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Pet insurance with routine care
Routine care is often added on as an optional extra to a standard policy. It can cover desexxing, vaccinations and lots more.
Key takeaways
- Routine care is usually available as an add-on to regular pet insurance.
- It can cover desexxing, teeth cleaning, check-ups and vaccinations.
- A simple cost analysis can help you know if it's worth the additional expense.
What does routine care cover?
Every policy is different but you can expect to find the following in your routine care policy:
- Microchipping and desexing
- General health checks
- Vaccinations
- Obedience training
- Flea and worming treatments
- Removing dew claws
- Council registration fees
- Controlling heartworm
- Teeth cleaning
- Alternative therapies
- Prescription diets
- Cremation or burial
How does routine care work?
A routine care plan is broken into categories and sub-limits. This means you get a certain amount towards a set of benefits annually. The annual amount will change per provider, we've just used $50 for the example below. Typically it is split out like this:
- $50 towards vaccinations or health checks. It's not $50 for both, just $50 towards one of them.
- $50 towards one of the following:
- De-sexing
- Micro chipping
- Heartworm
- Behavioural therapy
- Teeth cleaning
- Council registration fees
- Alternative therapies
- Prescription diets
- Dew claw removal
- Cremation or Burial
- Dog training at a recognised training centre
Every provider is different and you may find that some have more inclusions than others. Some may even include an amount for blood screening, urinalysis and flea control.
It's important to understand how this works because if you're spending more money on having the cover in place but you aren't claiming back the benefits, then you can find yourself out of pocket.
How much does routine care cover usually cost?
Routine care is not usually covered as part of your pet insurance policy as standard, it's normally an optional extra. We've demonstrated what it costs to have regular pet insurance and what it costs to have routine care added below. These are example quotes only, yours will differ.
To know if there's value for money in this, you need to look at the price difference in the cost of routine care vs the total annual benefits amount. On top of that, you need to then ensure you're claiming back your total annual benefit to stay ahead.
| Brand | Pet insurance without routine care | Pet insurance with routine care | Price difference | Total annual benefit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIA | $1,109.82 | $1,184.91 | $75.09 | $145.00 |
| RSPCA | $1,305.30 | $1,365.30 | $60.00 | $80.00 |
| Everyday | $1,243.34 | $1,310.49 | $67.15 | $100.00 |
| Coles | $1,177.49 | $1,411.60 | $234.11 | $250.00 |
| Budget Direct | $1,178.33 | $1,295.53 | $117.20 | $150.00 |
This information is accurate as of October 2024.
Is routine care worth it?
Our expert says
"If you find yourself regularly booking your pet in for routine care treatments like dental cleaning, vaccinations etc then it can be worth the additional annual expense. As you can see above, some offer better value than others so researching is critical. If you choose to add this cover, it can be good to review it after a year and reflect on whether you used it and if you saved any money."
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