Received an email saying your pet's microchip provider is changing?
Had an email telling you your pet's microchip records are moving to a different database? Or been asked to start paying a yearly fee to keep your details up to date?
If your details were transferred to a new provider, here's how to check that your pet is still correctly registered - and what your options are to avoid databases that now charge a yearly fee to keep your pet's information up to date. Sounds like what happened to you? If you decide to move your chip to us before October 9th, we'll waive our one-off fee to move your chip across.
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What's going on
Over the past years, we have seen increasing consolidation in the ownership of UK microchip databases. When that happens, pet owners' records may have to be migrated from one system to another.
Pet owners have reported receiving emails notifying them of their old provider merging with another database, logging-in to check their details after a platform merger, only to find their pet showing as unregistered, despite having been registered prior to the migration. If you've had an email telling you your provider is changing, you're not imagining it, and you're not alone.
The pattern we're seeing
Here's what's been playing out for a lot of pet owners recently.
We believe microchip registration should not work like a subscription service because your pet's safety shouldn't depend on whether a bill got paid on time. But a growing number of databases have moved to charging annually just for owners to keep their own information accurate.
That means the moment your pet goes missing after they bolt out the door is the worst possible moment to discover you can’t update your details without paying first.
You can choose which database your pet is registered on
You don't have to stay with the database chosen for you by their previous keeper, breeder, vet or even the chip manufacturer.
When your pet is microchipped, your vet, breeder or rescue will register it, or direct you to register with whichever database they use as standard. What a lot of owners don't realise is that, depending on your chip's manufacturer, you may be able to move to a different Defra-compliant UK database instead of the one it started on.
Not every database accepts every chip type; some only register chips from specific manufacturers. Pet Database accepts all UK-compliant microchip types, so for most owners, which database you're registered with really is a choice, not something dictated by what chip your pet happens to have.
Why does this matter? The default database your pet started on may come with a yearly subscription, which means owners who never actively chose that database can find themselves paying an annual fee just to keep their own details up to date.
And if you don't pay it, updating those details (like your address, email or phone number) can come with a fee of its own, which is not a reassuring way to leave something this important.
You can choose which database your pet is registered on
You don't have to stay with the database chosen for you by their previous keeper, breeder, vet or even the chip manufacturer.
When your pet is microchipped, your vet, breeder or rescue will register it, or direct you to register with whichever database they use as standard. What a lot of owners don't realise is that, depending on your chip's manufacturer, you may be able to move to a different DEFRA-compliant UK database instead of the one it started on.
Not every database accepts every chip type; some only register chips from specific manufacturers. Pet Database accepts all UK-compliant microchip types, so for most owners, which database you're registered with really is a choice, not something dictated by what chip your pet happens to have.
Why does this matter? The default database your pet started on may come with a yearly subscription, which means owners who never actively chose that database can find themselves paying an annual fee just to keep their own details up to date.
And if you don't pay it, updating those details (like your address, email or phone number) can come with a fee of its own, which is not a reassuring way to leave something this important.
What to do now
Start by checking whether your pet's microchip is currently registered, and which database holds it. You’ll need your microchip number (you'll usually find it on their microchip certificate, vet records, or adoption paperwork).
Use our checker to see whether your pet's chip is currently registered, and which database currently holds the record.
If you choose to switch to Pet Database, you can transfer your record in a few minutes. No new chip and no trip to the vet needed. We'll contact your previous database and ask them to close the old record. They may get in touch with you to confirm that's what you want. This way there's only one set of details and no chance of a scan returning the wrong ones.
How Pet Database differs from some other databases
How our service compares
Locked out, or asked to pay to keep your details right?
Move your pet's chip to a database that lets you update your details for free, for life.
We'll waive our membership fee entirely. We're running this as a limited-time offer for whose microchip database has introduced new charges. A problem your old provider caused shouldn't come with a bill from us too.
Use the below button to register, and we’ll waive the fee. Available on registrations completed between 24.09.2026 and 09.10.2026