Pet Insurance - should I get it?

UPDATED 22 January 2026

Should I get Pet Insurance for my dog?

What is the BEST insurance?

Whenever I see this question posted in our Bayside Dog Owners Group - and it is asked often - I say in my head "well, there is no right or wrong answer to this".

People will come on and say "the best insurance is [insert brand]" or "[insert brand] is rubbish go with [insert brand]" and they don't ask the person any details. CHOICE has written several articles on Pet Insurance - this one entitled Do You Need Pet Insurance is a very interesting read

As of 18 December, 2025 Choice recommends the following Fetch Pet Insurance - Choice Expert Rating 88% Cover score 91%

Out of pocket score 81%

Max annual benefit $30,000

Minimum age for new cover 8 weeks

Maximum age for new cover 9 years

Pet Insurance Australia Select and Protect Cover - Choice Expert Rating 85%

Cover score 87%

Out of pocket score 79%

Max annual benefit Choose from $15000, $25000 or $35000

Minimum age for new cover No minimum age

Maximum age for new cover No maximum age

Bow Wow Meow Nose to Tail Cover - Choice Expert Rating 83%

Cover score 87%

Out of pocket score 74%

Max annual benefit Choose from $10000, $20000 or $30000

Minimum age for new cover No minimum age

Maximum age for new cover 8 years (dogs) 10 years (cats)

Buddy Gold - Choice Expert Rating 83%

Cover score 87%

Out of pocket score 73%

Max annual benefit $35,000

Minimum age for new cover No minimum age

Maximum age for new cover 8 years (dogs) 10 years (cats)

Trupanion Pet Insurance - Choice Expert Rating 82%

Cover score 80%

Out of pocket score 86%

Max annual benefit No annual limit

Minimum age for new cover No minimum age

Maximum age for new cover 13 years

Coles Ultimate - Choice Expert Rating 81%

Cover score 76%

Out of pocket score 93%

Max annual benefit Choose from $10000, $15000, $25000 or $40000

Minimum age for new cover 8 weeks

Maximum age for new cover 8 years

Knose Pet Insurance  - Choice Expert Rating 81%

Cover score 86%

Out of pocket score 68%

Max annual benefit Choose from $7500, $12500 or $25000

Minimum age for new cover 6 weeks

Maximum age for new cover 8 years

They have also listed Pet Insurance Policies to avoid - as of 14 January 2026 here

which are:

PetsOnMe Accident Plan CHOICE Expert Rating: 30%

Petbarn Core CHOICE Expert Rating: 35%

Petbarn Core Plus CHOICE Expert Rating: 37%

Kogan Indoor Cat Cover CHOICE Expert Rating: 39%

What about GAP ONLY? How does this work?

GapOnly is a claims payment service in Australia that allows pet owners to pay only the "gap" which is the difference between the total vet bill and the insurance benefit at the time of service, rather than paying upfront and waiting for reimbursement.

How it Works

1. Request: Tell your vet you want to use GapOnly during your visit or when booking the appointment.

2. Assessment: The vet lodges your claim electronically while you wait. It is typically assessed by the insurer in 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Payment: Once approved, you pay only the portion not covered by your policy (the gap) and can leave the clinic immediately. 

   
   

Key Features

• Reduced Upfront Costs: You do not need to cover the full invoice price out-of-pocket while waiting for a refund.

• Participating Vets: It is available at over 1,400 participating veterinary clinics across Australia. You can find a local clinic using the GapOnly Vet Finder.

• Eligible Partners: You must have a policy with a GapOnly-ready insurance partner. Major partners include Medibank, RSPCA, Everyday Insurance (Woolworths), Bupa, and HCF.

• Pre-approval: You can request a pre-approval through your vet for upcoming scheduled treatments to know exactly what will be covered before the procedure.

• Service Hours: Processing is generally available Monday to Friday (8am to 10pm) and Saturday (8am to 5pm). Outside of these hours, your vet may still be able to submit an eClaim for later processing. 

Example Scenario

If your pet requires a $1,000 treatment and your policy covers 80% ($800):

• Standard Claim: You pay $1,000 upfront and wait days or weeks for $800 to be reimbursed.

• GapOnly Claim: You pay $200 on the spot and the insurer pays the remaining $800 directly to the vet. 

Your VET has to be a GAP ONLY participant and you can find out if they are here

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Here is a great article written by Vet, Dr Leigh, from Your Vet Online about Pet Insurance from a Vet's point of view.

and the way I look at it is this....

I have had house and contents insurance for 30+ years. Have never made a claim (touch wood) and yet, I still see the value of having it. It makes sense that insurance is just that - an insurance against the worst happening.

So, here is a little attempt at approaching the above two questions.

Should I get Pet Insurance for my dog?

Answer:

That all depends. On so many factors

Some of which you need to think about like:

Can you afford to pay a lot of dollars up front if something very serious happens? Like thousands?

Will you ACTUALLY put away $50 per month into a separate account and never touch it so that you have your own 'pet fund'? If the answer to this is yes - then do this.

What is the BEST insurance?

Answer:

There is NO best insurance. What suits my dog may not suit yours. There are many mitigating factors such as breed, age and pre-existings.

My advice is not to bother with accident only cover and to look at "Accident and Illness – This is the most common coverage level, generally providing benefits for when your pet is sick or hurt." at least. If you look at comprehensive - in fact ANY level of coverage - it is best to know what it DOESN'T cover. For example, the cover I have for my two doesn't cover the following:

"2.1.3 When you are not covered

We will not pay any Vet Expenses attributable to or resulting from:

1. patella luxations (dislocating kneecap), elbow dysplasia, fractured teeth, stenotic nares, soft palate resections, CAT and MRI scans and intervertebral disc disease (IVDD) under Essential Pet Care no matter how the Condition arises;

2. Treatment of the following irrespective of whether your dog or cat was vaccinated or not:

a. for dogs: infectious canine hepatitis (canine adenovirus), parvovirus, canine distemper, parainfluenza and all forms of kennel cough; or

b. for cats: panleukopaenia, chlamydia, leukaemia (FeLV), Feline Immuno Deficiency Virus (FIV) and Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP), viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, herpes virus and all forms of cat flu;

3. any declared pandemic disease that causes widespread illness affecting dogs or cats;

4. more than one (1) incident of swallowing a foreign object that causes a blockage or obstruction requiring surgical or endoscopic removal per Policy Period;

5. any tick preventative treatments or measures (eg tick baths, sprays, etc) whether recommended by your Vet or not;"

What is NOT covered if far more important in my opinion and another, final thing is that I have "no excess" on my policies. After all - if you have to pay a $200 excess on each claim - that bumps up your yearly paying out - whereas - while the yearly premium is more $$ it doesn't stop me from claiming. Look at the table below from Hollard's Insurance Claims data from Petsure and it gives you a good idea of the various dollar amounts you could be looking at for each condition.

These figures come from from The Hollard Insurance Company's 2016/17 claims data via PetSecure.com.au. As you can see, there’s often a considerable difference between the average cost of a claim and the highest.

Finn at the vet - grass seeds!