Understanding Excesses and Co-payments
Pet insurance can sound like a different language, but we’re here to help you make heads and tails of it. Whether you’re new to pet insurance or just brushing up, we’ll explain what excess and co-payments are, what the difference is between them, and how to pick the combo that’s right for you.
What is an excess?
In a nutshell, your excess is the amount you agree to pay towards your vet bills when making a claim, before we’ll reimburse you under your policy.
Usually, insurance companies charge your excess each time you make a claim, but at Southern Cross Pet Insurance, we do it a bit differently. You’ll only have to pay your chosen excess once per year. If you make several claims throughout your policy year, once you have paid your excess you don’t need to pay this again until your policy renews.
Your options
You can choose an annual excess of: $100, $250 or $500.
- A lower excess will mean a lower up-front contribution from you when something goes wrong, but you’ll pay a higher premium.
- A higher excess means you’ll contribute more up-front, but your premium will be lower.
What is a co-payment?
A co-payment, on the other hand, is the percentage of the vet bill you want to pay each time you make a claim (after the excess is deducted).
Options
You can choose a 10%, 20% or 30% co-payment. The higher the percentage you choose, the lower your premium.
If you choose a lower co-payment, you’ll get more back when you claim, but you’ll pay a higher premium.
If you’re happy to contribute more per claim, choosing a higher co-payment will lower your premium.
We don’t offer a 0% co-payment option.
How does the excess & co-payment work together?
Here’s how we figure it out when you make a claim:
- First, we subtract your annual excess from your first eligible claim.
- Then we deduct your co-payment from the remainder.
- And the rest? That’s what we’ll reimburse you. No bones about it.
Remember, once you’ve paid the excess, anything more you claim in the same year will only have the co-payment deducted. How good’s that!
Let’s give you an example
Let’s say your fluffy friend needs treatment and you incur a vet bill of $2,100, and you have a $100 annual excess and a 20% co-payment. Assuming this was your first claim in that policy year, here’s how we’d work out your reimbursement.
- We would deduct your annual excess of $100, which leaves $2000.
- From the remaining $2000, we’d deduct your 20% co-payment of $400.
- That leaves $1600. That’s the amount we reimburse you.
excess
co-payment
(80% of claim)
Got questions?
We’re all ears (and tails). We’re happy to chat about your options and help you make the best choice.
Have a question?
