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No such thing as good pet insurance
The entire pet insurance industry has been shamed by a consumer advocate group in its annual awards which identifies the “worst of the worst” products and services on sale to the general public.
No such thing as good pet insurance
The entire pet insurance industry has been shamed by a consumer advocate group in its annual awards which identifies the “worst of the worst” products and services on sale to the general public.
As part of its annual Shonky Awards, CHOICE has awarded the sector a Shonky for “bad insurance riddled with insurance”.
The consumer group said it had reviewed 86 policies over the year and was unable to recommend any of them.
CHOICE CEO Alan Kirkland said “pet insurance is the insurance a business sells when it wants to make money without providing any service at all”.
“Riddled with exclusions and technicalities, pet insurance is one of this country’s worst-value insurance products,” he said.
It relies on “emotionally manipulating” your love of your pet to sell you worthless insurance, Mr Kirkland continued.
“This year CHOICE found this industry so bad we refused to recommend any policy.
“There was not a single policy that we could in good conscience suggest that pet owners consider buying.”
CHOICE noted that most Australian contracts are covered by “unfair contract terms” laws that protect consumers from big businesses attempting to use tricky contracts to rip people off.
Insurers – inclusive of pet insurance providers – received a carve-out when such laws were introduced.
“This also highlights why insurance companies shouldn’t be exempt from laws against unfair contract terms – it’s vital this special loophole for insurers gets closed,” Mr Kirkland continued.
CHOICE also shamed pet insurers for leaving Australians “stuck” in expensive contracts because of pre-existing conditions” clauses.
As a pet gets older, it is near impossible to swap companies and keep the same coverage, which can leave individuals with huge increases to their premiums each year.
Confusing clauses can also leave consumers without coverage, with some policies covering pets for diseases if they are vaccinated, while some won’t at all.
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