Pet Insurance; are Companies are robbing us blind?

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Most pet insurance in Australia ends up being with one company (not all but most) ie Hollard. There has already been some discussion on the pet insurance in a few other topics. Most reflect on whether value for money and many posters offer the advice they often don’t make a lot of sense.

BUPA Pet Insurance gouging ageing dog premiums!

We are choice magazine subscribers and feel we are being gouged on our pet insurance annual increases by Bupa Pet Insurance over the 5 years we have insured our 10 year old Spoodle with them on their Ultimate cover option. It started off at around $1000 and we expected increases to be in-line with CPI and cover our pet as he got older and developed any conditions. He has only had mild gingivitis teeth cleaned whilst under and now they have jammed up our annual premium to $2004 as of Jan 2021. …

Pet Insurance reviews

Hi everyone, We now have our new puppy and want to get pet insurance for him and would like your recommendations. He is 75% Poodle, 25% Shiatzu and 110% adorable. I have looked at the Choice Pet Insurance Reviews without really getting a clear picture of who to choose, especially as those companies with Choice member reviews are less than inspiring. On the Product Review website, the only companies to receive a 4-star rating are Bow Wow Meow Pet Insurance based on some 1,438 reviews and Pet I…

Privacy issues and Woolworths pet insurance PDS

I’ve been with Woolworths pet insurance a number of years now and I have, on occasion, read their PDS, and I’ve never seen this before. Privacy…pages 10-12 This has snuck in at some stage, and seems they are giving my information to businesses and call centres in the Philippines and they specifically say they can’t ensure they won’t breach the Privacy Act. Isn’t the Privacy Act there to protect us? I expect more from Woolworths…an Australian company that is endorsing this. I guarantee most pe…

RSPCA Pet Insurance Shonky

I half heard an ad on the TV the other day for RSPCA Pet Insurance which I was certain stated that a portion of the first year’s premium goes to the RSPCA in stark contrast to the previous ads which clearly stated that a portion of your premium goes to help the RSPCA so I just checked their website. Sure enough it now states “A portion of first-year premiums help support the RSPCA”. I suspect that they have been caught out unless they actually only recently changed it to the first year only. …

Specialised health treatment for pets

I’m writing a story for Choice on pet healthcare, looking at advanced vet services. What was traditionally used by humans such as acupuncture, oncology treatments, endoscopies etc is now available for our pets, but can easily cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Pet insurance means that some people are now willing to spend higher amounts on their pets, but how much is too much to spend? One man paid $25,000 to remove a fungal infection from his cat, which prolonged it’s life by two or three …

Hollard Insurances and Underwriting

Hollard gets mentions on a number of topics on the site. Car Insurance, Pet Insurance, Funeral Insurance, Life Insurance are a few of the many policies they either offer or underwrite. I am raising this topic to allow a more general discussion of whether all the policies they offer/underwrite are value for money or do they have issues that make them less valuable even if the price and/or deal initially seems attractive. RSPCA Pet Insurance has been mentioned, as has Real Car policies. Just r…

Unfair contract terms

We’re calling time on dodgy practices in the insurance industry.Sign the petition for fairer insurance:

Shonkys 2019 Winners Announced

I’m glad that pet insurance was exposed as a ripoff. I looked into it when I got Toby (my previous kitty, Tom, was a sickly kid and I could not get insurance for him at all) but the cost vs benefit told me it just wasnt worth it. Paying out of pocket is much cheaper.

Further a lot of Term Insurances that are pay by the month, week, year are also underwritten by Hollard. Just the front name changes eg Real Life Insurance whose T&Cs spell it out

“ All products except Bike Insurance are promoted and distributed by Greenstone Financial Services Pty Ltd (GFS) ABN 53 128 692 884, AFSL 343079, trading as Real Insurance. The Insurer for general insurance products is The Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd ABN 78 090 584 473, AFSL 241436 (Hollard), and for all life insurance products is Hannover Life Re of Australasia Ltd ABN 37 062 395 484, AFSL 530811. Real Pet Insurance is arranged and administered through PetSure (Australia) Pty Ltd ABN 95 075 949 923, AFSL 420183. Bike Insurance is promoted and distributed by Velosure Pty Ltd ABN 81 151 706 697, an Authorised Representative (AR) of Hollard, AR No. 410026.”

PetSure is linked to Hollard as well

“ 2022 PetSure (Australia) Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Any advice provided is general only and does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs. Cover is subject to the policy terms and conditions. You should consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) to decide if a product is right for you. PDS and Target Market Determination are available from the relevant partner’s website. Insurance products are issued by The Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd ABN [78 090 584 473](tel:78 090 584 473), AFSL 241436, arranged and administered by PetSure (Australia) Pty Ltd ABN [95 075 949 923](tel:95 075 949 923), AFSL 420183 and promoted and distributed through their Authorised Representatives and distribution partners.”

If you notice a rate rise this year on human insurance it may very well be linked to COVID risk affecting older people.