Martin Lewis issues warning to millions of cat owners about to be fined

Martin Lewis has issued an urgent warning to millions of cat owners who could face a fine amid new law change.

For years, the money saving expert has been helping Brits to save a penny or two, with hacks to save on mobile phone bills and revealing how to claim if you’re a student who is due a refund on overpaid student loans.

Now, Lewis has warned millions of cat owners in England about a new law that could see them fined up to £500 and be denied a claim on their pet insurance, if their feline friends are not microchipped soon.

In his newsletter, he explained: “From Monday June 10, by law, in England (doesn’t apply to rest of UK) all cats aged 20+ weeks must be microchipped and registered on a database (it became law for dogs in 2016). Yet over 20 percent aren’t yet.”

According to the PDSA, up to 24 per cent of adults in the UK own a cat, meaning there are potentially millions of them in England who are not microchipped and whose owners could incur a hefty fine.

Lewis explained that, although the law is coming in on 10 June, the government does give a 21 day leeway. This means that the very latest deadline to avoid incurring a fine is 1 July.

Microchipping your cat can cost anywhere between £20 and £30, according to cat charity Cats Protection, making it a good investment to avoid a potential fine of £500.

The small electronic microchip allows a scanner to read it, so if your cat gets lost, you are more likely to be reunited with them based on the information the microchip holds.

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