Two thirds of young pets are quoted without compulsory co-payment. By age ten, seven in ten quotes ask owners to pay at least 20% of every claim.
Compulsory co-payment, where owners pay a fixed share of each claim on top of their excess, gets far less attention than premiums or vet fee limits. Yet it can make a bigger difference to what an owner pays when they claim. Our analysis of lifetime pet quotes on the four main price comparison sites shows how sharply it changes as pets age.
No co-pay is the norm, at first
Across the market, between 55% and 66% of quotes carry no compulsory co-payment, depending on the site. Where co-pay is applied, 20% is the standard level.
Age changes the picture
Around two thirds of young cats and dogs are quoted without co-pay. Cats keep that advantage for longer: half of those aged seven to nine are still quoted without it. After ten, only 18% are, and 71% of quotes require a co-pay of 20% or 25%.
Dogs get there sooner. Only 31% of dogs aged seven to nine are quoted without co-pay. By ten, the picture matches cats, with around seven in ten quotes asking for 20% or more.
Similar rules, different routes
Data from Fairer Finance and Go.Compare shows the market clustering around the same rules. The usual trigger age is eight for dogs and ten for cats, and the typical increase is to 20%.
Within that, approaches vary. Some providers add co-pay later and at a lower level. Others introduce a high co-pay from as early as age four. A handful don't increase co-pay with age at all, though some raise the excess instead. As a result, two policies with similar premiums can leave the same owner paying very different amounts once their pet reaches middle age.
What this means for the market
For lifetime policies especially, co-pay matters long after the point of sale. A policy bought for a young pet may start with no co-payment, then introduce one just as claims become more frequent and more expensive. That raises questions under Consumer Duty. Do customers understand, when they buy, how their share of claim costs will change? And does the product still offer fair value when they need it?
It is also an opportunity. With the majority of providers clustered around the same trigger ages and the same 20% level, a later or smaller increase is a genuine point of difference. That difference is easy to miss on a results page ranked by premium, so providers that offer it have good reason to make it visible.
Source: Consumer Intelligence Pet Price Benchmarking, lifetime products across four price comparison sites, July 2026. Provider co-pay trigger ages and levels: Fairer Finance and Go.Compare.
With most providers clustered around the same trigger ages and the same 20% level, a later or smaller co-pay increase can set your product apart, but only if customers can see it. Consumer Intelligence's Pet Price Benchmarking shows how your pricing and cover compare across the main price comparison sites. Get in touch to find out more.