets are abandoned. It breaks my heart. And if the pet isn't abandoned or put to sleep, how many people out there are simply being ripped off by Tesco - especially the elderly/vulnerable who have nobody to step in and say "No, that's just obscene. Leave that with me."

Still, so long as Tesco's management get their fat salaries and bonuses and shareholders get their dividends, it's all OK eh. "Every little helps," right? Reducing my 90-year old Mum to tears means nothing.

Shame on you Tesco.

LightFlare

Removing all the emotion out of it (whilst I sympathise, its unimportant for the subject)

Insurance is risk based - Tesco obviously concluded that insurance for a 13/14 yr old cat was risky for them and reflected that in their price

Sainsburys judged differently.

That's why its important to always shop around at renewal time

la531983

I mean, isnt this common sense? Its like getting a renewal quote up 100% with your current car insurer, just go elsewhere, its not tricky.

flaneurs_lobster

Sorry for your loss.

Replace 'cat' with 'house' or 'car'.

The usual advice applies. Shop around. Use price comparison sites. Never assume that loyalty to a particular company means anything at all.

elsien

I am sorry for the loss of your Mum and it’s obviously hit you hard, as it would do

But they cannot give you a percentage year on year proposed increase because it very much depends ( as with our own health/car/home insurance) on both external factors and also the age and increased health risks of the animal. And you will not get a reason discussion of the increase with any insurer for any reason.
That’s why some of us with older Pets stop insuring them and put the money aside instead.

You may have views around costs of impact on insurance. Again, many of us do. But your mother‘s age and income is not relevant to the risk decisions and is not a factor that the insurer will have been taking into account.

TELLIT01

It's doubtful the insurer would know your mother's age, it's irrelevant to their pricing policy. A 14 year old cat however would be seen as a very high risk and explains an increase in the policy price. Insurers can increase policy price as much as they want unless there is anything in the policy T&C to prevent them doing so.

I understand the OP being upset, but what's happened is pretty much a standard model for insurance.

IOWJJBTM2025

Check the policy. Our Pet insurance with Tesco doubled last year. When we looked at the policy in detail we found that there was no cover for hardly anything if the dog is over 9 years old. The dog is 10 so not covered. When we reviewed further the only thing that was insured was if he escaped from the house and bit someone.

BigTezza

I did shop around and organised the Sainsbury's pet insurance which was due to start on 31st July when the Tesco policy expired. However, my Mum passed on the 10th. I then decided to cancel the Sainsbury's policy before it started and I will set aside a portion of Mum's estate instead, as one commenter suggested.

I understand how insurance works and how they have to look at various risk factors. My point is that a 100% increase was, in light of getting the £219 policy with Sainsbury's, quite disgusting.

la531983

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82077533#Comment_82077533

Ive had a 100% increase on a renewal quote for car insurance. I went elsewhere. I dont see why this is any different. I had a laugh about it and moved on, plenty of other options.

Brie

No helpful comments to add but just wanted to express my sympathy for your loss and hope you were able to find a home to keep your mom's cat comfy in its old age.

MyRealNameToo

Doesnt matter the species involved, human, dog, cat, turtle, all health insurance goes up as you get older because for all the occurances of illnesses increase with age.

Add to that the fact there was also a claim will compound the two

Some insurers do lesson the blow by introducing coinsurance, where after a certain age of pet you pay a proportion of the bill on top of the excess which is great when you renew but obviously a pain when a claim occurs

Having made at least 1 claim the idea of just getting quotes elsewhere isnt as straightforward, most will exclude any pre-existing conditions which also includes "related" including mirroring. So yes you may be able to get a cheaper quote but you suddenly can have a range of things excluded