Advances in veterinary care mean your pet can potentially live a longer, healthier life. That’s good news. But vet bills can be very expensive – and there’s no equivalent to Medicare for pets. So if your pet needed to be hospitalised or have ongoing treatment, you could end up with thousands of dollars’ worth of bills to pay.
By taking out pet insurance, you can help make sure that you can give your dog or cat the care they deserve without worrying about the cost.
Guardian pet insurance lets you choose any registered vet in Australia. With three pet insurance plans to choose from, and flexible fortnightly, monthly or annual payment options available, there’s a plan to suit your pet, whatever its needs.
That depends on which plan you choose. With a Guardian Platinum plan, you’ll receive up to 80% of the total cost of your dog or cat’s eligible vet bills for specified accidental injuries and illnesses, to a maximum of $12,000 a year (pre-existing conditions are excluded*). If you choose to take out optional routine care cover as part of your Platinum plan, you’ll also receive help of up to $80 a year toward your vet bills for routine treatments like worm and flea control, vaccinations or health checks.
A Guardian Gold plan will reimburse up to 75% of your pet’s eligible vet bills for specified accidental injuries and illnesses, again, up to $12,000 annually (pre-existing conditions are excluded*). There are also other benefits too, such as an annual tick paralysis benefit to cover illnesses directly caused by paralysis tick bites, and emergency boarding fees if you are hospitalised and can’t take care of your pet.
Our Bronze plan covers up to 60% of your pet’s eligible bills, to a maximum of $12,000 a year (pre-existing conditions are excluded*), if your pet is hurt in an accident or suffers and illness. Note – a $2,000 annual condition limit does apply with this cover.
Remember, certain expenses aren’t covered – refer to the relevant Guardian Pet Insurance Policy booklet for more information about what your plan covers and what it doesn’t. Also, exclusions, limits, sub-limits and annual condition limits may apply.
* If a condition exists or occurs before the commencement date of the first policy period or within an applicable waiting period, it may be excluded from cover as a pre-existing condition. Some conditions are eligible for review after an 18-month period – refer to your Policy Booklet for more information regarding pre-existing conditions.
Once your kitten or puppy turns eight weeks of age, you can take out pet insurance. If you choose our Platinum or Gold Accident and Illness Cover options, you must cover your pet before its ninth birthday. However, if you have an older pet, with our Bronze Accident and Illness you can cover your pet up to its sixteenth birthday – any pet over eight weeks of age can join.
No, Guardian Pet Insurance has no excess. We’ll reimburse either up to 60%, 75% or up to 80% of your cat or dog’s eligible veterinary expenses, depending on the plan you choose
Hereditary and congenital conditions will eligible for cover if they have not shown noticeable signs, symptoms or an abnormality at any time before the first policy period or during any applicable waiting period.
Yes, you can. Once you have insurance for your pet, you can keep renewing your policy with us for the rest of its life, provided there is no break in your cover, with cover subject to the terms and conditions of your renewal policy.
Your policy will start at one minute before midnight on the day we accept your application. The following waiting periods apply:
- No waiting period for specified accidental injuries
- 30 days for Illnesses
- 6 months for cruciate ligament conditions (may be waived on application – refer to the relevant Policy Booklet for more information)
You have the choice of paying by credit card or direct debit, either fortnightly, monthly or annually. There’s no extra cost, regardless of which payment option you choose.
The following waiting periods apply:
- No waiting period for specified accidental injuries
- 30 days for illnesses
- 6 months for cruciate ligament conditions (may be waived on application – refer to the relevant Policy Booklet for more information)
If a condition exists or occurs before the commencement date of the first policy period or within an applicable waiting period, it may be excluded from cover as a pre-existing condition. Some conditions are eligible for review after an 18-month period – refer to your Policy Booklet for more information regarding pre-existing conditions.
You can insure all your pets under your one Guardian Pet Insurance policy.
As with most insurance products, there are certain situations in which you will not be covered. There are some general exclusions such as pre-existing conditions*, dental procedures, fractured teeth, routine or preventative treatments (unless Routine Care cover is purchased, which provides a contribution up to the Routine Care limits), some elective treatments and procedures and breeding or obstetrics.
Refer to the relevant Policy Booklet for more information about what’s excluded.
* If a condition exists or occurs before the commencement date of the first policy period or within an applicable waiting period, it may be excluded from cover as a pre-existing condition. Some conditions are eligible for review after an 18-month period – refer to your Policy Booklet for more information regarding pre-existing conditions.
Yes – as long as you continue to renew your policy with us each year and pay your premiums with no break in cover, we will continue to provide cover for chronic, recurring or lifelong conditions such as cancer or arthritis (subject to the terms and conditions of your renewal policy). Benefits for these conditions, like any other, are subject to the annual policy limits and exclude some pre-existing conditions. For more information please refer to the relevant Policy Booklet.
Guardian Pet Insurance is issued by The Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd ABN 78 090 584 473, AFSL 241436 of Level 12, 465 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW, 2067. The Hollard Insurance Company is South Africa’s largest privately owned insurance and investment business. With assets in excess of AU$2.4 billion, they provide a wide range of insurance products and services to more than 6.5 million insurance customers in Australia, throughout Africa, United States, United Kingdom and South East Asia.
Since establishing in Australia in 1999, Hollard has issued more than 500,000 policies in Australia with more than $40 billion worth of assets insured.
New policies
Your premium is calculated using a combination of factors about you and your pet. These factors can affect the premium amount up or down depending upon whether we believe it increases or decreases the risk to us, such as the cover you have chosen, the benefit percentage applicable to the cover you have chosen, the species, breed and age of your pet and other factors related to our cost of doing business.
Renewing policies
Factors that are taken into consideration for renewal premium calculation include your pet’s age and breed, as well as data relating to the health of pets that are of a similar age and breed. Each year we review premiums based on these factors to ensure we can accommodate the costs of 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 for two main reasons:
Reason #1: Just like humans, the older our pets get, the more likely they are to have health hiccups. Cats and dogs age faster than we do, which means that their likely veterinary treatment costs 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 increased in recent years due to the increased availability of medical treatments and technology-enabled services and ongoing demand for these services. The treatment options and advancements in technology 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 everyone’s insurance with regards to a combination of factors as well as claims inflation across all our insured pets. Increases in our claims costs due to increases in the range of available veterinary procedures, or due to an increased take-up of those services, impacts everyone’s premiums.
Your premium takes into account the average cost of care for pets like yours. To provide an example of this, a pet parent 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.
No. Pet insurance does not work like health insurance. Health insurance is ‘community rated’, which means that everyone pays the same premium for their 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 many other factors at play 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 purely by the premiums received by those who insure their pets. In order for each person to pay a fair price for their pet insurance, premiums vary depending on your and your pet’s risk factors.
GapOnly allows your vet to lodge your claim during your visit, which is assessed in approximately 10 minutes. Once the claim for your insured pet has been processed and a benefit outcome is calculated, you simply pay the gap. That’s the difference between the vet’s invoice and your insurance benefit amount, so you don’t need to worry about being out of pocket while your claim is being processed.
Firstly, check that your vet is enabled by visiting gaponly.com.au. If they are, simply let your vet know that you’d like to submit a GapOnly claim the next time you are there. To minimise delays, it’s best to let your vet know that you intend to make a GapOnly claim as early as possible so they can prepare your claim ahead of time.
You can request a pre-approval (from any participating vet practice) prior to your pet's treatment, or have your claim processed ahead of picking up your pet from the vet. Pre-approvals can be lodged Monday - Friday 8:00am – 8:00pm, and Saturday 8:00am – 5:00pm AEST (excluding NSW public holidays).
You can contact your current vet and ask if they offer GapOnly, or simply visit gaponly.com.au.
When GapOnly isn’t available, an electronic pet insurance claim can either be made online by your treating vet or you can submit the claim yourself via your online pet portal. Claims would then be assessed and paid in the form of reimbursement of any eligible vet bill.
If the claims assessment concludes a $0 benefit, you will need to pay your vet for the full invoice amount. If you’re not totally happy with the outcome of a claim decision, we will do our best to work with you to resolve it. You can get in touch with us by calling one of our trained consultants on 1300 709 560. Alternatively, you can put your concerns in writing:
Guardian Pet Insurance
Locked Bag No. 9021
Castle Hill NSW 1765
Or fax: 1300 738 979
Or email: claimreview@petsure.com.au
Remember to provide us with your name, policy number and full details relating to your concerns. Further detailed information about our complaints process can also be found in your Policy Booklet.
GapOnly claims are available at participating vets Monday – Friday 8:00am – 8:00pm, and Saturday 8:00am – 5:00pm AEST (excluding NSW public holidays). When GapOnly isn’t available, your vet may be able to submit an electronic pet insurance claim instead.
A GapOnly claim made in a vet clinic will take around 10 minutes to process. If the claim is likely to take a little longer, the vet clinic staff will let you know so you can decide whether you’d like to wait or not. If you’re not able to wait, you will be required to pay your vet the full invoice amount so your vet clinic can adjust your GapOnly claim to a standard electronic claim, and your insurance provider will consider the claim and reimburse you the calculated benefit of an eligible vet bill.
GapOnly works in partnership with participating vets, and as long as your vet is GapOnly enabled, you can use it for all eligible vet fees covered in your policy.
Yes, you can ask your vet to submit a GapOnly claim so you don’t have to wait for your claim to be processed when you pick up your pet. Simply let your vet know when you drop off your pet that you’d like them to submit a GapOnly claim for your pet’s treatment and, if available, they can arrange this for you.
A pre-existing condition is:
- A condition that existed or occurred prior to the commencement date of your first policy period or within any applicable waiting period.
- A condition that you or your vet were aware of, or a reasonable person in your circumstances would have been aware of.
This is irrespective of whether the underlying or causative condition was diagnosed at the time.
Whether it is a pre-existing condition will depend on its nature and experience. If your pet has a temporary condition that has not existed, occurred or shown noticeable signs, symptoms or an abnormality in the 18-month period immediately prior to your claim treatment date, it will no longer be excluded from cover as a pre-existing condition. Chronic Conditions and several other specified Conditions cannot fall within this category. For more information please refer to the relevant Policy Booklet.
Like all insurance, anything that existed or you were aware of prior to your policy is generally excluded from cover. Insurance policies are there to protect against the unexpected so for this reason, claims relating to pre-existing conditions are not covered. This helps keep coverage fair for all of our customers.
However, we know that some conditions can genuinely be resolved or cured. So for that reason, pre-existing conditions are assessed differently depending on whether they are chronic conditions or temporary conditions for your pet.
For more information please refer to the relevant Policy Booklet.
If your pet has had a temporary condition that was subject to the pre-existing condition exclusion, you can apply to have it reviewed.
Your vet will need to certify and provide veterinary records verifying that the condition remains a temporary condition and has not existed, occurred or shown noticeable signs, symptoms or an abnormality for a period of 18 months. The pre-existing condition exclusion(s) will not be deemed to have been lifted unless agreed to by us in writing.
You can download a copy of the Pre-existing Condition Exclusion Review Form here.
If your pet has a chronic condition that existed or occurred before the commencement date of your first policy period or during any applicable waiting period, that condition will always be excluded from your policy.
For more information please refer to the relevant Policy Booklet.
Yes. If your pet requires treatment and you wish to seek pre-approval of those costs, you can provide us with the itemised estimate of costs from your vet, along with the treatment required and relevant clinical records and/or veterinary history, and we will respond to you in writing with the outcome.