Frequently Asked Questions

We would like you to submit your claim as soon as your pet has been treated by your vet. However, you are required to submit a claim within 12 months of your vets invoice date for the relevant accident, injury or illness treatment.

​Petcover can pay your vet directly as long as the following criteria is met:
- The treating veterinarian/clinic is happy to accept payment this way.
- Petcover is happy to pay the particular treating veterinarian/clinic this way.
 
We are unable to direct any treating veterinarian/clinic to accept direct payment on your behalf. Your treating veterinarian/clinic must complete and sign the Direct Payment Section on the claim form to begin this process.
 
Petcover will inform both the treating veterinarian/clinic and the policyholder if Petcover does not accept to pay the particular vet direct.
As per our PDS “If We receive a request to pay the claim settlement direct to a Veterinary practice, We reserve the right to decline this request.”

As a responsible pet insurer and advocate of responsible pet ownership, Petcover wouldn’t do anything to discourage our customers from getting their dog or cat treated when they are unwell or injured. It is for this reason that we do not have a ‘no claims discount’, as it may encourage people not to seek vet treatment for fear of losing their potential ‘no claims discount’.

Yes, Petcover will cover the cost of diagnostics even if a diagnosis is not made.

Petcover is one of the only pet insurance providers that will cover the costs of treatment of a behavioural condition your vet has diagnosed.

Petcover does not cover preventative, routine or elective treatments. These treatments are expected and can be budgeted for. We provide insurance for unexpected injuries and illnesses. This is similar to how your car insurance generally does not cover routine service, tyre care or registration fees.

If you choose not to vaccinate your pet, that is your choice, but if the pet was to then get an illness for which a vaccine is available, you would not be able to claim for the costs of the treatment, as you have not taken all necessary precautions. If your pet is not vaccinated, it will not affect your claiming for an unrelated illness.

Yes, Petcover will cover your pet anywhere within Australia and for up to 90 days for all journeys in the period of insurance. This includes the duration of your holiday or business trip and any travel, in and between Australia and an agreed country and return journey home.

Whether you have a cat or dog insurance policy, you must take reasonable precautions to maintain your pet’s health throughout the policy year and to prevent any illness, injury or loss. Therefore you must arrange and pay for your pet to have an annual dental examination and general check-up (including vaccinations) and follow any veterinary advice given by a vet in order to prevent oral disease. By continuing with these regular check-ups, this shows us that you have played your part in caring for your dog or cat, so we can play ours. If you fail to have a dental check and follow any veterinary advice given at the time it may affect a claim for a dental related condition.

Yes, Petcover will cover physiotherapy when referred and endorsed by your vet and it is deemed necessary to treat an injury and/or illness. Other alternative treatments and therapies covered are Acupuncture, Homeopathy, Herbal Medicine, Chiropractic Manipulation, Osteopathy and Hydrotherapy for up to 10 sessions in total per period of insurance, up to the annual maximum benefit of your selected plan if they are to treat an injury or illness.

Petcover has Lifetime insurance for the life of your pet, provided the cover is renewed each year without a break. The number of times you can claim for the same illness is unlimited; enabling you to give your animal the very best in veterinary care regardless of how much it costs. However, the amount for which you can claim in any one year is capped on an annual basis to the maximum benefit amount stated in your policy and a fixed excess will apply to any claims made. On Petcover Lifetime pet insurance, the excess is payable per unrelated condition (illness), per policy year. Remember, with a genuine Lifetime plan, you get what you pay for – a comprehensive pet insurance policy that will cover your pet’s conditions for life!

Yes, we cover for the treatment of paralysis tick treatment, and it is not limited to a set amount or number of incidents per year.

No, insurance is for the unknown and unforeseen; no insurance company will provide cover for something that has already occurred prior to taking out cover. Any accident, injury or illness which has already happened or is showing clinical signs prior to commencement of cover, is classed as “pre-existing”. Any illness that occurs in the first 21 days of cover (Waiting Period), or any Pre-Existing Conditions are not covered. If your pet was injured or ill at any time before the commencement of your insurance, we will not cover any costs relating to that injury or illness. This applies regardless of whether or not we place any exclusions for the injury or illness in your Certificate of Insurance.

Providing that the cancer is not a pre-existing condition, or an exclusion on your policy, we will cover the costs of the treatment of cancer such as chemotherapy. We do not cover the costs of transplant surgery or stem cell treatments.

Yes, Petcover will cover the costs of hereditary and congenital disorders, providing the pet had not shown clinical signs of the condition prior to cover commencing or within the 21 day waiting period and it is not excluded in your policy documentation or certificate of Insurance.

We will cover illnesses for which a vaccine is available (i.e. kennel cough, parvo virus, herpes virus or lepto), providing your pet has been vaccinated and that the vaccination is current.

Petcover dog policies cover Third Party Liability damage up to $1million, $2million or $5million depending on your selected plan. Third Party Liability covers any injury or damage caused by an insured dog, that the owner may be liable for.

New policies
Your premium is calculated based on information you provide for you and your pet.  The information provided can affect the premium amount, up or down, depending on the risk to us.  Other factors include the cover selected, any benefit percentage applicable selected, the excess selected, your age, where you and your pet permanently live, the species, breed, gender of your pet, the current age of your pet, the age you first insured your pet and other factors related to our cost of doing business are assessed to determine if your premium increases or decreases.
 
Renewing policies
Your renewal premium is calculated based on a combination of existing information, the duration for which your pet has been insured, claims history and data relating to the health of pets that are a similar age and breed.  Each year we review premiums based on these factors to ensure we can accommodate the costs or possible treatment up to your annual benefit limit, in the event that your pet becomes injured or ill.

Yes, your premium will increase each year. This is due to two main reasons:
Reason #1: Just like humans, as our pets age they maybe more likely to have health hiccups. Cats and dogs age faster than we do, which means that their veterinary treatment costs are likely to go up rapidly each year too. As a result, the cost of insuring your pet will also increase as they get older.
 
Reason #2: Advancements in Veterinary Treatments.
The overall cost of medical treatment for pets has risen in recent years, due to the increased availability of medical treatments, technology-enabled services and the ongoing demand for these services. The advancement in treatment options are providing us with great opportunities to give our pets a great quality of life for longer.
While this is great news for the care of our pets, these treatments come at a significant cost.   Year on year treatment costs increase, and this is factored into the cost of pet insurance.
Please see ‘How do you calculate my premium’ for more information about calculation of premiums.

Every year, we review the cost of your pet’s insurance using a combination of factors, as well as the increase in claims across all our insured pets. Increases in our claims costs, due to increases in the range of available veterinary procedures and treatments, or due to an increase in insured pet owners utilising those services, impacts everyone’s premiums.

Your premium is influenced by the average cost of care for pets like yours. To provide an example of this, a pet owner with a three-year-old French Bulldog will be affected by the trends we see in our data from hundreds of three-year-old French Bulldogs that we insure, as well as the specific claims history of their own pet.

No. Pet insurance does not work like private health insurance.  Health insurance is ‘community rated’, which means that everyone pays the same premium for the same health insurance, regardless of their individual health status, age or claims history. This is not the case for pet insurance.

Health insurance providers are able to ‘community rate’ health insurance because there are other contributing factors in the human health care system, such as Medicare and government rebates and subsidies, which is not the case with veterinary care and pet insurance.

Pet insurance claim reimbursements are paid for by the premiums received by those who insure their pets. To ensure each person pays a fair price for their pet insurance, premiums vary depending on the risk factors for you and your pet.

Just as some dogs cost more to feed, some also cost more in veterinary care. We call these 'Select Breeds’.

The following dogs are considered 'Select Breeds': Bandog, Bavarian Mountain Hound, Bergamasco Shepherd Dog, Briard, Blood Hound, Boerboel, Beauceron, Bernese Mountain Dog, Bracco, All Bulldogs (i.e. English, American, Australian, Miniature, etc.), Bull Arab, Deerhound, Dogue de Bordeaux, Entlebucher Mountain Dog, Estrela Mountain Dog, Grand Blue De Gascoigne, Great Dane, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Hamiltonstovare, Hungarian Kuvasz, Irish Wolfhound, Komondor, Maremma Sheepdog, Leonberger, All Mastiff Breeds, Newfoundland, Old English Sheepdog, Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Pyrenean Mountain Dog, Rottweiler, Russian Black Terrier, Shar Pei, St Bernard or any crosses of these breeds.

*Please note, customers insuring Shar Pei's will be asked to provide a full clinical history from the vet before we are able to insure them.