Pet insurance excess and co-payment explained

Excess on pet insurance

The excess is the amount you pay towards each claim before the insurer pays the rest. Unlike car insurance, where excess is almost always charged per claim, pet insurance can structure excess in three different ways:

• Per claim: You pay the excess every time you make a separate claim.
• Per condition per year: You pay the excess once per condition per policy year — so ongoing treatment for the same condition does not attract a new excess at every visit.
• Per policy year: You pay the excess once per year regardless of the number of claims.

For pets with ongoing conditions, per-condition excess is generally the most cost-effective structure. Always check the policy wording carefully.

Co-payment (co-insurance)

Some pet policies require you to pay a percentage of the eligible vet bill — this is called a co-payment or co-insurance. For example, a 20% co-payment means you pay 20% of the bill (after the excess) and the insurer pays the remaining 80%, up to the policy limit.

Co-payments are more common on policies for older pets, or may be introduced by the insurer at a certain age. They reduce your premium but increase your contribution to each claim.

Calculating your contribution

Use our pet excess and co-payment calculator to see exactly how much you and the insurer would each pay for a given vet bill, based on your policy's excess structure and co-payment percentage.

Example