The market this year
Across the products we assessed this year, the average annual premium for accident and illness cover is around $986 for a cat and $1,693 for a medium-sized dog (for example, a Border Collie or Staffordshire Bull Terrier). Adding routine care (which can include common preventative treatments) can cost an additional $50 to $120 per year depending on the type of pet. Premiums vary significantly by age. For a medium-sized dog, the average premium roughly doubles from around $1,101 for a young dog to $2,586 for a 7-year-old. For cats, premiums rise from around $743 to $1,396 over the same age span.
Previously, it was common practice for pet insurers to have caps for individual types of treatment, but lately, we’re seeing more providers offering a single annual benefit limit, without caps for individual conditions. There are even some policies with no annual limit at all. If your pet is involved in a motor vehicle accident, you can be left with vet bills exceeding $20,000, so that flexibility provides peace of mind. Some policies include constraints that keep premiums affordable but these can limit your payout–for example, capping certain injury claims at two per year, or reducing the amount paid for an ongoing condition over time. These restrictions are part of how products are priced, and they're not always prominent when comparing policies, so you may have to read the fine print to find them.
For the first time in our evaluation, we've also factored in how customers rate the claims process. While this doesn't measure how much a provider pays out, it does recognise brands that give customers a better experience if the worst happens.
How we chose the winners
To determine which providers offer outstanding value, we look at Accident & Illness policies both with and without Routine Care provisions:
- Accident & Illness assesses policies designed to cover unexpected illness and injury, including conditions like cruciate ligament injuries, tick paralysis, and hereditary and congenital conditions.
- Accident & Illness with Routine Care also assesses policies designed to cover unexpected illness and injury, with the addition of routine care benefits. which are generally preventative items such as vaccinations, health checks, desexing, and parasite prevention. This is not a standalone assessment of routine care–it evaluates the complete policy for pet owners who want comprehensive cover and preventative care in a single product.
Within both categories, products are evaluated on a combination of price (50%) and features (50%), with the product achieving the highest total score across pet profiles receiving the award. Profiles are cat, small dog, medium dog, and large dog.
On features, we look at the whole customer journey–cover, waiting periods, exclusions, and the claims process and experience.
For the full detail of our approach, see the methodology document.
Who we looked at
To be included in the assessment, a product must meet a set of eligibility criteria designed to ensure we're comparing policies that offer a meaningful level of protection. In general terms, a pet insurance policy is included where it is publicly available and open to Australian pet owners, available directly from the provider, provides standalone lifetime cover, covers a minimum breadth of illness conditions, maintains a minimum annual benefit limit of $10,000, and reimburses at least 80% of vet fees. New providers must have been in the market for at least 12 months.
What to keep in mind when comparing pet insurance
Pre-existing conditions
Most providers exclude any condition your pet has already been diagnosed with or treated for. That exclusion is usually permanent and applies whether you're taking out a new policy or switching from an existing one. This means that it’s important to thoroughly compare pet insurance policies before you commit to one, knowing you may well be with that same provider throughout your pet’s lifetime..
Know your limits
Policies are structured differently when it comes to the overall annual benefit limit and any applicable sub-limits. There are policies on the market with no sub-limits, meaning you don’t have separate, smaller caps for individual treatments and conditions, and while these can allow you to claim more back, the premiums can also be pricier. Policies with sub-limits can still represent strong value, as they are generally at a lower price point. The question to ask yourself is whether you're comfortable having individual treatments capped at a certain level in exchange for a lower premium, bearing in mind that you could still end up paying a large amount out of pocket if you do hit your cap. It's also worth checking for claim caps on certain injury types, the reclassification of repeated accidents as illnesses, or caps on what they'll pay for ongoing conditions based on what the benefit was when the condition was first treated.
Cover for breed-specific conditions
If you own a short-nosed breed, check hereditary and congenital cover carefully. Breeds like French Bulldogs, Pugs, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are among the most popular in Australia, but they're also prone to hereditary and congenital conditions such as brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS). Some policies apply age cut-offs or exclusions that can limit or remove cover for these conditions. If your pet is a breed with known hereditary risks, this is one of the most important things to check in the PDS.
Dental illness cover
Some policies include dental illness cover as standard, while others offer it as an optional add-on, and some don't offer it at all. Given that dental treatment can be a significant expense, it's worth checking where dental sits in any policy you're considering.
Waiting periods
Waiting periods vary and some can be waived. Most policies have waiting periods before certain conditions are covered. Some providers now offer ways to reduce or waive standard waiting periods, such as a vet examination within 14 days of taking out the policy, or an in-app health assessment. For pet owners taking out a policy when their pet already has a health concern, this can be a meaningful difference between providers.
What this award is and isn't
What this award is:
- A measure of value: The assessment weighs the cost of a new pet insurance policy–premiums across different pet profiles–against the value it returns through breadth of cover, claims experience, and policy features.
- A level playing field: All eligible products are assessed under the same methodology and benchmarked against their peers.
What this award isn't:
- Personal financial advice: Awards are based on standardised pet profiles, not your individual circumstances, your pet's breed, age, or health history.
- The only thing to look at: Review each product's PDS and Target Market Determination, and consider your own circumstances, before taking out a policy.
- A list of every pet insurance product in Australia: While we aim to include the majority of the market, products that don't meet our eligibility criteria may not be included. Product terms, pricing, and availability can change.
