NZ pet insurance — topic comparisons
Side-by-side breakdowns of how every NZ pet insurer handles the cover questions consumers actually ask — sourced verbatim from each insurer's published policy wording.
Hereditary & congenital cover
Hereditary (genetic) and congenital (birth-present) conditions are the single biggest differentiator across NZ pet insurance wordings. Some insurers exclude them entirely, some cover after a waiting p…
Compare across insurersPre-existing conditions
How NZ pet insurers define and exclude pre-existing conditions — the lookback period (typically 6-24 months before policy start), what counts as 'symptoms', and the bilateral-conditions trap (if a cru…
Compare across insurersDental cover
Dental cover varies dramatically across NZ pet insurers: from excluded entirely, to accident-only, to comprehensive (including periodontal disease). Sublimits commonly $500-$2,000/yr. Pre-existing den…
Compare across insurersBehavioural cover
Anxiety, aggression, compulsive behaviours, separation anxiety, noise phobia — most NZ pet insurers historically excluded behavioural conditions entirely. The market is shifting: some now cover veteri…
Compare across insurersAnnual benefit + co-pay
Annual benefit caps range from ~$15,000 (entry tier) to unlimited (comprehensive). Co-payments (the % the owner pays after excess) range from 0% (Cove) to 20% (Tower) across NZ insurers — this can dou…
Compare across insurersAge limits
Entry age caps (when can you first take out cover?) vary by insurer + species — typically 6-8 weeks minimum, 8-12 years maximum for dogs and cats. Renewal age caps (when does cover stop?) are less con…
Compare across insurersWaiting periods
Waiting periods are the no-claim windows after policy commencement. NZ pet insurers typically split: accidents (1-3 days), illnesses (14-30 days), specific orthopaedic conditions like cruciate ligamen…
Compare across insurersAlternative therapy
Physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, chiropractic — increasingly important for rehabilitation post-orthopaedic surgery. NZ pet insurers vary from excluded entirely to covered with vet referral, o…
Compare across insurersData sources
Every fact on these pages is extracted from the current published policy wording PDF for each
insurer, with the source PDF URL cited inline. We also publish the structured data as
machine-readable JSON + Markdown at
/api/topic/{slug}/summary.md and
/api/topic/{slug}/facts.json.
See /llms.txt for the full endpoint list.