Why do you need pet insurance?
“When it comes to your pet’s health, a little preparation goes a long way.”
Let’s be honest—we can’t tell you if you need pet insurance. That’s financial advice, and you’ll need to speak to a professional for that.
But what we can tell you is this: without pet insurance, 100% of the vet bill, 100% of the time, will come out of your pocket. Unlike humans, pets don’t have Medicare. It costs just as much to run a blood test on a dog or cat as it does on a human, but in Australia, taxpayers cover the cost for people.
Pet insurance isn’t mandatory, but it’s quickly becoming a must-have for many Aussie pet parents. It’s there to help when the unexpected happens—like if your pet eats something they shouldn’t or has an unfortunate run-in with a car.
As pet parents, we know that a trip to the vet emergency hospital brings two kinds of stress.
First, there’s the emotional stress.
Your pet can’t tell you or the vet what’s wrong, and it’s tough not knowing how to help. You just have to trust the vets to care for your pet as you would.
Then, there’s the financial stress.
While you’re relieved that your pet has received the care they need, you’re often left with a hefty vet bill.
At Petsy, we started with a mission to ease that financial burden so you can focus on your pet’s well-being and your family during tough times.
Types of available pet insurance
In Australia, pet insurance generally comes in a few different types of coverage, that can vary by provider:
Accident-Only Cover: This only covers costs related to injuries from accidents, such as broken bones or wounds. It doesn’t cover illness-related expenses.
Accident and Illness Cover: A more comprehensive option that covers both accidental injuries and illnesses. It can include coverage for a wide range of conditions, from minor issues, like infections and allergies, to more serious diseases like cancer.
Accident and Illness Cover with add-ons: Some plans also cover routine care treatments like vaccinations, desexing, and flea and tick treatments, along with accidental injuries and illnesses.
Routine Care: Can be offered as an optional add-on, which helps to cover some costs for preventative care and wellness treatments, such as vaccinations, microchipping, and desexing. The coverage limits for these treatments are usually lower than for other claimable conditions.
At Petsy, we offer accident and illness cover with add-ons only. We believe that in an emergency, people shouldn’t have to worry about whether they selected the right level of coverage when they bought their policy. We want our policyholders to have peace of mind.
Why compare pet insurance?
At Petsy, our mission is to ensure that pet insurance doesn’t end in tears. We’re here to educate you so you know exactly what you’re getting when you sign up. According to Moneysmart, pet insurance premiums typically range from $60 to $120 per month, which means there is a lot of variation of price and coverage in the market. Switching providers can be costly, especially if pre-existing conditions are involved, so it’s crucial to find the right policy for you and your pet from the start. We strongly suggest shopping for pet insurance quotes before you commit to a provider. We explain what goes into a pet insurance quote in this article and explain how you can reduce your pet insurance premium.
How you can compare pet insurance policies
In Australia, there are many quality providers, each offering a range of policies. To make the best choice, it’s important to research and compare coverage options, costs, and how well each policy matches your pet’s health needs. We’re here to guide you through this process so you can make an informed decision.
According to Google, the definition of compare is to “estimate, measure, or note the similarity or dissimilarity between”.
Full definition here
When comparing pet insurance policies, typically they have similar key components: inclusions/exclusions, an annual limit, benefit percentage, excess, and optional extra benefits. Your premium is determined, based on the levels of coverage depending on these components, as well as your pet and your address. So, when comparing pet insurance, the key is to understand how each component works differently across providers. This helps you identify the best policy that meets your needs and offers the most value.
Let’s break down these components so you can see where policies are similar and, more importantly, where they differ.
Coverage and inclusions
Most providers offer tiered policies, such as small, medium, or large, or bronze, silver, or gold and will try to bucket you into one of these categories. Generally, the lower-tiered policies offer less coverage and are more affordable, while the higher-tiered options provide broader coverage with fewer restrictions.
At Petsy, we understand that even two pet owners in the same suburb with the same breed of pet may have different financial needs. That’s why we do things differently here and offer one policy that is customisable to suit your coverage and financial requirements.
Annual limit
The annual limit is the maximum amount your pet insurance will pay for all claims in one year. Once this limit is reached, you’ll need to cover any additional costs yourself until the next policy year.
At Petsy, regardless of the annual limit you choose, the list of covered accidental injuries, illnesses, and conditions remains the same. Often with other policies, if you pick a larger annual limit, the list of your inclusions will also increase. At Petsy, no matter which annual limit you choose, the list of covered injuries, illnesses, and conditions remains the same. Whether you opt for a $5,000 or $25,000 annual limit, your coverage remains the same. Plus, unlike many other providers, we don’t impose sub-limits, so there are no restrictions on how much you can claim for specific conditions or claims.
Benefit percentage
This is the percentage of each eligible vet bill your insurance will cover. For instance, if your benefit percentage is 80%, the insurance will pay 80% of the bill, and you’ll pay the remaining 20% (after any excess is applied). This is pretty similar across the industry. Benefit percentage ranges from 70% to 100%.
Excess
This is the amount you have to pay out of pocket before your insurance starts covering costs. It can be a fixed amount per claim, per condition or per policy year.
At Petsy, our excess works a bit differently. Instead of applying an excess per condition or claim, we use a once-off annual excess. For instance, if your annual excess is $300 and your first vet bill is $200, the remaining $100 will be applied to your next approved claim. You only need to meet this excess once per year.
Optional extra benefits
Optional extra benefits are additional coverage options that can be added to the standard coverage. When doing your research, you will find that there are a lot of dissimilarities in the market for optional extra benefits. A lot of providers don’t even offer any optional extra benefits. You will find that some providers offer routine care as ‘add-ons’ and if they do, sometimes only offered as part of plans with the highest level of coverage.
At Petsy, we offer optional extra cover for dental illness, behavioural conditions, and specialised therapies. Plus, we don’t have sub-limits on these. However, it’s important to note that routine care items, like regular teeth cleaning, isn’t covered. Claims need to be related to a dental disease like gingivitis, periodontal disease, or tumours.
We offer optional extra benefits only for pets under the age of three at the time of application. Why only under three? By the age of three, most pets may develop dental diseases, and adding extra benefits later would mean these conditions would be considered pre-existing conditions that would not be covered. We want to ensure you’re not paying for coverage that can’t be used.
Vet Consultations
Vet consultation fees are what you pay your vet when your pet needs to see the vet for treatment when they’re sick or hurt.
When you receive a vet bill, one of the line items will typically be for the vet consultation. We’re one of the few providers that allows you to exclude vet consultations fees from your coverage. We do this for a few reasons:
- Many of our customers are vets, vet nurses, or clinical staff who receive significant discounts or don’t pay for vet consultations at all
- Some customers are already on wellness plans which cover vet consultation fees, so we don’t want them doubling up
- Pensioners often get discounts on their vet consultation fees
It’s worth noting that the cost of vet consultations can increase significantly during emergency hours. If you don’t fall into one of these categories, it might be worth considering including vet consultations in your coverage.
Compare the Customer Service and how a provider makes things easier for you
Choosing a pet insurance isn’t just about the coverage—it’s also about how well the provider supports you when you need them most. Here are some things to think about:
- Is it easy to file a claim?
- How do they handle pre-existing conditions?
- Can they bill your vet directly?
- How easy is it to reach their support team?
- What’s their cancellation policy?
- Can you add extras later?
An easy way to check out a provider’s service is by looking at reviews on sites like ProductReview.com.au and Google Reviews. These platforms offer real feedback from customers, giving you a sense of how well the provider handles claims and customer support.
We walk you through what to look for in pet insurance reviews in this article here.
Petsy is australia’s highest rated pet insurance provider*
At Petsy, we’re proud of our top ratings on ProductReview.com.au, TrustPilot, and Google, which reflect our commitment to looking after you and your pets. We’ve also been recognised with Canstar’s Outstanding Value Pet Insurance Award for two consecutive years in 2023 and 2024.
We’re the Pet People, and we understand pets because we’re pet parents too. When you call us, you’ll speak to someone right here in Australia who gets how things work with vets in this country. For extra peace of mind, we offer a complimentary pre-existing conditions assessment. This way, you’ll know exactly what’s covered and what’s not before anything unexpected happens. Plus, it means faster claim payments when you need them most.
*Highest rated on Product Review, Finder, Choice and Furbaby Pet Insurance as of September 2024
