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Understanding Pet Insurance
Petsy Pet insurance is a policy that reimburses a portion (up to 90%) of vet costs for the treatment of your pet if they suffer an unexpected injury or illness (provided these occur after any applicable exclusion period has ended).
Pet insurance helps pet owners with difficult financial decisions, allowing their pets to receive the best veterinary treatments without finances being the deciding factor.
Understanding Pet Insurance
Petsy Pet insurance is a policy that reimburses a portion (up to 90%) of vet costs for the treatment of your pet if they suffer an unexpected injury or illness (provided these occur after any applicable exclusion period has ended).
Pet insurance helps pet owners with difficult financial decisions, allowing their pets to receive the best veterinary treatments without finances being the deciding factor.
How pet insurance works
With a pet insurance policy, you’ll pay monthly premiums to an insurer and in the instance your pet gets unexpectedly sick or injured, you can submit a claim to the insurance provider for partial reimbursement of the vet costs.
Your policy will outline what conditions and expenses are covered, any exclusions, the reimbursement rate, any available excesses and the maximum payouts or limits for a year.
When you start a new pet insurance policy, any exclusion periods (or waiting periods) have to be served symptom-free before your coverage begins.
Pet insurance is for unexpected veterinary expenses. Any kind of illness or health issue that your pet has shown signs or symptoms of before the exclusion periods end are considered as pre-existing conditions and these are excluded from cover. This is why it’s so important to have a pet insurance in place before you actually need it.
Petsy Pet Insurance works a little differently to many other pet insurance policies.
- No sub-limits on any of your inclusions
- We offer cover for vaccine preventable diseases if your pet is up to date with their vaccinations
- We have some of the shortest exclusion periods for illness related conditions (14 days instead of 30 days)
- No decrease in coverage over time
- No offshore call centres, only Australian based pet insurance specialists to support you and your pet
- We provide covers for puppies and kittens from 6 weeks old (instead of 8 weeks like many others) which means new pet owners could have passed exclusion periods for accidental injuries (1 day) and illness (14 days) by the time your new pet comes home
- You can choose to cover up to 90% of eligible vet bills, claim up to $25,000 per year, plus no sub limits even for expensive treatments. That’s one of the highest limits of all levels of pet insurance available
- Optional coverage for dental illness
- No cancellation fees
- All we do is pet insurance, so you can rest easy knowing your pet insurance experience will be a walk in the park
Can I purchase a policy and treat my own pet?
Registered veterinarians are able to purchase a pet insurance policy from Petsy and treat their own pets under a Petsy Pet Insurance policy. There is no difference in terms of the coverage offered, however, there are some variances in relation to waiver requests and any requests for exclusion reviews (if applicable).
Under Petsy Pet Insurance, policy holders can choose to have a Waiver Form completed to apply to reduce the exclusion or waiting period for Specified Conditions. If you want to have this form submitted, this needs to be completed by a registered veterinarian other than yourself. Any exclusion reviews and associated vet clinical visits also need to be completed by a veterinarian other than yourself.
For submitted claims, we require the relevant clinical history and a tax invoice showing a paid balance as well as any discounts that are applied to a staff member. Please note that claim payments are calculated based on the total amount you have paid, so if you received a staff discount from your clinic, the calculated reimbursement is based on the discounted amount. We may require additional proof of payment (e.g. a receipt of payment) for claims submitted by a staff member of a vet clinic.
With all claims, our Australian based team of vet and vet nurse assessors assess the information provided, including diagnoses, results of diagnostic tests and clinical signs noted in the medical history.
Good to know
The Product Disclosure Statement (‘PDS’) is the document that contains key information about what is and isn’t covered. The PDS, when read in conjunction with your Certificate of Insurance, provides all the benefits, coverage, terms and conditions, limits and exclusions of your Petsy Pet Insurance policy.
Pet insurance is designed for unexpected events, so there is no cover for pre-existing conditions. This includes signs or symptoms of health conditions noted in your pet’s medical history before the exclusion periods end on your policy.
Be mindful of the exclusion periods (or waiting periods) that apply to your policy. These need to pass symptom-free before your coverage begins.
Elective and preventative treatments (such as vaccinations and desexing) are not covered under a Petsy Pet Insurance policy.
General exclusions apply on all pet insurance policies. The Summary of Exclusions can be found on pages 11-12 of the PDS. This part of PDS contains information about the exclusions applicable to Petsy Pet Insurance policy and when a claim would not be approved.
Research and education
Veterinarians can gain a better understanding of the pet insurance industry landscape by learning about different pet insurance providers, policies, coverage options and limitations.
If you have questions about pet insurance or would like assistance with clarifying terminology or would just like to know more about pet insurance, please reach out and find out what we can do to support you and your clinic.
Provide resources
Veterinarians can offer educational materials, or refer to educational websites where pet owners can independently research and compare different pet insurance options. This could empower pet owners to make their own decisions based on accurate information.
Encourage pet owners to read policies carefully
Veterinarians can help pet owners by stressing the importance of reading policy documents thoroughly. Different policies can vary significantly in coverage, so it’s crucial for pet owners to understand the terms and conditions of their coverage.
Provide transparency to pet owners
Although a pet owner’s pet may be generally healthy, being transparent and providing information to pet owners about what’s listed in their pet’s medical notes can help manage expectations and minimise any misunderstandings about pre-existing conditions.
