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KEY POINTS
- Routine care cover is usually offered as an optional add-on to pet insurance.
- Routine care cover can help pay for some of the regular pet health expenses like vaccinations, flea and tick treatments and desexing.
- Benefits usually come with annual limits, either as combined totals or specific amounts for different treatments.
In Australia, you can generally find three types of pet insurance. Accident-only policies can help cover the cost of treatment if your pet is injured in an accident. Accident and illness policies go a step further by covering certain diseases and infections. Comprehensive policies tend to offer the broadest protection, and while they tend to be the most expensive, they tend to offer the highest annual benefit limits.
Some pet insurance policies also come with an optional routine care add-on. This benefit is designed to help with the cost of everyday health needs such as vaccinations, annual vet check-ups, microchipping and flea or tick control. These are predictable expenses that can help support your pet’s ongoing health.
While routine care is important for your pet’s health, it’s a good idea to compare the cost of this add-on with the benefits you’ll actually get.
What does routine care cover?
Routine care benefits typically help cover the cost of preventative treatments and services that support your pet’s ongoing health. While the inclusions can vary between insurers, some common examples include:
- Vaccinations
- Desexing
- Microchipping
- Dental cleaning
- Flea, tick, and worm control
- General health checks
- Heartworm testing
- Prescription diets
- Nail clipping
- FeLv/ Fiv test or urinalysis
Some policies may also cover desexing, alternative therapies, obedience training, and even council registration fees. However, the specific services covered can vary between insurers and policy levels.
How does routine care work?
Routine care is generally available as an optional add-on to some pet insurance policies. It means by paying an additional amount, your policy may include certain routine care benefits.
The way these benefits function often involves annual benefit limits. These limits can be structured as a total amount that can be claimed across various routine care services or as specific sub-limits allocated to different categories of treatments.
For example, a policy might offer a $50 annual benefit for one of several treatments such as desexing, along with separate limits for services like vaccinations (e.g., $30) and heartworm tests (e.g., $10). Alternatively, some policies may provide a single combined limit to use across a list of eligible treatments. These amounts vary between insurers, so it’s important to compare the cost of the add-on with the value of benefits included—and how likely you are to use them.
To claim routine care benefits, you’ll usually need to pay for the service upfront and then submit a claim with proof of payment, such as an invoice. Some insurers may also request vet consultation notes. Claims can often be submitted online, though some providers still accept paper-based forms by mail.
How much does routine care cover usually cost?
Routine care cover for pet insurance in Australia typically costs an additional $5 to $20 or more per month, depending on the insurer and the level of cover included. The annual benefit limit usually ranges from around $100 to $250, designed to help with the cost of various regular treatments that your pet may need.
For example, a routine care add-on with a $120 annual limit might allocate $50 for vaccinations, $20 for parasite control and $50 toward elective procedures like desexing or microchipping.
Routine care benefits typically do not require an excess, making it easier to claim smaller, frequent expenses without upfront out-of-pocket costs. While the cover is designed to supplement your main pet insurance policy, it’s important to assess whether the benefits justify the extra cost.
Is routine care worth it?
Your furry friend brings joy, but also ongoing responsibility. While pet insurance can help with unexpected vet bills, you’ll still need to budget for regular check-ups and preventive treatments to keep your pet healthy.
Some pet owners choose to pay these routine expenses out of pocket, as individual needs can vary. However, costs like vaccinations, deworming and desexing are generally expected.
Routine care cover, offered as an optional add-on to some pet insurance policies, can help with these predictable expenses. It’s important to check exactly which treatments are included before deciding if it’s right for you.
To evaluate the value of a routine care add-on, you may compare:
- The total annual cost of the add-on against the maximum benefits offered
- Whether the listed services are ones you regularly use
- The ease of claiming and any caps on specific treatments
If the benefit limits match with what you expect to spend on routine treatments each year, the add-on could offer reasonable value. Otherwise, covering these costs yourself might work out to be cheaper. If you include routine care in your policy, it may be worth checking at renewal whether you used the cover enough to justify the extra cost.
Cover image source: Chalabala/Shutterstock.com
