What Is Pet Insurance?

What is pet insurance?
Understanding pet insurance
Average cost of owning a pet

Your pet is your world. That’s why it’s important to understand how insurance can help protect your furry friend.

In a nutshell, Pet Insurance might help mitigate some of the costs of veterinary bills over your pet’s life.

What are the benefits of pet insurance? We’ve broken down some of the key elements of pet insurance below to help make an informed decision on what works best for your needs.

Pet insurance helps to protect your pet should they suffer an unexpected illness or accidental injury. If your pet unexpectedly becomes sick or injured, you usually pay the total cost upfront for the vet bill and then submit a claim to be reimbursed.

While it doesn't usually cover things like routine expenses such as vaccinations or regular check-ups, it can help with the cost of unexpected illness and specified accidents.

While you do have to pay the premiums for pet insurance out of pocket, it can help to know you might be reimbursed for some procedures.^>

Pet insurance generally covers:

Inclusions	Example
Specified accidental injury cover	Like a bone fracture, snake bite, or lacerations.
Illness cover	Like cancer treatments, ingestion of a foreign object, or ear infections.

Pet insurance generally doesn't cover:

Exclusions	Example
Pre-existing conditions	A pre-existing condition is a condition that first existed or occurred: prior to the commencement date of your first policy period; or within any applicable waiting period; AND is a condition that you were aware of, or a reasonable person in your circumstances would have been aware of, irrespective of whether the underlying or causative condition has been diagnosed. A pre-existing condition also includes a related condition or bilateral condition of a pre-existing condition.
Dental care	Like teeth cleaning and dental diseases.
Preventive and routine items	Like food (regular/ prescription), vaccinations, microchipping, and grooming.

Exclusions

Example

Pre-existing conditions

A pre-existing condition is a condition that first existed or occurred:

prior to the commencement date of your first policy period; or

within any applicable waiting period;

AND

is a condition that you were aware of, or a reasonable person in your circumstances would have been aware of, irrespective of whether the underlying or causative condition has been diagnosed.

A pre-existing condition also includes a related condition or bilateral condition of a pre-existing condition.

Dental care

Like teeth cleaning and dental diseases.

Preventive and routine items

Like food (regular/ prescription), vaccinations, microchipping, and grooming.

Important information

A chronic pre-existing condition is a pet health condition that requires ongoing care or is more prolonged in nature, and affects your pet over a period that is greater than three months in total (the three-month period need not be consecutive). So if your pet displays one of these conditions prior to the purchase of a pet insurance policy or its waiting period, it will never be coverable under the policy.

If you’d like a more detailed breakdown of things that Everyday Pet Insurance may cover, you can visit our Compare Pet Insurance page. It shows you what levels of cover are available, annual benefit limits, and excess options.

To summarise, pet insurance can help keep your furry friend protected and assist with out-of-pocket expenses when it comes to larger vet bills.

Understanding pet insurance

There are a number of logistics around how pet insurance works because it is influenced by factors like your pet’s age, breed, and species.

Waiting periods

You can get Everyday Pet Insurance for your pet from 8 weeks old.‡ Pet owners might get pet insurance early in the pet's life, before any pre-existing conditions develop.

Depending on the type of condition, you may be subject to a waiting period. Waiting periods for Pet Insurance may include:^#

30 days for illnesses
6 months for cruciate ligament conditions
0 days for specified accidental injury

For further details around waiting periods, you can read the Pet Insurance Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).

Premiums

A premium is a payment you make to cover your pet. When you first take out your insurance policy, it's calculated based on factors such as the breed, species, and age of your pet and what level of cover you choose.

Everyday Pet Insurance offers four different cover types:^#

Basic	Standard	Comprehensive	Comprehensive Plus
Specified accidental injury Illness cover Up to $5,000 annual benefit limit^#	Specified accidental injury Illness cover Up to $10,000 annual benefit limit^#	Specified accidental injury Illness cover Optional non-insurance routine care Up to $24,000 annual benefit limit^#	Specified accidental injury Illness cover Optional non-insurance routine care Up to $30,000 annual benefit limit^#

Basic

Standard

Comprehensive

Comprehensive Plus

Specified accidental injury

Illness cover

Up to $5,000 annual benefit limit^#

Specified accidental injury

Illness cover

Up to $10,000 annual benefit limit^#

Specified accidental injury

Illness cover

Optional non-insurance routine care

Up to $24,000 annual benefit limit^#

Specified accidental injury

Illness cover

Optional non-insurance routine care

Up to $30,000 annual benefit limit^#

For more information refer to your PDS, available here.

Claims

If your pet becomes injured or sick and your policy covers it, you may be reimbursed for a portion of your vet expenses.

For larger expenses, you can request a pre-approval so you know in advance if your pet’s treatment will be covered.

Here’s a breakdown of how most claims work:

Your pet undergoes treatment or surgery for its specified accident or illness
You then pay the entire vet bill out-of-pocket and up-front
You or your vet submits a claim on your behalf
Your claim is assessed to make sure it meets the eligible criteria
If approved, the funds are then deposited into your nominated bank account

We process 98% of claims within 5 days.^»~ Visit our make a Pet Insurance claim page for more information on claims.

GapOnly®

Some vet clinics allow you to claim on the spot with GapOnly®.

GapOnly® is a service that reviews and calculates your claim while you’re at the vet. If your claim is approved, you may only have to pay the difference between the vet's invoice and the claim benefit under your policy. It can help alleviate the strain of having to pay your eligible vet bill up-front before claiming.⁼

Average cost of owning a pet

Insurance is just one factor to consider when you own a pet. Costs like maintenance, food, grooming, and care services for cats and dogs can all add up over time.

It’s estimated that Australians collectively spend over $33 billion dollars on their pets per year, with food and veterinary costs accounting for more than half of the expenditure.¹

Cost	Total spend by category, 2022 (nationally) ¹
Food	$17.1 billion
Veterinary services	$4.7 billion
Pet healthcare products	$2.9 billion
Clipping/grooming	$1.2 billion
Training / behaviour / therapy (dogs and cats only)	$900 million
Boarding / minding (dogs and cats only)	$700 million
Competitions / memberships (dogs and cats only)	$500 million
Walking (dogs only)	$500 million
Transport (dogs and cats only)	$400 million

How do I get pet insurance?

When you get a quote with Everyday Pet Insurance, you will get started by answering a few questions like:

Is your pet a cat or dog?
What gender is your pet?
Is your pet desexed?

From there, you’ll be able to see what type of cover options are available and which one suits your needs.

After selecting your cover type, we’ll calculate your premium, and you’ll be able to choose your payment frequency (fortnightly, monthly or annually).

Ready to get Pet Insurance?

Get a quote

Why pick Everyday Pet Insurance?

Comprehensive Plus annual limit.#

Claim up to $30,000 a year.

Claim up to 80% back.*

Get up to 80% back on eligible vet bills.

Lifetime cover.‡

Your pet is covered from 8 weeks old for life.

Introducing GapOnly.®

Claim your benefit on the spot and only pay the gap on eligible claims.⁼

Pet Insurance Info Hub

What to know before getting a dog

Find out more

Most common types of dog surgery in Australia

Find out more

What to know before getting a cat

Find out more

Puppy feeding guide

Find out more

Important information

^> Exclusions apply. See details in your PDS.

¹ https://animalmedicinesaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/AMAU008-Pet-Ownership22-Report_v1.6_WEB.pdf

text: ^‡ Cover is available for the life of your pet provided you renew your policy each year without any break, lapse or change in the level of Cover. This means once your pet is insured with us and as long as we continue to offer the product, you will be able to renew your policy for that pet for life and your cover level will not be reduced as your pet ages provided you continuously maintain the cover. Cover is subject to the terms and conditions of your renewing policy. See details in your PDS.

text: ^#Policy Terms and Conditions, exclusions and limits apply. Benefit limit amounts vary by level of cover.

text

^>>Once all required claims documentation has been received.

^~Based on PetSure data February 2023 to January 2024.

text: = The gap is defined as the difference between the vet's invoice and the claim benefit under your policy. Policy terms and conditions apply. GapOnly^® is only available at participating Vets. Please visit GapOnly^® to search for GapOnly^® enabled vets. GapOnly^® is a trademark owned by PetSure (Australia) Pty Ltd (PetSure) (ABN 95 075 949 923, AFSL 420183).

text: * Limits, waiting periods, exclusions and excesses may apply.

text: Everyday Pet Insurance policies entered into for the first time prior to 17 July 2023 and subsequent renewals of those policies are issued by The Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd ABN 78 090 584 473, AFSL 241436 (Hollard), arranged and administered by PetSure (Australia) Pty Ltd ABN 95 075 949 923, AFSL 420183 (PetSure) and promoted and distributed by Hollard’s Authorised Representative (AR) Woolworths Group Limited ABN 88 000 014 675, AR 245476 (Woolworths). Everyday Pet Insurance policies entered into for the first time on or after 17 July 2023 and subsequent renewals of those policies are issued by PetSure and promoted and distributed by PetSure’s AR, Woolworths. Any advice provided is general only and does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. Please consider the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) to ensure this product meets your needs before purchasing, or choosing to continue with the product. PDS and Target Market Determination available at insurance.everyday.com.au/pet-insurance.

What is pet insurance and how does it work?