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Cats and dogs are great companions, and you may even think of them as part of your family, but the costs of pet ownership can quickly add up.
This is where pet insurance can help.
Pet insurance is designed to help cover unexpected veterinary expenses when your cat or dog gets sick or injured.
Plans may help cover a significant part of eligible vet bills – with some covering up to 80% of the costs (or more). Though the precise amount can vary between providers and your chosen level of cover.
Just keep in mind that some insurers may require you to pay the vet bill up-front. This means you may have to pay the bill first, then receive reimbursement after you make your claim.
No matter how well you care for your pet, there’s always a chance that they could break a leg, get sick or eat something they shouldn’t.
If your cat or dog ends up in hospital for a few days, the vet bills can potentially escalate. Unless you have savings available to cover the costs, it can be difficult to help your pet return to good health.
Pet insurance policies tend to vary in levels of cover and could include cover for scenarios including specified accidental injury, illnesses and associated medical procedures. Depending on the policy, specified accidental physical injuries could include injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents, broken bones, burns or even snake bites. Specified illnesses may include medicine and treatment for cancer, skin conditions, gastrointestinal problems, tick paralysis and even more.
Your policy may also include cover for hospitalisation of your pet and after-hours services as well as emergency boarding fees if you find yourself hospitalised and unable to care for your pet. Some comprehensive policies also offer optional benefits, such as routine care cover.
However, you’ll need to consult the policy’s product disclosure (PDS) statement to find out whether it offers such cover, as the PDS document will outline all of the policy’s key features and benefits as well as any waiting periods or exclusions.
Pet insurance policies also come with certain exclusions. These are conditions or costs that policies generally don’t provide cover for.
This may include:
Further to this, some policies might not cover pets that are younger than eight weeks or older than nine years at the time that you apply. Though this may differ depending on the insurer.
When choosing a suitable policy, there can be a lot of information to absorb. Policies can differ in terms of benefits, costs and features – and no one policy can meet every pet owner’s individual needs.
This is why it may be worthwhile to compare policies – especially when it comes to these key features:Â
Premiums |
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Percentage of eligible vet bills covered |
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Excess |
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Waiting period |
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Annual benefit limit |
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Annual condition limit |
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Other limits (Sub limits) |
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Optional extras |
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Again, the precise details of what your policy does and doesn’t cover can be found in the relevant product disclosure statement (sometimes known as the policy booklet). You should always consult this document when investigating a policy.
If you’re looking for a quick, easy way to compare pet insurance policies, then we can help.
At iSelect, we’ve partnered with Choosi to help you compare policies from a range of pet insurance providers, helping you to find a suitable policy. Get started by comparing online, or call us on 13 19 20 today!
Sources:1. Animal Medicines Australia, Pets and the Pandemic (2021), Page 9
Last Updated: 27/06/2022