Fatal accident or illness pet insurance

We’re here if you need us

Our pet insurance gives you cover for death from accident or illness as standard.

We hope you never have to make a claim on this part of your policy. But, if your cat or dog dies during the policy year, we could give you what you paid for your pet. We’ll pay up to the limit set out in your policy documents.

If you take out an insurance policy with us, we’ll also:

• Give you a guaranteed discount if you’re a Nectar member*
• Give you a discount for every cat and dog on a multi-pet policy †

What you’re covered for

You can get pet insurance as soon as your cat or dog is eight weeks old.

If your pet dies from illness, we’ll cover cats until they reach their tenth birthday. For most dogs, the upper limit for this part of the cover is eight years of age. But for some breeds, it’s their fifth birthday.

The death from accidental injury part of the benefit does not have an upper age limit.

Death from accident or illness cover

You can find out more about the terms of our cover in our policy documents.

How does death from accident or illness cover work?

If your pet dies because of an accident or illness, we’ll pay this benefit on top of any fees to treat your pet before they passed away. An accident is defined as anything sudden and unexpected.

We’ll also pay if your vet believes putting them to sleep is the kindest way to stop them suffering unnecessarily from their accidental injury or illness.

Our insurance will also pay up to £200 towards the cost of your pet’s cremation or cemetery burial.

What’s not included in our cover?

We won’t pay if your pet dies because of:

• An illness or condition you knew about before buying insurance
• Accidental injury or poisoning that occurs in the first three days of the policy
• A condition that occurs in the first 14 days of the policy
• Pregnancy complications
• An illness if your cat is 10 years of age or older
• An illness if your dog is eight years or older – for some breeds it’s five years of age

We do not cover any pre-existing conditions. Your policy documents will explain all the limits on your cover.

There are some breeds that we won't cover under our Lifetime £10,000 limit which you can find details of in our FAQ section. Please note that we won't cover any pre-existing conditions and that terms, conditions, excesses and exclusions and limitations apply. You can find out more about the terms of our cover in our policy documents.

Death from accident or illness cover is not applicable for our rabbit insurance policies.

How do I make a claim?

Call our claims team on 0344 543 1032 and we’ll send you a claims form. You then need to complete and return it to us.

We understand it’s a difficult time so aim to settle quickly. 99% of claims are paid within 5 working days based on Sainsbury's Bank Pet Insurance claims data from July 2022 to June 2023.

We’ll need:

• The receipt you got when you bought your pet
• Your pet’s pedigree certificate, if they had one

Don’t worry if you can’t find the original receipt. We can estimate a current market value, or use the amount you said you paid when you bought your policy. We’ll use the lower of these two values and won’t pay more than your policy limit.

Helpful guides for pet owners

For everything you need to know about pets, browse our series of handy guides.

Got questions?

We’ve listed the most common questions we get asked in our FAQs, so you can find the answers you want quickly.

Ready to buy pet insurance?

If you’ve been looking for pet insurance that includes fatal accident or illness cover as standard, we can help. If you’re ready, we’re ready.

Get in touch

If you need to speak to us, call 0344 543 1032. You can also get us through our other contact details.

We’re here Monday to Friday, 8am-6pm and Saturday, 9am-1pm. Calls are charged at local rates from landlines and mobiles and may be monitored and recorded.