At Ari&Me, we know how special dogs are and how tough it can be when they get sick or need medical care. That's why we've partnered with Petsy Pet Insurance to provide this guide to help you choose a pet insurance so that it can make difficult days a little bit easier.
Table of Contents
Introduction
When choosing pet insurance, it is important that you find one that best meets you and your furry family member’s needs. Pet insurance policies all differ in the level of cover they provide with various annual limits, sub-limits, excess and extras.
It’s actually harder to find two policies that have exactly the same options, which makes it an overwhelming task when comparing one to another.
Because we know it’s not easy, we are here to help break it down for you. If you are able to understand the following then you will be able to get closer to comparing apples with apples, instead of apples and bananas.
Types of Cover
This refers to the conditions or treatments you would like your pet to be covered for.
Accident only | Accident and Illness | Accident, Illness and Routine |
Only covers your pet in the event of a number of specified “accidental” injuries. At Petsy, we do not offer accident only cover. | Covers accidents such as car accidents, broken bones and illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, in addition to accidental injuries. At Petsy, we offer this cover. | Covers accidental injuries, illness and limited amounts of routine care (for example vaccinations, blood tests). Petsy does not offer routine care. |
*You should have a look at the list of conditions covered for different policies, as this may vary between insurance providers.
Why don’t we offer accident only insurance?
We believe accident only cover led to tears, so that is why we no longer offer it. We no longer offer low-priced or, in our eyes, "cheap pet insurance" that limits the coverage too much.
Once you have decided on the level of cover that suits you and your pet’s needs, it’s time to dig deeper into the key details. To help compare pet insurance policies and offerings, we’ve summarised the most common options that can affect the coverage and price.
Annual Limit
The Annual Limit is the maximum amount your insurance provider pays over a 12 month policy period. The annual limits range from $3,000 to over $20,000.
Petsy offers some of the lowest and, conversely, highest annual limits in the market with no sub-limits. Remember, $10,0000 as an annual limit with sub-limits is not the same as $10,000 without sub-limits.
The higher the annual limit, the higher the premium, and the lower the annual limit, the cheaper pet insurance premiums will be.
Our coverage options are entirely up to you to choose from, and we have $5k, $10k, and $25k options available.
Starting early with Petsy Pet Insurance has its perks! |
For pets starting their protection with us before they’re 6 months old, we’ll top up your chosen annual limit by 20% and you pay nothing extra. Pets starting before they turn one are eligible for a 10% annual limit bonus at no extra cost. |
For pets under 6 months old when starting a new policy, customers will receive a 20% annual limit bonus
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For policies older than 6 months but less than 1 year, the bonus is 10%.
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Sub-limits
Also referred to as a “condition limit” or “per incident limit”, a sub-limit applies a cap to the amount your insurance provider will pay to treat certain conditions per year (ie. the policy period).
For example, let’s say you have an insurance policy with an annual limit of $5,000. However, the policy also has a sub-limit of $2,600 for cruciate ligament conditions. If your pet undergoes cruciate ligament surgery and the cost exceeds $2,600, your insurer will only pay up to the sub-limit amount of $2,600, even though your annual limit is $5,000.
You should carefully review the sub-limits that apply for specific conditions and decide if it offers enough protection to your pet. All Petsy Pet Insurance policies have ZERO sub-limits.
Benefit Percentage
The Benefit Percentage is the proportion of vet costs that your insurance provider covers in the event of a claim.
For example, let’s say you have a vet bill with $10,000 of approved vet costs and selected a Benefit Percentage of 90%. This means you will be reimbursed 90% of $10,000 which is $9,000 (assuming annual excess does not apply, and subject to annual limit).
In the market, the total amount you can select to be reimbursed on vet bills will usually range from 70% to 100% (just check the caveats on 100%).
The higher the benefit percentage, the higher the premium, and the lower the benefit percentage, the cheaper pet insurance premiums will be.
We offer two options, 80% and 90%.
Annual Excess
The excess is the amount you agree to pay out-of-pocket towards a claim before the insurance provider begins to pay benefits for accepted claims.
For example, let’s say you have an insurance policy with a $150 annual excess. If your vet bill claim is $1,000, you are responsible for paying the first $150 (the excess) out-of-pocket. The amount your insurance provider will pay for the remaining costs depends on your benefit percentage.
The lower the annual excess, the higher the premium and the higher the excess, the cheaper pet insurance premiums will be.
It is important to note that not all excess options are the same. The three main types are per claim excess, per condition excess, and annual excess, and they are very different.
A per claim excess is applied for every claim you submit, a per condition excess is applied for every different condition that your furry friend develops and you make a claim.
Finally, an annual excess is only applied once for the year, regardless of how many claims you made or how many conditions your furry friend had.
Dental Coverage
Dental coverage is an optional add-on that will increase the amount you pay for pet insurance. Choosing not to include dental coverage will reduce pet insurance premiums.
Not many providers have dental coverage as an option, and if they do, there are usually sub-limits. Petsy is proud to be one of the few providers that offer dental coverage, and as always, there are no sub-limits.
Optional Extra Benefits
Many pet insurance providers offer the opportunity to add-on extra benefits such as behavioural problems, physiotherapy, or emergency boarding. Each insurance provider will offer different extra benefits, so make sure to consider what extended cover you would like your pet to have. The more optional extras you choose, the more expensive your pet insurance premium will be, and the less optional extras you choose, the cheaper you can make your pet insurance premium.
At Petsy, we offer optional extra benefits that extend cover for dental illness, specialised therapies, and behavioural problems. The maximum age to add optional extras is 2 years and 364 days (pet must be less than 3 years old).
Vet Consultations
Some policies may exclude or have sub-limits applied to claims for vet consultations. You should consider what is right based on your circumstances.
If you decide to remove vet consultations from your cover, this will make your pet insurance premiums cheaper, but it’s important to note that emergency vet consultations can be expensive.
Petsy Pet Insurance offers you the option to choose to include or exclude cover for vet consultations related to the required treatment of injury or illness.
Exclusion Periods
Exclusion periods, also referred to as a “waiting period”, is the amount of time during which no benefit is payable under the policy. This means you cannot claim for vet costs for treatment your pet receives in relation to an illness or injury which occurs during an exclusion period. This period can vary between providers, so make sure you find out beforehand - that way you know what to expect.
We no longer use the term waiting periods as it has brought a bit of confusion about pet insurance being similar to human health insurance, which is not the case.
Pre-Existing Conditions
A pre-existing condition is one that exists or occurs before your pet’s insurance policy begins (and during the exclusion period). It is rare for pet insurance providers to cover any pre-existing conditions. If they do, it will usually require some time for that condition to no longer exist. before they do.
Again, there is a common misconception where people assume pet insurance is similar to human health insurance. If anything, it’s closer to car insurance. Here is an example to help explain:
Let’s say you buy a car with a damaged rear bumper, but you don’t currently have car insurance. Then one day you finally decide to get car insurance, and several months later, you are involved in a car accident where someone T-bones the front of your car. Your insurance provider will pay for damages sustained in the front T-boned accident but will not reimburse you to fix the rear damaged bumper as it was there before you got the car insurance.
Comparing Providers
So now, if you decide to get a quote from one provider with an 80% benefit percentage, then in order to more closely compare this provider with another provider, make sure you get a quote for the other also with an 80% benefit percentage.
Then you can do the same for all the options, coverage and customisation, such as the excess, dental coverage, optional extra benefits, vet consultations, exclusion periods, and pre-existing conditions.
By taking into account these factors and comparing them across different pet insurance providers, you can make an informed decision about which provider and policy is right for you and your furry friend.
Petsy Pet Insurance is proud to allow our members to customise the cover which can also help them find an affordable coverage option for their family member.
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Written by Petsy Pet Insurance and Ari&Me
Contact Petsy
Address: Suite 58, Mezzanine/388 George St, Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: 1300 952 790
Email: hello@petsy.com.au
Petsy Pty Ltd (ABN 54 633 343 058, AR 1277359) (‘Petsy’) distributes and promotes Petsy Pet Protection Plus (formally Petsy Pet Insurance), Petsy Puppy Protection Plus and Petsy Kitten Protection Plus as an authorised representative of Knose Financial Services Pty Ltd (ABN 38 620 795 735, AFSL 536651) trading as ThePetInsuranceCompany.com.au (‘ThePetInsuranceCompany.com.au’). ThePetInsuranceCompany.com.au is an underwriting agency acting under a binding authority as an agent for the insurer; Pacific International Insurance Pty Limited (ABN 83 169 311 193) (‘Pacific) in relation to Petsy Puppy Protection Plus and Petsy Kitten Protection Plus policies and Petsy Pet Protection Plus policies from 01 March 2023 or have an anniversary renewal date from 18 March 2023, and the Australia branch of Allied World Assurance Company, Ltd (ABN 54 163 304 907) (‘Allied World’) in relation to Petsy Pet Insurance policies purchased between 17 February 2022 and 28 February 2023 (inclusive) or renewed between 01 March 2023 and 17 March 2023 (inclusive). In all aspects of arranging this product, Petsy and ThePetInsuranceCompany.com.au act as an agent of Pacific/Allied World (as the case may be) and not as your agent. Any advice contained in this email is general advice only and has been prepared without taking into account individual objectives, financial situation or needs and you should consider the appropriateness of any such advice, the Product Disclosure Statement (‘PDS’) and the Target Market Determination (‘TMD’) available via http://www.petsy.com.au or by calling 1300 952 790 before making a decision to acquire, or to continue to hold, the product. Terms, conditions, limits and exclusions apply. Please refer to the PDS.
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