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New policies
Your premium is calculated using a combination of factors about you and your pet. These factors can affect the premium amount up or down depending upon whether we believe it increases or decreases the risk to us, such as the cover you have chosen, the excess selected, the benefit percentage applicable to the cover you have chosen, where you and your pet permanently live, your age and the species, breed, gender of your pet, the current age of your pet, the age you first insured your pet, and other factors related to our cost of doing business.

Renewing policies
Factors that are taken into consideration for renewal premium calculation include your pet’s age, breed, location, duration for which your pet has been insured, claims history, as well as data relating to the health of pets that are a similar age and breed. Each year we review premiums based on these factors to ensure we can accommodate the costs of possible treatment up to your annual benefit limit, in the event that your pet becomes injured or ill.

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Yes, your premium will increase each year. This is for two main reasons:

Reason #1: Just like humans, the older our pets get, the more likely they are to have health hiccups. Cats and dogs age faster than we do, which means that their likely veterinary treatment costs go up rapidly each year too. As a result, the cost of insuring your pet will also increase as they get older.

Reason #2: Advancements in Veterinary Treatments.

The overall cost of medical treatment for pets has increased in recent years due to the increased availability of medical treatments and technology-enabled services and ongoing demand for these services. The treatment options and advancements in technology are providing us with great opportunities to give our pets a great quality of life for longer.

While this is great news for the care of our pets, these treatments come at a significant cost. Year on year treatment costs increase, and this is factored into the cost of pet insurance.

Please see ‘How do you calculate my premium’ for more information about calculation of premiums.

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Every year, we review the cost of everyone’s insurance with regards to a combination of factors as well as claims inflation across all our insured pets. Increases in our claims costs due to increases in the range of available veterinary procedures, or due to an increased take-up of those services, impacts everyone’s premiums.

Your premium takes into account the average cost of care for pets like yours. To provide an example of this, a pet parent with a three-year-old French Bulldog will be affected by the trends we see in our data from hundreds of three-year-old French Bulldogs that we insure, as well as the specific claims history of their own pet.

^{_{Is my premium calculated the same way as my Private Health Insurance?}}

No. Pet insurance does not work like health insurance. Health insurance is ‘community rated’, which means that everyone pays the same premium for their health insurance regardless of their individual health status, age or claims history. This is not the case for pet insurance.

Health insurance providers are able to community rate health insurance because there are many other factors at play in the human health care system, such as Medicare and government rebates and subsidies, which is not the case with veterinary care and pet insurance.

Pet insurance claim reimbursements are paid for purely by the premiums received by those who insure their pets. In order for each person to pay a fair price for their pet insurance, premiums vary depending on your and your pet’s risk factors.

 

 

Medibank Pet Insurance is general insurance issued by the insurer The Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd (ACN 090 584 473; AFSL 241436) (Hollard), is promoted by Medibank Private Limited (ACN 080 890 259; AR 286089) (Medibank) and administered by PetSure (Australia) Pty Ltd (ACN 075 949 923; AFSL 420183) (PetSure).

This policy is issued for a fixed contract term (12 months in the case of Medibank Pet Insurance). Prior to the expiry of each contract term, you will receive a renewal notice, in which a new offer of insurance is made for the next policy period. You can renew the policy for the life of your pet as long as you continuously maintain your policy and pay the premiums when they are due.

Yes, you may cancel your policy by notifying the administrator of Medibank Pet Insurance, PetSure (Australia) Pty Ltd (“PetSure”). You can do this by telephone, email or post.  

Cancelling during the "cooling off" period

You have an obligation free 21 days from the policy Commencement Date (or any renewal date) to make sure you are happy with every aspect of your Medibank Pet Insurance policy. This is known as the “cooling off” period. During this time you may cancel the policy (if you have not made a claim)
simply by contacting to us. If we receive your request to cancel your policy within the 21 day period after the policy Commencement Date (or any renewal date), we will give you a refund of any monies received since commencement or renewal, less any transaction costs incurred by us which we are unable to recover and any taxes or duties that we are unable to refund.

If you have not made a claim

If you have not made a claim under the policy and you have paid the annual premium in full, the portion of the premium that reflects the remainder of the policy period will be refunded to you. No refund is available where you have chosen the monthly or fortnightly payment options.

For example:  If you decide to cancel at the beginning of March, but you pay your premiums monthly, no portion of the March monthly premium is refunded. 

If you have made a claim

If you have made a claim under the policy, and you have chosen to pay premiums annually, no refund is provided if you cancel your policy. Where you have chosen to pay monthly or fortnightly, any remaining premium still has to be paid for the remainder of the policy period.  

For example: If your renewal date was March, you decide to cancel in August, you need to pay premiums until the following March before the policy is cancelled.

The policy period is the time during which we provide cover as specified on your Certificate of Insurance.  This is generally a 12-month period from each renewal date.

Like most insurance policies, there are some exclusions and benefit limits to help keep your premiums affordable.

These include behavioural problems, food and diets, pregnancy, elective procedures, grooming and pre-existing conditions that showed clinical signs before you took out Medibank Pet Insurance.

You should carefully read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for a comprehensive list and full explanation of policy exclusions.

You can claim online via the PetPortal. Visit now to login or register.

Find out more about claiming

You are required to submit your claim within 90 days of your pet receiving treatment. The vet must complete a small section of the claim form and sign it, so it’s a good idea to take a printed claim form with you when you visit your vet.

It’s important to note if you’re lodging your first claim, you’ll need to attach a complete veterinary history from both current and previous veterinary clinics. If you’ve provided this information previously, there’s no need for you to submit it again.

Once PetSure (our administrator) receives the documentation they need, your claim will be processed without delay and payment will be made to the policyholder by cheque or directly into a nominated account.

Aside from your first claim, in many cases your claim can be processed directly without veterinary records being required. However, in some cases veterinary records may be requested to assist in understanding some aspect of your claim to ensure it is processed correctly and fairly. Sometimes this can result in a delay in payment of claims.