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What is routine cover?Â
Routine cover helps with the cost of predictable pet health expenses such as vaccinations, annual vet check-ups, microchipping, and flea or tick control.Â
This is typically an optional add-on to your pet insurance policy — that means it’ll incur an additional cost on top of your policy’s premiums. Â
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.Â
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
- Alternative therapies
- Obedience training
- Council registration fees.
How does routine care work?
Routine care, like a pet insurance policy, often includes annual benefit limits. An annual benefit is the maximum yearly amount an insurer will reimburse you for eligible services.Â
These limits may be further broken down into sub-limits, allocated to different routine care and treatment categories (e.g. $50 annual benefit for desexing).Â
Alternatively, some policies may provide a single combined limit to use across a list of eligible treatments.
These limits vary between insurers, so it’s important to compare the cost of the add-on with the value of benefits included and the likelihood of your pet needing them.Â
You’ll typically need to pay for the service upfront and then submit a claim with proof of payment (e.g. invoice). Some insurers may also request vet consultation notes. Claims can often be submitted online, with some providers accepting mail submissions.
Routine care benefits typically do not require an upfront payment (called an ‘excess’) to access. This makes it easier to claim smaller, frequent expenses without out-of-pocket costs.Â
How much does routine care cover cost?
Routine care cover typically costs an additional $5 to $20 or more per month, depending on the insurer and the level of cover included.Â
The annual benefit limit usually ranges from around $100 to $250, designed to help with the cost of regular treatments 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.
Is routine care worth it?
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.
Routine care cover as an optional add-on can help with these preventative 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 sub-limits on specific treatments.
If the benefit limits match 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.
