Waggel Review – A Fresh Approach to Pet Insurance?

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As a Waggel customer for a couple of years now, I am more than happy to sit down and write this Waggel review and share my own experience of having a Waggel Pet Insurance policy.

Let’s start by looking at who Waggel* are, what they offer and how Waggel are trying to do things differently!

Who are Waggel Pet Insurance?

Waggel were established in 2017 by Andrew Leal and Ross Fretten – who was a former contestant on the popular TV show ‘The Apprentice’.

Waggel offer lifetime pet insurance policies for cats and dogs. They were founded with the aim of dissrupting and innovating the pet insurance industry. Waggel aim to make pet insurance simple and straight forward to set up and more rewarding overall. This is reflected in the company tagline ‘Pet Insurance that doesn’t suck’.

The digital sign up process has been designed to alleviate the stress often experienced for those wishing to set up a pet insurance policy. You can get a quote in as little as 30 seconds. What is included as a part of the quote or policy is explained in simple language. This makes the whole process easy to understand. 

Waggel have not only modernised the process of getting a quote, but they also claim to have made the account management and claims process simple and modern too. They have done this by giving you the ability to manage your account online and make a claim in just four swipes.

What do Waggel Offer?

Waggel offer Lifetime pet insurance for cats and dogs. The level of cover offered is fully adjustable during the quote process. This allows policies to be tailored to meet almost any budget.

Here are a few of the things Waggel offer…

• Lifetime Pet Insurance for Cats and Dogs
• Get an Online Quote in just 30 Seconds
• Vet fee cover from £1000 – £10,000
• 24/7 Video Call Service with Vets – Joii
• Dental Included 
• Trackable and Transparent Claims
• Holiday Cover outside the UK for Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) Member Countries
• Free Dog Behaviour and Nutrition Consultations
• A No Excess Option
• Memberships Perks and Benefits – Such as discounts with certain brands
• Digital Claims Process

Getting a Quote With Waggel

While getting an online quote for Waggel pet insurance* for this Waggel review, I really was taken back by how swift and simple the process was. I entered a few details about my pet including the name and breed, then a few details about me such as my address. I was then very quickly presented with a quote. 

At this point – with some other pet insurers – I would often have to start browsing through many different policy ‘levels of cover’. This would often cause the headline figure offered to quickly change once an array of policy ‘extras’ were added. That wasn’t the case with Waggel. 

With Waggel there was a simple slider bar where I could select what level of vet fee cover I wanted – from £1000 to £10,000. The price of the cover then altered with the adjustments I made. As expected, the next slider then allowed me to choose an excess amount for the policy. The default level was set at an excess of £250 but this could be lowered all the way down to £0. It was then simply a case of selecting a start date for the policy. 

I found this way of working out your quote very useful. It means all of the policy specifics – such as monetary limits for certain types of treatment – are the same for every Waggel policy.  They only details that changed were the vet fee limit and excess amount depending on what I had selected. I feel this adds to the transparency of the policy, as you are less likely to miss small details that might get over-looked if there were several different policy types on offer.

Waggel Reviews

While we hope this Waggel review is answering your questions, it’s good to hear what other customers think too.

The reviews of Waggel available online from sites like reviews.io are largely positive.

On reviews.io Waggel have a rating of 4.7/5 based on 2,016 reviews and they are rated at 93%. 

There are some bad or negative reviews but these are in the minority. Some bad reviews are to be expected in the insurance industry, as there will sometimes be people who are not happy with their renewal price. Also claims can sometimes fall outside of the claims criteria or can get delayed in some way – perhaps legitimately. This can cause anger and frustration even if the decision regarding a claim is the right one.

How Much Does Waggel Cost?

It is difficult to say how much Waggel will cost because your quote will be dependant on many different factors. For example, factors such as the age or breed of your dog or cat will change the quote amount.

In my case, the quote I was given was half of what I was paying with my existing company. This was true even though the policy details were very similar.

What Waggel Does Not Cover

While we recommend checking the policy specifics, there are a few key areas that Waggel insurance policies do not cover. These are currently routine and elective treatments, pre-existing conditions and breeding.

Making a Claim With Waggel

While I haven’t had to make a claim with Waggel yet the process is as follows…

Waggel have named this process “10 Second Claims”. I’d imagine the reason for this is self explanatory 😂 so we won’t dwell on it too much.

All you need to do is let Waggel know through your online account what you are claiming for. You will then give them the details of the vet that treated your pet. Finally, you will give Waggel the account details of the bank you’d like the money paid into. 

Once you’ve done the above you will then be assigned a Personal ‘Customer Champion’. They will answer any questions you may have and help get your claim resolved.

Free Vet Video Calls 24/7

At this point in our Waggel review I feel it’s worth highlighting one of the policy perks of being a Waggel customer. This is having free access to 24/7 video calls with qualified vets.

This policy perk has been arranged in partnership with Joii and can be very helpful and save you a lot of time and money. The reason I say this is that it can save you from having to book unnecessary in-person vet appointments – which could be time consuming and costly – when there may be no need. A quick call with a Joii Video Vet can help you to know whether an in-person veterinary appointment is needed.

Waggel Rewards

In addition to pet insurance related policy perks there are also more personal rewards available for Waggel customers. These are known as Waggel rewards and change from month to month. At the time of writing these ‘rewards’ range from discount deals on cases of wine to dog sitting and more.

You can find out what this month’s rewards are on this page*

Waggel Charity Partnerships

Waggel have also partnered with 2 dog charities to support them with some of the profits made from the business. These are SUPPORT DOGS and WILD AT HOME FOUNDATION.

Conclusion  

We hope this Waggel Review has been helpful. So what do we at Money Bulldog think of Waggel overall?

I have to say that getting a quote from Waggel was very easy. The online process was really quick and simple. I liked that almost all of the policy limits and details remain the same across all of Waggel’s policies. The only elements that caused the quote to change price were the vet fee limit required and the excess. 

Since signing up with Waggel I have also renewed my policy. I wondered whether this might be the point where the relationship broke down if the renewal quote was too high. I’m pleased to say this wasn’t the case. The renewal quote I was offered was very reasonable and I am still a Waggel customer today.

If you think Waggel is the right choice then you can get an online quote here*.   

If in the future I do come to make a claim then I’ll be sure to update this Waggel Review with our personal experience of the claims process.