On this page:

• What does brachycephalic mean?
• What problems do brachycephalic dogs have?
• Do you need pet insurance for a brachycephalic dog?
• How much does pet insurance for brachycephalic dogs cost?
• What is the best pet insurance for brachycephalic dogs?

Flat-faced breeds are rising in popularity in Australia. In fact, in 2024, the French bulldog was the fifth most popular dog in Australia, and it’s easy to see why. It’s hard not to love their wide-eyed wrinkled faces, and cute little trot, not to mention their highly social nature and suitability as an urban companion.

But unfortunately, the sweet faces of pugs, Frenchies, Boston terriers and the like come with a predisposition for a swathe of health concerns. The most common being a difficulty breathing known as brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome, or BOAS; but also eye, skin, spinal, and gastrointestinal conditions. 

And, as anyone with a pet can tell you, veterinary treatment does not come cheap. We explore the best way to financially manage the treatment of these costly companions, and crunch the numbers to reveal the best value pet insurance policies for brachycephalic dogs

What does brachycephalic mean?

Brachycephalic literally means short-skulled, and is the term given to dogs with a flat-faced, or snub-nose appearance like pugs, French bulldogs, British bulldogs, Shih Tzu, boxers and Boston terriers. 

Over time these breeds have been selectively bred for their flat faces, and in some cases short curly tails. 

What problems do brachycephalic dogs have?

Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS)

Selective breeding for extreme brachycephaly has resulted in a respiratory condition known as BOAS, caused by excess soft tissues in the respiratory tract and structural abnormalities.

The average cost to treat BOAS in 2024 was $3174, with a maximum cost of $29,775, according to pet insurance underwriter Petsure. 

Symptoms of BOAS include noisy, laboured breathing, snoring, exercise and heat intolerance, sleep disturbances, and even fainting in severe cases. It can also cause gastrointestinal issues such as gagging, regurgitation and vomiting. 

Skin conditions

The wrinkles and skin folds of brachycephalic dogs can encourage bacterial and fungal growth, making them more susceptible to infections like skin fold dermatitis, particularly around the face and tail. 

They’re also predisposed to other skin conditions like allergies. In fact, flat-faced breeds are twice as likely as non-flat-faced breeds to suffer from skin allergies. In 2024, treatment for skin allergies cost $815 on average with a maximum of $16,935. 

Eye conditions

The protruding eyes of flat-faced dogs can struggle to close completely and are at risk of developing corneal ulcers, pigmentary keratitis, and chronic dry eye – a collection of symptoms known as brachycephalic ocular syndrome (BOS). 

Brachycephalic dog owners are six times more likely to claim for corneal ulceration than owners of other breeds, the average treatment cost of which is over $1000, with a maximum claim of $19,420. 

Spinal issues

Small brachycephalic dog breeds like the pug and French and English bulldogs suffer from a high prevalence of spinal malformations such as scoliosis and intervertebral disc disease, which are sometimes associated with neurological symptoms and can affect limb function.

Dental and gastrointestinal problems

The small jaws of flat-faced breeds often mean crowded teeth, which are harder to keep clean and therefore result in more dental issues than other breeds. The level of dental cover varies from policy to policy so make sure you read your policy disclosure statement (PDS) to understand what you are and aren’t covered for. 

These dogs are also more likely to swallow excess air which results in them being 20 times more likely to be treated for hiatal or diaphragmatic hernias than non-flat faced breeds at an average cost of over $5000. Symptoms of these hernias include vomiting, regurgitation and acid reflux.

Do you need pet insurance for a brachycephalic dog?

Given the likelihood of having to pay high treatment costs for a flat-faced dog, pet insurance is definitely worth considering. 

The range of health conditions that extremely brachycephalic breeds are susceptible to means that keeping these flat-faced fur balls comfortable can be quite a costly experience. It follows, given the risk-based nature of insurance, that they can be pricier to insure as well. So, is pet insurance worth it? 

Pet insurance should give you peace of mind in case your pet requires costly veterinary treatment. When you have a breed at high-risk of requiring costly treatment like these ones, it’s very important to understand all the terms and conditions of your policy so you’re not caught out when you need it most.

It’s also important to start paying for insurance when your pup is young, before they show symptoms of illness, otherwise that illness might be declared a pre-existing condition, for which cover is often limited or excluded. Read more about how to choose a pet insurance policy in our buying guide.  

Be aware that often with pet insurance you need to pay upfront for treatment before claiming it back from your insurer. This means that you may need thousands of dollars handy if your pet requires complex treatment. If this is likely to be difficult for you, check with your vet to see whether they have agreements with any insurers that allow you to claim on the spot so you only have to pay the gap. 

What about self-insurance?

Sometimes self insurance can work out cheaper in the long run – that’s when you save up or invest what you would otherwise pay in insurance premiums and use this to fund your pet’s treatment.

The beauty of self insurance is that there are zero restrictions on what you can spend these savings on. But this only works out cheaper when your treatment costs are lower than the balance of your savings account.

If you can afford to set aside a decent sum of money, probably a little more than standard pet insurance premiums, and you’re reading the PDS and worried about the ins and outs of what they cover, self insurance could be for you. 

How much does pet insurance for brachycephalic dogs cost?

On average, premiums for a 3-month-old French bulldog are $228 per month, and $377 for a 5-year-old. This is over three and a half times what it costs to insure a cavoodle on the same policy. 

We analysed quotes from 12 different pet insurance policies to find the policies that provide a good level of cover for brachycephalic breeds. We looked for over $20,000 of cover per annum with at least an 80% benefit, and a ����Vlog Expert Rating over 75%. When an insurer offers more than one policy, or variable limits, we chose the policy the highest annual limit. We then compared prices for a 3-month-old and a 5-year-old French bulldog with those for a cavoodle of the same age.

What is the best pet insurance for brachycephalic dogs?

Below, we reveal the best pet insurance policies for brachycephalic dogs.

These policies all include cover for BOAS, as well as some cover for skin conditions, dental illness, eye conditions and intervertebral disc disease (IVDD), and an annual benefit limit of at least $20,000. Make sure you read the PDS to understand the ins and outs of this cover before purchasing a policy.

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As well as absorbing a good chunk of your monthly budget on groceries, it seems the big supermarkets now want you to spend more money with them by buying their insurance products too. 

While Coles and Woolworths have been offering insurance products for years, Aldi debuted its insurance offering in June 2024, giving its customers the opportunity to pick up their home and contents insurance, landlord insurance and car insurance along with their weekly shop. (Woolworths sells insurance through its Everyday Insurance brand.)

But is it a good idea to lump your car insurance in with your bread and milk, and are you really getting a good deal? There are certainly lots of incentives that the big supermarkets dangle in front of you to get your business. 

Coles and Woolies offer a range of insurance policies linked to their loyalty programs, Everyday Rewards and Flybuys, which give you bonus points when you sign up and ongoing discounts on your shopping that can increase according to how many policies you hold.

Of course, in order to take advantage of these discounts, you hand over a significant amount of personal data to the supermarkets, something ����Vlog experts warn you should be wary of. 

Aldi doesn’t have a loyalty program and doesn’t offer conditional discounts – their insurance products were launched promising “everyday competitive prices for Australian shoppers”.

As many Australians continue to struggle with the increasing cost of living, a discount on groceries is undoubtedly a huge incentive. But are supermarket car insurance policies really good value?

Is car insurance from Coles, Woolies and Aldi any good?

����Vlog experts have compared more than 65 car insurance policies across the market to help you find the one that best suits your needs and budget.

Unlike other insurance comparison websites, we’re completely independent and don’t get paid by any of the insurers we’re comparing. That means we’re also willing to call out the policies that we don’t recommend because they don’t offer good value or have weird exclusions.

����Vlog insurance expert, Mark Blades, has closely scrutinised each of the car insurance policies offered by Coles, Woolworths and Aldi.

“You get what you might expect with supermarket car insurance – homebrand products with homebrand quality,” he says. 

“These are all very standard policies that aren’t the best or the worst in the extensive line-up of car insurance policies we’ve reviewed. They all have the cover you’d expect for things like theft, collision, hail, storm, flood and fire, with variations in some elements of the cover and their definitions of what they will and won’t cover. 

“Of the three supermarket policies, Coles generally comes out better than Aldi and Everyday Woolworths in terms of the features and benefits paid.”

The importance of comparing prices and policies

When comparing prices, it’s worth noting that all three supermarkets have simply repackaged someone else’s existing policy and slapped their logo on it. Often you’ll find a very similar – if not identical policy – offered by another provider (backed by the same insurance underwriter).

For example, the Aldi policy is provided by RACQ (which also sells policies under its own name), the Coles policy is provided by Auto & General (which also sells policies under Budget Direct), and the Everyday Insurance policy is provided by Hollard (which also sells policies under Real Insurance).

“We often find that almost identical policies are offered by different insurers for completely different prices, so it’s important to compare prices as well as the detail of the policy when you’re doing your research – the ����Vlog car insurance comparison can help you with this,” says Mark. 

“If you’ve been with the same insurer for years, it’s also wise to look around to see if there are any sign-up promotions or other benefits you could be taking advantage of with a new insurer. 

“Just ensure you’re not losing out on coverage and look closely at the Product Disclosure Statement of the policy you’re buying.”

Aldi Comprehensive

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 59%
• Cover score: 61%
• Price score: 56%
• Provided by RACQ and administered by Honey Insurance 

While this policy offers fairly standard cover, it has some advantages over the Coles and Everyday Insurance policies in terms of the benefits offered and some terms and conditions.

Benefits of the policy include $1500 cover for personal items damaged in your car (with some exclusions such as theft, but it does include mobile phones and electronics), plus $1500 of coverage for emergency accommodation or transport after an incident.

This is more generous than the Coles policy ($1000) or Everyday Insurance policy ($500) that both also have certain limits and conditions.

Honey Insurance also administers car insurance for BOQ with very similar inclusions, so compare their prices before you buy. 

Read the full Aldi car insurance policy review.

Coles Comprehensive

• Cover score: 68%
• Price data not available
• Provided by Auto & General

For both the Coles and Woolworths policies, the unique selling point isn’t actually in the insurance product: it’s in the fact that you get discounts on your shopping or additional points in exchange for handing over your personal data to their respective loyalty programs.

Remember there are many other policies that offer the same or better cover out there, so it’s still important to shop around to make sure you’re getting the best deal.

Auto & General also administer car insurance for ING, Virgin Money, Budget Direct and Qantas, so ensure you compare those policies during your research. 

Read the Coles Comprehensive car insurance policy review.

����Vlog tip: You’ll save money and get better cover with insurance policies recommended by ����Vlog. Unlike other insurance comparison websites, we don’t get paid by any of the insurers we’re comparing. ����Vlog is nonprofit, so your membership fees help us fight for fair consumer rights, and empower you to get the best products. Check out our car insurance reviews.

Everyday Comprehensive by Woolworths

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 62%
• Cover score: 56%
• Price score: 71%
• Provided by Hollard Insurance

Many Woolworths shoppers are enticed by the 10% monthly discount you get on groceries if you are part of the Everyday Rewards loyalty program and sign up to this policy. However, it’s important to be aware that, discount or no discount, you’re paying for below average cover.

“The Everyday Insurance Comprehensive policy received a price score of 70% – the higher the score, the cheaper the policy usually is compared to other products. There are many policies in our review that outperform this policy on both cost and level of cover,” says Mark. 

With this policy, you are limited to the insurer’s network of repairers (you can’t use your own) and the cover is slightly worse than that offered by Coles and Aldi’s policies. 

Read the Woolworths Everyday car insurance policy review.

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If you’re looking for the best policy for the lowest price, use our tool to compare over 50 comprehensive car insurance policies. You’ll save money and get better cover with car insurance policies recommended by ����Vlog.

Unlike other insurance comparison websites, ����Vlog doesn’t get paid by any of the insurers we’re comparing. ����Vlog is nonprofit, so your membership fees help our fight for fair consumer rights, and empower you to get the best products.

Here are six simple ways to save on your premium this year.

1. Switch to a cheaper car insurer

Loyalty doesn’t pay, unless you’re a car insurer. Shopping around is the most effective way to save on car insurance. Not only do premiums vary widely between insurers, they also vary between new and old customers.

We call it the loyalty penalty: the insurers cash in on consumers who renew their policies without shopping around. So even if you have stayed with your insurers for years and years and are promised high loyalty discounts, shop around when your insurance is up for renewal.

In all states, the average premiums for the most expensive comprehensive car insurance policy are more than double the average premiums for the cheapest, so there are a lot of savings to be found.

The Australian Security and Investment Commission (ASIC) has recently cracked down on complex pricing practices by insurers that means that promised loyalty discounts have not fully eventuated as they were applied to a higher base premium instead of on the lower base premium new customers paid. 

2. Take out one of our recommended policies

The policies our experts recommend have superior cover, and they’re often cheaper than average policies. When we compare car insurance we look at what cover a policy provides and how much it costs on average in a state or territory.

The best policies are recommended by our experts and they are the ones you should start with when shopping around. You can compare car insurance using our comprehensive car insurance comparison.

3. Pay a higher excess if you can

The excess is how much you’ll pay out of your own pocket when you make a claim. Choosing a policy with a higher excess will reduce how much you pay for your cover.

So if you can afford to pay more than the standard excess should you need to make a claim, then it could be a good idea. But consider all the excesses that could apply in case of a claim. For example, if you’re under 25 and you’re the at-fault driver, there’s an added age excess you’ll have to pay on top of your policy excess. Read more tips for young drivers.

Increasing the excess on your policy will not only lower your premium upfront, it might also protect you from future premium increases. How?

Well, when you make a claim that the insurer has to pay out, you may find your premium goes up when it’s time to renew. Even claims for damages that are out of your control – such as windscreen claims, hailstorm, theft and collision with animals – commonly increase your premium.

But if you have a higher excess, you won’t be putting small claims through your insurance, but rather paying for smaller repairs yourself. Not putting these through the insurer means you won’t be penalised with higher premiums for making a claim.

4. Ask about a cheaper premium for driving less

Comprehensive policies with a “drive less, pay less” approach limit your cover to a certain number of kilometres, for a cheaper premium. 

If you know how much you’re driving on average, mention this when you get a quote and use it to negotiate a cheaper premium. Some insurers offer a discount for low kilometres, they include:

• AAMI
• Apia
• Australian Seniors
• Budget Direct
• Coles
• Everyday Insurance from Woolworths.
• GIO
• Suncorp

Insurers that don’t advertise this may still offer a discount if you ask for one. 

5. Get a discount

Car insurers offer a number of discounts:

• Online discount – Insurers like NRMA and AAMI give you a discount on your first year’s premium if you take out your insurance online.
• Multi-policy discount – Many insurers give you a discount if you take out two or more policies with them, for example, GIO gives you a discount if you take out home, contents and car insurance with them.
• Annual payment discount – Insurers like Suncorp charge you less if you pay the annual premium upfront. If this isn’t an option for you, look for an insurer that lets you make monthly payments without an extra cost. Insurers offering monthly payments at no extra cost include Allianz, CGU, National Seniors, NRMA and RAA.
• Nominated drivers – Insurers like Allianz give you a discount if you nominate specific drivers. Other insurers may give you a discount if you limit drivers to people over a specific age, this may be a good option for senior drivers. But beware: if someone else sometimes drives your car, a high unlisted driver excess can apply if they have an accident.

6. List your current insurer to reduce your premium

The insurer may also discount your premium depending on who your previous car insurer was. For example, we found Woolworths Everyday and Australian Seniors Insurance will quote you a cheaper premium if your previous insurer was Budget Direct. While GIO will quote you less if your previous insurer was their direct competitor, NRMA. 

• Quoting for a family car based in Sydney, AAMI, Suncorp, and GIO all offered a 5% lower premium if your current insurer was NRMA, compared to quotes with no previous insurer listed. 
• Woolworths Everyday Insurance, Australian Seniors, Huddle and Real all gave a 5.5% cheaper quote if your current insurer was Budget Direct and a 1.1% cheaper quote if your current insurer was Youi. 
• On the Bingle website, we found cheaper premiums of about:
  • 8% if your current insurer is Youi
  • 12% if you’re switching from NRMA
  • 13% if it’s Budget Direct
  • and 10% if you”re with AAMI, Allianz, QBE or Suncorp. 

Have you found some insurers will offer a cheaper price depending on which company you’re switching from? Let us know in the .

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The plight of the snake oil salesman used to be a hard one. You’d have to go town to town selling your half truths and lies, hoping no one from the town you just left caught up with you. Social media platforms solved this problem, they let the modern snake oil salesman reach everyone with a device in seconds.

The platforms have done little to protect consumers in the process. They’ve got no incentive to: the shonks are among the social media platforms’ best paying customers. With social media, these salesmen can sell at scale in record time, leaving regulators, honest market participants and consumers to pick up the pieces.

This is the story of high risk super switching, the practice that has already ripped over a billion dollars from people looking to save for their retirement after people were funneled on an industrial scale into two dodgy investments. Yet these business models survive and cause catastrophic harm to people. They will do far worse if we don’t stop them.

My job is superannuation. I’d seen the consumer awareness campaigns warning people off high risk super switching and heard the catch cries, “if it sounds too good to be true it probably is”. I decided to sign up for one myself.

Signing up for a ‘super health check’

It was easy enough. My instagram feed was overflowing with advertisements showing ordinary people living busy lives who knew they should be paying more attention to their super, but didn’t know where to start. It was relatable, common sense guidance. They told me the government had tested the performance of funds and with a simple “super health check” I could find out if I was in one of the ones that failed. I entered my contact details and waited for a call.

A few days later, I got a call offering to put me in touch with a financial expert with over a decade of experience in super. The man I spoke to seemed knowledgeable, he was likeable and complimented me for getting on top of my super at a young age. He even complimented me on the decisions I’d made to date, like taking on more risk for longer term returns.

All the while he was running down the trust in my current super fund. He showed me how opaque their fee disclosures are, talked about super fund customer service failures and why my fund’s investment strategies deliver such poor returns. All good lies have an element of truth. 

A strong sales pitch

A week later I talked to a second financial adviser and was given a statement of advice with recommendations on what to do with my super. For someone with some knowledge of investment returns, there was no real magic to it.

They recommended 16 exchange traded funds (ETFs). The key selling point of this type of investment is it is usually a relatively cheap way to own a diverse mix of investments. They looked like they had a stronger history of performance than my existing super fund. My fund was delivering 11.5% p.a. compared to almost 16% p.a. in the adviser recommended ETFs over the last 5 years.

Looking under the hood, this 5-year comparison period was critical: most credible financial advice would use a longer timeframe among other types of comparisons. The last 5 years has been a boom period for semiconductors and gold. Lo and behold, the advice I received recommended ETFs that were heavily invested in these two markets.

Picking yesterday’s winners is not a skill. Semiconductors and gold may continue on their bull run for a while yet (although the glimmer has come off gold this year), but outperformance like this requires active management. Outside of an annual review, this is not what the financial adviser was offering. Conversely, my existing fund does actively manage my investments, so despite the sales pitch I likely would be much better off staying put.

All up, the advice was going to set me back $11,000 upfront and an ongoing advice fee of $3,800 a year. This is steep given the advice was relatively simple. In fact, it was cookie cutter. And much higher than the typical cost of advice, which is currently $4,700 according to the Financial Advice Association of Australia. On top of that, the administration and investment fees were 24% higher per year on the platform they recommended I join.

But here’s the thing. Even though I knew it was a switching scheme and I knew the advice was bad, it was still a very convincing sales pitch. They were smooth, they were professional and they took their time trying to convince me. I didn’t switch, but if I weren’t working in super… I might have. 

Dodgy advertisers should be banned

I’m sharing this as a warning to consumers, but also as a call to action for the government. Australians have diligently saved to create a $4 trillion dollar superannuation system. It’s now time to protect it by banning these dodgy advertisers. We need consumer protections to make sure super platforms are responsible for keeping people safe. Charging someone $11,000 for cookie cutter advice should never be allowed.  and we’ve heard reports of people being stung for $20,000 or more for dodgy switching advice. The bleeding of Australians’ retirement savings from inappropriate advice needs to end.

If my story sounds familiar, please check on your super and read about what you can do on the  website. It was developed by Super Consumers Australia with the support of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission; it offers free, independent information to those impacted by the Shield and First Guardian Master Fund collapses.

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Bringing a new pet into your family isn’t a decision to be taken lightly – it’s a significant responsibility, both logistically and financially.

With some breeds fetching prices in the thousands of dollars, you’ll already have spent a small fortune before your new puppy or kitten has even come home. 

And whether you’re picking up a “bitzer” from a shelter or one with an impeccable pedigree, you just can’t predict what kind of mischief your pet may get up to, or what illnesses might lie ahead for your new family member.

Pet insurance may give you some peace of mind but, as with any insurance, the devil’s in the detail. Trying to understand what’s covered and compare policies can be like herding cats.

There can be exclusions on certain conditions and illnesses, limits on how much you can claim, decreasing cover as your pet ages, rules around pre-existing conditions, and more. So if your dog is as sick as … well, a dog, you might have to pay more than you’d expect.

If you’re on the hunt for the right insurance for your pet, you’ll be barking up the wrong tree with these policies below.

How we rank pet insurance policies

Our experts compare policies from more than 25 insurers, then score them based on their cover and how much you’ll pay out of pocket. 

The ����Vlog Expert Rating is our overall score and is made up of the cover score (which makes up 70%) and the out of pocket score (30%).

When assessing each policy’s cover, we look at 30 different features, including the range of conditions and treatments covered and how easy it is to settle a claim. 

The out of pocket score is based on the maximum annual limit available, as well as the options for how much you can pay as an excess and how much of the bill is covered.

The pet insurance policies to avoid

“The policies in this list are the lowest-scoring ones we’ve reviewed for a range of reasons,” says ����Vlog insurance expert Daniel Graham. “Some have a lot of exclusions or low benefits, while others have sneaky conditions that reduce cover as your pet ages.”

These policies are some of the only ones on the market that will take on animals over 10 years old. For people with older pets looking to switch or get insurance for the first time, these may be the policies of last resort. 

“We suggest you avoid these and look for a policy that ranks highly in our comparison. It’s also worth remembering that pet insurance isn’t always a necessity, and a low-value policy can still leave you significantly out of pocket,” says Daniel.

Another option is to consider self-insurance, if you can afford to keep money aside in a savings account for when you might need it. But if buying a policy is the preferred option, Daniel says to make sure you read the fine print.

“Don’t forget to check the PDS (product disclosure statement) for a policy to make sure you know exactly what you’re covered for. Having a sick or injured pet is stressful enough without having to foot a much larger bill than you thought you would.”

These are the policies that our experts say aren’t the best bet for your pet.

Petcover Economy

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 25%
• Cover score: 24%
• Out of pocket score: 28%

There are two things that make this policy terrible value.

No lifetime cover

The first is the lack of lifetime cover. This is the only policy in our comparison that doesn’t include this.

The PDS describes its cover as: “Illness and Injury is covered for Twelve (12) months, starting from the date during the Policy Year the Injury happened or the Clinical Signs of the Illness first occurred, or until the Maximum Benefit is reached, whichever happens first.”

After this, they won’t pay to treat the same injury or illness, or even the same clinical signs. If you renew, any condition your pet showed symptoms for in the previous year would then be considered a pre-existing condition, and excluded from future cover.

This means:

• Chronic conditions aren’t covered after 12 months from the date your pet first showed symptoms.
• Recurring illnesses aren’t covered if your pet showed clinical signs in a previous policy year.
• Injuries aren’t covered if your pet has sustained that injury in a previous policy year (this works bilaterally: an injury to one knee means the opposite knee is now also excluded).

“Continuity of cover, year after year, is one of those things we expect to be in our insurance policies by default,” says Daniel.

“You wouldn’t buy home insurance from a company that rejects theft claims because your house has been burgled before. You wouldn’t get health insurance from a company that will cover one knee replacement, then turn around and say the other is now an excluded pre-existing condition.

“Forget cover for pre-existing conditions. This policy barely covers your pet’s existing conditions.”

Reduced cover as pet ages

The second thing that makes this policy bad value is the ‘age contribution’, which means the policy pays out less as your pet gets older.

If your pet is under eight years old, the policy will cover 100% of the vet bill. (You’ll just pay the $150 excess.) Once your pet reaches eight (around the age many pets start needing more vet care), that cover drops to 80%. At age 10, it drops to 65%.

For some dog breeds the benefit drops at four and seven years instead. There are approximately 30 breeds that this applies to, including Irish Wolfhounds, Rottweilers, Bulldogs, Newfoundlands and more.

Read the full Petcover Economy review.

PetsOnMe Accident Plan

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 30%
• Cover score: 30%
• Out of pocket score: 29%

“This is a very basic accidental injury plan, with a low annual limit of just $5000, which won’t go far if your pet needs major surgery or has several incidents in the one year,” says Daniel.

“It also doesn’t cover illness, or cruciate ligament injury, which is a fairly common injury in high-energy dog breeds.”

The company’s claims handling process is less than ideal, too. You’ll need to pay the whole vet bill upfront and then the insurer will pay you back once the claim has been processed.

“Some pet insurers have invested in making their claims process as frictionless as possible,” says Daniel. “There are brands that now offer direct-to-vet payments, and in some cases can settle a claim before you leave the vet.”

“With this policy, you’ll need to be able to cover the whole vet bill in the first place, which could leave you in a tricky position if you don’t have the money on hand at the time.”

Read the full PetsOnMe Accident Plan review.

Australian Seniors Basic Cover, Guardian Bronze & Real Insurance Classic

• ����Vlog Expert Rating: 53%
• Cover score: 67%
• Out of pocket score: 19%

These are three identical white label products issued by PetSure, the underwriter that dominates the pet insurance market.

They offer comprehensive cover for illness, but not common optional extras like cover for dental and behavioural conditions.

Injury cover is limited to a list of nine common events such as snake bite toxicity, bone fracture and motor vehicle incident.

“There’s nothing wrong with the list itself, but the market is moving toward comprehensive accidental injury cover, without needing to meet extra criteria about how that injury was sustained,” says Daniel.

These policies have no excess. While that might seem like a good thing at first glance, the downside of this is you can’t increase the excess to reduce your premium, like you can with most other insurance products.

And unfortunately, not having to pay an excess still doesn’t mean you won’t be out of pocket: these policies only cover 60% of eligible vet bills, the lowest reimbursement rate of any policy in our comparison.

The annual limit of $12,000 is on the lower side of pet insurance policies we’ve reviewed, but it’s not the worst. What makes it bad is the ‘per condition’ limit: it will only cover $2000 per condition.

To claim the annual $12,000 limit, your pet would need to be treated for six different illnesses or accidents in a single year, at a cost of at least $20,000 (because you can only claim 60% back).

In this implausible scenario you would be out of pocket $8000, plus the premium. That makes this policy particularly bad value.

Read the full reviews:

• Australian Seniors Basic Cover
• Guardian Bronze
• Real Insurance Classic

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There’s no doubt that we Australians love our pets. There are currently an estimated 31.6 million pets in Australia, with 73% of households having a pet. 

Of course, love isn’t always enough. To care for our pets, we need to set aside money for food, routine treatments, and unfortunately often treatments for injuries and illnesses.

Bills for major surgery and treatment can run into the thousands of dollars, and there’s no Medicare for pets, so you’ll have to foot the bill. And of course you just can’t predict when your pet will get sick or hurt. 

Pet insurance is one way to buffer yourself against unexpected vet bills, so you don’t have to weigh up whether or not to go ahead with surgery or treatment for your four-legged friend. 

It’s hard to imagine losing a pet because you can’t afford to pay the vet bills. But is it worth taking out pet insurance for peace of mind? Here are the key points to consider.

The pros of pet insurance

Pro: Pet insurance can give you peace of mind

Having pet insurance means that if an unexpected accident occurs or if your pet needs treatment, some or most of the financial burden will be covered and you can focus on getting the best care for your pet. 

And you’re less likely to face the awful situation of having to euthanise your pet if you can’t afford expensive treatment – an animal lover’s worst nightmare.

Pro: Claims can be quick and easy

If your vet and insurer are set up for electronic claiming, lodging a claim and being reimbursed can be fuss-free and quick. 

If your vet and insurer are set up for electronic claiming, lodging a claim and being reimbursed can be fuss-free and quick.

“Claiming in the past was horrible – lots of paperwork. It was almost as though they were trying to make claiming hard,” one pet owner told ����Vlog. “It’s much better now that it’s all electronic straight from the vet.”

“It’s getting easier to claim these days,” another pet owner says. “My vet can send everything electronically through to the insurer.”

����Vlog pet insurance expert Daniel Graham says that most insurers have introduced two things to improve the experience.

The first is a quick claims process, where if you make a claim during business hours it can be settled while you’re still at the vet. The second is direct-to-vet payments. 

“Previously – and this is still the case with some insurers – you had to pay the full vet bill upfront, then claim your reimbursement from the insurer later,” says Daniel.

“For people who don’t have thousands of dollars on hand, this would make pet insurance almost useless for expensive treatments.”

“Now insurers are moving toward direct payments, so that you only have to cover the gap, just like using your extras at the dentist.”

These services require the clinic to opt in, so check with your vet if they’re in your insurer’s network.

Pro: You can add on routine care cover

The first year of your puppy or kitten’s life can be expensive. Things like desexing, microchipping and council registration are usually one-off fees that add up pretty quickly. And that’s before you add in routine care vaccinations and worm and flea treatments. 

Routine care cover is an optional add-on that can take some of the sting out of paying all these costs at once. 

“Routine care is an inexpensive extra that covers the cost of items not usually included in your regular policy,” says Daniel.

“It can be good value in the first year of your pet’s life. As an ongoing benefit it can also pay for some preventative care items like blood tests, vaccinations and parasite control.”

The cons of pet insurance

Con: Pet insurance can be expensive

Owning a pet comes with many financial responsibilities. On average, annual vet expenses alone are estimated to cost close to $350 for dogs and around $270 for cats – and that’s before you factor in medications, surgery and emergency treatment. 

With all these potential bills on your pet ownership horizon, pet insurance may seem like a wise choice.

But with pet insurance premiums increasing year on year and many of us already struggling with the cost of living, the extra cost may be too much for already-stretched budgets.

Various factors can affect how much your pet will cost to insure. One of these is your pet’s breed, which can have serious implications on their health, welfare and subsequent medical costs throughout their lifetime, and can make a huge difference price-wise.

“Breed is one of the biggest price factors, especially for dogs,” says Daniel.

“Insurers know which high-risk breeds are going to need expensive treatment over the course of their life, and will set their premiums accordingly.”

Putting aside cash in a separate high-interest bank account specifically for vet expenses may be a better option and can give you more security, as you’ll always have the money available, whereas your insurer could knock back your claim.

Con: Pre-existing conditions can make it tricky to switch

Despite some improvements since 2019, when we gave the whole pet insurance industry a Shonky Award, cover for pre-existing conditions is still a sticking point.

A pre-existing condition is an illness or injury your pet had before you first took out the insurance policy, and they are excluded by default from every policy in our comparison.

You can still get cover, if you meet the insurer’s requirements. Each one has different rules.

Some still don’t cover pre-existing conditions at all. In most policies, a pre-existing condition can be eventually covered if it is “temporary”, meaning it can be resolved with treatment. 

If your pet hasn’t shown noticeable signs or symptoms of the condition in the 18 months before you make a claim, then the insurer won’t treat it as an excluded pre-existing condition. It’s like a waiting period in health insurance, except if your pet does get sick then the waiting period starts again.

Chronic conditions like cancer, diabetes or seasonal allergies can be almost impossible to get cover for as a pre-existing condition. If your cat develops diabetes while insured, your insurer will cover it. But if that insurer starts price gouging at renewal, or changes their policy in a way you don’t like, your options to ditch and switch become very limited. 

“Moving to a new policy usually means accepting that you won’t have cover for your pet’s ongoing medical issues, only their new ones,” says Daniel.

“Pre-existing condition exclusions mean that pet owners can be faced with having to pay a loyalty penalty to the only insurer that will cover them, or go without cover for their chronically ill animals.”

These are some pre-existing health issues that you could be covered for:

• Your dog had gastro as a puppy and develops gastro again a few years later, but for a different reason. 
• Your pet has a new, unrelated injury on a previously broken leg that’s now healed. 
• After a benign (non-cancerous) lump was removed, your pet develops a different type of lump. 

Of course this differs between insurers, so check your insurer’s policies to make sure you know where you stand. For more details on the cover from different underwriters, see our pet insurance buying guide. 

Con: Price increases could make pet insurance unaffordable

The way most policies are structured means that premiums increase as your pet ages.

“Premiums for new policies tend to be lower for younger pets,” says Daniel.

“This is partly because younger animals have fewer medical needs, and partly because the insurer wants to encourage you into insurance as early as possible.” 

“I changed pet insurers in the last 12 months due to my original insurer having significant premium increases,” one pet owner told us.

“I cancelled our policy after five years because the premium went up substantially after each claim,” says another pet parent. “Not worth having.”

Con: You need to buy it when your pet is young

“If you think pet insurance is right for you, you should get cover while your pet is young,” says Daniel.

“The earlier you get insurance, the less likely your pet is to develop a pre-existing condition that will be tricky to find cover for.”

It’s a good idea to take out insurance from when your pet is as young as three months old. (And remember that add-on routine care cover can come in handy in their first year of life.)

Most policies have a maximum age for new business, generally at nine or 10 years. Once your pet hits that age you’ll find it even harder to switch. The pool of available policies will shrink to mostly low-benefit products, running the risk of leaving you significantly out of pocket anyway.

Con: Finding cover for rescue pets can be difficult

One pet owner found out the hard way that insuring a rescue animal can be all but impossible. 

“I am unable to insure my dog as she was a rescue dog. Because she’s of uncertain age and had no medical history I was unable to take out pet insurance,” they told us. 

“Since then she has had an ECG, ultrasound and blood tests every three months for liver problems. Ironically, with my previous dog I didn’t need to access her insurance as she had no health problems!”

Con: Your cover may change

Pet insurance providers currently have no legal obligation to maintain the competitiveness of your policy and can make any changes they like when you renew annually. These changes may include:

• premium increases 
• reduction in coverage percentages
• added exclusions 
• reduced payment limits and sublimits.

This can make it difficult to budget for costs associated with your pets, and means you can’t be sure your pet will be covered for certain conditions or incidents as they age. 

And while premiums increase with age, cover could decrease. 

Some policies have conditions where they’ll pay, for example, 100% of the claim when your pet is young (usually as long as they’re aged below eight, but with some policies and dog breeds, it can be as young as three). 

But as your pet ages, this payment can drop to as low as 65%, and you’ll have to foot the rest of the bill. This isn’t helpful when you consider that your pet is likely to need more vet care as they grow older.

Con: Exclusions, low limits and caps

Most policies in our pet insurance comparison come in one of two types.

The majority  offer comprehensive accident and illness cover. Most of the rest have comprehensive cover for illness, and cover a specified list of accidental injuries (think motor vehicle incident, bone fracture, snake bite).

There is one accident-only policy, and one that broadly covers accidents, but then a very limited list of illnesses.

All policies cover the cost of surgery, hospitalisation and medicines, but things such as dental care, vaccinations, desexing and preventative treatment are usually only covered as optional extras, with extra sublimits. 

You should always check the amount of co-payments, excesses and caps. For example, most policies have a cap of around $300 on veterinary consultation fees (which you’ll spend quite quickly if your pet has a chronic illness).

“Pet insurance is already a complex financial product. Some insurers make it more complex by adding sublimits and claim caps to individual conditions,” says Daniel.

“For example, some policies will say you can only claim for swallowing foreign objects once or twice a year.”

So, your policy may have a $12,000 overall annual limit, but a sublimit of $1000 for things like treatment for tick paralysis, or $2600 for cruciate ligament surgery (and these can be particularly expensive to treat).

Con: Getting insurers to pay up

While some insurers make lodging claims easier with electronic lodgement processes, having that claim accepted can be quite a different matter. 

One pet owner we spoke to spent nearly six months trying to get their insurer to accept a claim, only to have the insurer lose the paperwork and claim that the vet didn’t send the correct documentation for the injury, then claim that the injury was elective surgery. 

“I wrote numerous letters and made numerous phone calls trying to clear the matter up,” they say. “Needless to say, as soon as they finally paid the claim, I cancelled the insurance.

“Then [the insurer] stated that they would continue to debit my account for the remaining premiums for the year (several months’ worth). After further complaints and some intervention, they finally reimbursed me the premiums they had taken from me after I cancelled the policy.”

Another pet owner told us: “They tried to not pay out for an ear infection for our dog as he has a grass allergy on his torso – they claimed it was preexisting. We noted that a skin allergy is different to possible ear mites and they paid up.”

How to decide if pet insurance is for you

While pet insurance has improved, you still need to work out if it’s worth it for your circumstances. To help with the decision, Daniel suggests the following steps:

1. Talk to your vet. Ask what conditions your pet could develop later in life and what the treatment would cost.
2. Get quotes from several insurers. Compare cover, cost, excess, cover percentage and sublimits.
3. Consider whether it would be better to set up a special bank account and save the pet insurance premiums.
4. If you are going to take out insurance, consider doing so early in your pet’s life, before they’ve developed any health conditions.
5. If your new pet still needs council registration, desexing and vaccinations, check if the pet insurer offers optional routine care cover for those. The extra cost may be worth your while, especially for the first year of cover. 

The post The pros and cons of pet insurance: Is it worth buying? appeared first on ����Vlog.

On this page:

• Health insurance types and what they cover
• Will I pay more for health insurance later if I don’t get it now?
• Will I pay more in taxes if I don’t have health insurance? 
• Can I stay on my parents’ policy? 
• Am I eligible for discounts?

• What if I have a family or are planning to start one?

Taking out your own health insurance might seem like the logical thing to do when you move out of home or get a “real” job, especially if you’ve been covered by your parent’s family policy until now. 

The government starts providing incentives to buy health insurance once you turn 31 or start earning over $101,000 per annum (or $105,000 after June 30). But if you’re under 30, and don’t earn that much yet, is signing up for health insurance a savvy financial move, or a waste of precious funds?

We answer the key questions for under 30s thinking about taking out (or dropping) private health insurance.

Health insurance types and what they cover

The first thing you need to know is that there are two different types of health insurance: hospital and extras. 

Depending on your circumstances you may not need either of them. But even if you decide you need both, you can buy two policies from two different insurers to get a better deal.

Hospital insurance

Hospital cover, pays for treatment in hospital. It doesn’t help with the cost of things outside a hospital like dental or physio – for that you’ll need extras insurance, see below.

Hospital insurance can allow you to go to a private hospital, choose your own doctor and have shorter waiting times for elective surgery. However, if you have an accident you’re usually taken to and treated in a public hospital, which doesn’t require hospital insurance because it’s covered by Medicare. 

Government stats show that younger people generally get a lot less benefit from hospital insurance than older people. APRA publishes how much benefit people receive from their health insurance when they go to hospital, and they found that 20–29 year olds only receive a benefit of about $187 per year if they go to hospital, compared to $1655 on average for 80–89 year olds (12 months to March 2026).

Hospital cover is the only type of health insurance that affects Lifetime Health Cover loading (which kicks in once you turn 31) and the Medicare Levy Surcharge, which is an extra tax you need to pay if you earn over $101,000 per year and don’t have hospital cover.

So you could decide not to take out hospital cover right now, but revisit the decision when your circumstances change. Read more about these incentives below.

Extras insurance

Extras policies cover you for health care that you receive outside a hospital, and which Medicare does not cover, like dental care, glasses and clinical treatments like physiotherapy. Exactly which services are covered and how much money you get back for them varies from policy to policy.

Unlike hospital cover, extras insurance has no bearing on the Medicare Levy Surcharge or the Lifetime Health Cover loading, so the only thing to consider is simply whether you’ll receive more in benefits than you’ll pay in premiums.

Extras insurance is more like a budgeting tool than traditional insurance.

Start by adding up how much money you’ve spent on ‘extra’ health services in the last year and comparing that with the premium you’d pay to see which option is cheaper. (But keep in mind that extras policies don’t cover 100% of the cost.)

If you already have extras insurance, you can ask your insurer for a claims statement for the last year.

If you paid more in premiums than you received in benefits, you’re probably going to be better off cancelling your policy. Many Australians don’t get enough value from their extras cover to make it worthwhile.

Will I pay more for health insurance later if I don’t get it now?

Not if you’re under 31. 

You may have heard about the Lifetime Health Cover loading, a government initiative which means that if you take out hospital cover for the first time after you turn 31, you’ll pay an extra 2% on your premiums for every year you waited.

This sounds scary, but depending on your situation, it may be a better financial decision to delay hospital cover and pay the loading later. Our experts explain how you can pay the Lifetime Health Cover loading and save money.

However, while you’re under 31, this loading doesn’t apply to you and there will be no effect on your future premiums if you don’t take out cover now. It also won’t affect you if you never take out health insurance.

Will I pay more in taxes if I don’t have health insurance? 

Only if you earn more than $101,000 per year. Or $105,000 from July1, 2026.

The Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) is a tax-time surcharge the federal government charges high income earners who don’t have hospital cover. If you’re a single person earning less than $101,000 per year, or a couple earning less than $202,000, here’s no tax benefit to having health insurance 

If you earn over the threshold and want to calculate if having hospital cover will save you money at tax time, check out . 

If you do need to get a hospital cover policy for tax reasons, read our guide to the cheapest policies to save on tax or use our tool to compare health insurance to find the best-value cover for your needs.

Can I stay on my parents’ policy for free?

If you’re under 32 and a full time student, many funds (including Bupa, Medibank, HCF and NIB) allow you to stay on your parents’ policy for free.

If you’re not a full-time student, many funds still allow you to stay on your families’ policy, but charge an extra fee of between 15% and 50% of the total policy cost for an “extended family” policy. 

If there is an extra cost, it’s important to consider the health needs of everyone in the family to make sure they align, otherwise it’s probably cheaper to take out your own policy. 

Read more about things to consider and the different conditions funds have for dependents in our article of extended family policies. 

Am I eligible for any discounts?

If you do decide to take out health insurance before you turn 30, insurers can offer you a 2% discount off your premium every year you’re under 30, up to a maximum of 10% for people aged 18–25. 

Not all insurers offer the discount and not all policies are eligible for the discount, so shop around.

The good news is, if you stay on that policy, you’ll keep getting the full discount until you turn 41. Some funds will even let you keep your discount when you switch to a different policy, so it’s worth doing your research.

You’re also probably eligible for the health insurance rebate. If you earn $158,000 a year ($164,000 from 1 July) or less you get a discount of between 8% and 24% off health insurance premiums – depending on your income level – for hospital and extras cover.

Make sure you tick the right income box when comparing policies to make sure you’re seeing the correct price for you, both in our comparison tool, and health fund websites. 

What if I have a family or I’m planning to start one?

Pregnancy and birth

Luckily in Australia, both public and private hospitals offer high quality care for pregnancy and birth. 

The main advantage of using hospital insurance for private care is that you can choose your obstetrician and can give birth in a private hospital, which may be more comfortable. The downside obviously is private cover costs more.

Note too that specialist fees for appointments outside hospital aren’t covered though, so you will end up paying more than just your hospital insurance premium.

Read more about the pros and cons of private insurance for pregnancy. If you decide you want to go private, you’ll need to take out hospital cover 12 months before you give birth because of the standard waiting period. 

Family

Family policies generally cost the same as couples policies. This means that, for two-parent families, children are included on the policy for free.

However, single-parent families often pay the same as two-parent families, which makes it harder for single parent families to get good value from health insurance.

We’ve found the best health insurance policies for single parent families so don’t get ripped off. 

The bottom line

If you’re under 30 and not a high income earner, there’s no benefit to taking out private health insurance unless you plan to use it. If you do decide you need health insurance, you’ll want to get the best policy for your needs.

Our experts have created a tool to help you compare health insurance policies from dozens of funds – no sponsored results, no pesky phone calls, just impartial advice. 

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The decision about how and where you want to give birth, and if you want to go private or public, is very personal. We help you weigh up your options by looking at the pros, cons and costs of going public vs private.

If you already know you want to go private, jump straight to our expert picks for the cheapest health insurance for pregnancy and birth (accessible to ����Vlog members).

On this page:

• Do you need health insurance if you’re having a baby?
• Public hospital vs private hospital
• How much does it cost to give birth?
• Top four tips for pregnancy and health insurance
• Best policies with cover for pregnancy, birth and assisted reproduction

Do you need health insurance if you’re having a baby?

The short answer is no. In Australia, doctors in private and public hospitals alike provide high-quality care for pregnancy and birth.

The main advantage of going private is that you can choose the obstetrician who cares for you during your pregnancy and attends the birth. There’s also a better chance of getting a private room and your partner may be able to stay with you in the hospital.

However, there’s higher out-of-pocket-costs in a private hospital with private health insurance. With private health, you may have to pay a gap fee to your obstetrician, in addition to the health insurance premiums you already paid.

In a public hospital the cost of obstetricians and other specialists are covered by the public system.

Public hospital vs private hospital compared

Giving birth in a public hospital as a public patient

Pros

• Only very small, if any, out-of-pocket costs.
• Usually better facilities if you have a high-risk pregnancy or a sick or premature baby.
• Some hospitals have birth centres or midwifery programs where you can get more personalised, continuous care with your own midwife. Book in early as these programs are very popular.
• Lower rate of interventional births

Cons

• You often don’t know the doctor and midwives attending your birth and may see a different doctor/midwife each time (unless you are part of a continuous care program).
• Food and facilities may not be as nice as in a private hospital.
• You often have to share a room with other mothers and their babies.
• You may be cared for by junior doctors, who will call in a specialist when needed.

Giving birth in a private hospital as a private patient

Pros 

• Continuity of care with your own obstetrician and their midwives during your pregnancy.
• Food and facilities may be nicer than in a public hospital.
• Better chance of getting a private room and your partner may be able to stay with you.

Cons 

• High out-of-pocket-costs.
• Your obstetrician may be on leave or may not make it in time for the birth.
• You usually won’t know the midwives who attend your birth and provide postnatal care.
• Higher rate of interventions and lower rates of natural births.
• If your baby or you need intensive care, you may need to be transferred to a public hospital.
• Doctors and anaesthetists are often not on-site so have to be called in. 

How much does it cost to give birth?

Public patient

If you go to a public hospital as a public patient, you’d normally be fully covered by Medicare. But out-of-pocket costs could arise for:

• shared care with a GP who doesn’t bulk bill
• scans or pathology outside of hospital
• childbirth classes.

Private patient

Even if you have private health insurance, large and sometimes unexpected out-of-pocket costs can arise for private care. Health funds are not allowed to cover out-of-hospital care. Therefore, each time you visit your obstetrician, you may have out-of-pocket costs.

The amount depends on if and how much they charge above the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) fee. The largest cost may be the pregnancy management fee – you’ll pay out-of-pocket costs between $1250 and $4550, with the highest costs being in NSW and the ACT.

Out-of-pocket costs as a private patient with health insurance for the birth itself usually range between $400 and $500, plus your excess for the hospital accommodation.

How to save money on your pregnancy if you have private health insurance

• Check with your health fund to find an obstetrician who uses the fund’s gap scheme for the birth and can attend to you in a hospital that has an agreement with your health fund.
• Use shared care with a GP who bulk bills.
• Ask your obstetrician to detail all costs beforehand.
• Consider being a private patient in a public hospital. It’s less likely that you’ll have unexpected out-of-pocket costs for blood tests, X-rays, ultrasounds, and the anaesthetist and paediatrician.
• Check with your health insurer to find out how soon you need to upgrade to family cover so that your baby is covered.
• Once you’re pregnant, check whether you’ve served the waiting period. If you give birth before the waiting period is up, consider going to a public hospital as a public patient. 

Top four tips for health insurance with pregnancy

1. Take out private health insurance well ahead of getting pregnant. There is a 12-month waiting period that applies to the date you’re admitted to hospital for the birth.
2. You won’t be covered if you have a premature birth within the waiting period or even if you give birth only a few days before the end of the waiting period.
3. Initially, only the person giving birth needs pregnancy cover. Once you’re pregnant, check with your health insurer how soon you need to upgrade to family cover so that your baby is covered.
4. Check with your obstetrician and the private hospital or fertility clinic whether they have a no-gap agreement with your health insurer. If they only have an agreement with another insurer, you can switch before giving birth without serving a waiting period for pregnancy, birth and assisted reproduction. 

Best policies with cover for pregnancy, birth and assisted reproduction

Exclusively for ����Vlog members, we list below the best policies in each state that cover pregnancy, birth and assisted reproduction. Log in to unlock this member-only content, or join ����Vlog to get instant access to all of our expert, independent reviews.

Our recommendations include open funds and restricted membership funds in every state. Find out more about the best restricted membership funds. Some of these funds are more “open” than you may realise, and they can offer great value policies. They’re for employees of specific industries or professions, such as the armed forces, teachers, union members or CommBank.

The post Best health insurance for pregnancy and birth appeared first on ����Vlog.

Every year, health insurers must seek government approval to increase their premiums on 1 April.

This year, the Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler announced a 4.41% average annual increase to health insurance premiums across all existing hospital and extras policies. 

But until recently, the insurers only needed approval to raise premiums for existing policies, not new policies. This allowed them to quietly close an existing policy, and then open a new policy with the same or similar cover, but with a jacked up price – bypassing government oversight.

Thanks to this ����Vlog investigation that uncovered insurers use of the loophole, legislation is now progressing through parliament to shut it down. The new legislation will require funds to seek approval for new policies too, aiming to outlaw this practice, known as “phoenixing”.

����Vlog has discovered that phoenixing has contributed to an increase in the price of Gold hospital insurance of about 71% over six years. The “approved” premium increase over the same period was just 21% across all hospital and extras policies.

Top cover even less affordable

A single person in 2021 paid around $239 per month, or $2874 a year, for Gold hospital cover (with a $750 excess). In 2026, they were slugged with premiums closer to $410 per month, or $4915 per year, on average for the same level of cover.

The big five health funds – Medibank, Bupa, HCF, HBF and NIB – have all implemented substantial price rises.

Our analysis, which compared policies available to new customers in 2021 with those available in 2026, found the cost of Gold hospital policies from the big five has skyrocketed, all with increases even higher than the Australian average of 71%.

Looking at Gold policies in NSW with a $750 excess, Bupa’s April 2026 Gold hospital policy cost 75% more than the policy they offered in January 2021. Medibank’s policy cost 85% more, and NIB’s Qantas Gold policy was 92% more expensive. But HCF’s whopping policy increase was more than double the average with a 147% increase.

In WA, HBF’s 2025 Gold policy was 97% more expensive than the Gold policy it was selling six years ago.

How it works: Close cheaper policies, replace with more expensive ones

As mentioned above, we’ve found many instances of funds closing existing policies to new members while at the same time opening new policies that offer essentially the same cover but with a slightly different name and a much higher price tag.

On 26 February 2025, the day the Health Minister announced the 2025 health insurance increase, HCF released Optimal Gold, with a NSW premium of $440 per month and closed (to new members) its Premium Gold with a cost of $325 per month with $750 excess.

This is an annual increase in the price of HCF’s Gold hospital cover of $1353, or a staggering 34.6%. And earned HCF a Shonky award.

In June 2022, HBF closed their Gold Hospital policy in WA, which cost $215 per month with a $750 excess. They then released their Gold Hospital Elevate policy to new members at $280 per month, which was essentially the same cover with a 30% increase in price.

In November 2023, Medibank closed its Gold Complete Hospital, which cost NSW customers $255 a month and released Gold Protect. This was essentially the same cover, but costs $300 per month at the same excess level – which is an extra $525 per year, or 17% more.

Other price jumps we found include these NSW policies with $750 excess:

• In August 2023 NIB closed their Qantas Gold Hospital policy, which cost $280, and released Qantas Gold Top Hospital for $325 (17% jump). 
• In April 2023 Bupa closed their Gold Complete Hospital policy, which cost $265, and released Gold Comprehensive Hospital for $305 (15% jump).
• In March 2022 HCF closed their Hospital Gold policy, which cost $235, and released Hospital Premium Gold for $285 (more than 21% jump).

For our analysis, we looked at individual policy examples in NSW for Bupa, Medibank, HCF and NIB, and we looked at WA for HBF. Read more under ‘How we calculated the increases’ at the end of this article.

New customers only shown the expensive policies 

We’ve also discovered that even when some funds keep cheaper Gold policies open to new customers, they don’t advertise them – they spruik their newer, pricier policies instead.

Medibank has two Gold policies available to new customers – at the $500 excess level there’s Gold Advanced, which costs $313 per month in NSW, and Gold Protect, which is $380 per month.

But only the Gold Protect policy is shown on the Medibank website. Medibank will go to great lengths to dissuade you from buying the cheaper Gold Advanced policy with the same cover.

In an inquiry with Medibank’s “virtual concierge” (online chat) we were told the “Gold Advanced isn’t marketable and that’s why it’s not on our website”.

If you call the insurer and specifically ask for it, you should still be able to buy the cheaper policy, but you may need to persist. You can search all currently available health insurance policies using our independent health insurance finder.

How to avoid paying too much for health insurance

With the sky-high increases to the cost of Gold hospital insurance over the past few years and another premium increase on the way, health insurance has become even less affordable for people who really need it.

If you opted for top level Gold hospital insurance “just in case”, now is the time to seriously think about dropping it or downgrading to more affordable cover.

And if you’re thinking of upgrading to a Gold policy – for example, if you’re planning to have a baby and want to deliver in a private hospital or you anticipate you’ll need premium cover in the next few years – don’t just automatically upgrade with your current fund.

We often see that the best deals available are with smaller funds and restricted membership funds.

To help you make sense of your options, our health insurance comparison tool lets you compare policies from over 40 insurers. We’re a nonprofit organisation and we don’t take any commissions, so you can be sure we’ll help you find the best policy for you (not what’s best for the insurer).

Do you need Gold health insurance?

Gold hospital insurance policies are designed for people who want to be covered for specific health needs. For example:

• young families who are planning to have a baby and want to deliver in a private hospital
• people who need hip or knee replacements or cataract eye surgery
• people who need end-of-life palliative care
• families with a child who has a serious eating disorder needing in-hospital care
• young people with mental illness and mothers with serious postnatal depression who need in-hospital psychiatric care
• people who need rehabilitation after an accident or stroke
• people who need weight-loss surgery
• people with chronic pain; for example, because of coronary heart disease.  

Why are the insurers increasing the cost of Gold Hospital policies?

Health insurers justify their price rises as they say they are in line with the increasing cost of health care, particularly on the services covered by Gold policies, as well as the risk profile and claims statistics associated with top cover Gold policies.

Nonprofit insurer HBF told us: “In looking specifically at our Gold policies, the claims HBF pays to members continue to be higher than the premiums we receive.”

Insurers also said that by opening new policies they were able to limit the premium increases for people on closed policies.

Australia’s creaking health system

Insurers, especially nonprofit funds, set prices based on their costs. But transparency is important, especially in an area such as health care where potentially sick and vulnerable people need to be able to rely on their health insurance.

When there is such a considerable difference between the highly publicised average premium increases and the reality of the higher prices affecting a range of Australians, it hinders our ability to make informed choices about health insurance.

Top level Gold cover is designed for the many Australians who have specific high-level needs, such as management for mental health conditions or care in a palliative or rehabilitation facility. 

Health insurers are using these sneaky tactics to inflate prices for people who need health insurance for things such as surgery, management of chronic pain, or end-of-life care. Often these are the people who can least afford higher premiums.  

Taxpayers fork out almost $8 billion annually to private health insurers. In return, private health insurance is meant to complement the creaking public Medicare system to help Australians pay their medical bills.

Instead, Australian taxpayers are propping up private health insurers who are selling us increasingly unaffordable health insurance.

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It’s a white-collar crime that comes with a violent backstory, and there’s generally no one there to help the stunned victims.

It’s called coerced business debt, and it happens when a domestic violence victim – almost always a woman – becomes unknowingly or forcibly involved in their abusive partner’s business affairs.

The perpetrator may register the victim with an Australian Business Number or GST or fraudulently file their tax returns. They may convince them to combine their super account with their own self-managed super or take out a second mortgage on their home.

Another common deception is to take out a business loan and name the victim as a director, making her liable for the debt. 

These administrative manoeuvres are all too easy to pull off, and it’s generally only when the relationship ends that victims become aware of the situation. They usually find out about the huge debts when they’re unexpectedly contacted by the Australian Tax Office or a debt collector. From there, lives can irreparably unravel.

New study exposes severity of the issue

A national study on this under-recognised issue – published by the Redfern Legal Centre, Monash University and the Economic Abuse Reference Group (a national network of community organisations) – argues that there’s a major knowledge gap among policymakers about how business structures are manipulated to facilitate financial abuse.

The study draws on interviews with 18 frontline financial abuse counsellors from 10 community organisations across Australia. They describe a range of coercive tactics that are readily executed, including forged signatures, digital impersonation, or surreptitiously installing victim-survivors as company directors.

Jasmine Opdam, a senior policy and advocacy officer at the Redfern Legal Centre’s Financial Abuse Service NSW and a co-author of the study, says affected women face overwhelming obstacles.

“Victim-survivors of coerced business debt don’t have access to free dispute resolution or hardship relief as they would with consumer debt,” Opdam says.

“Business creditors are not legally required to have hardship policies. These victim survivors often can’t afford legal representation, and the business structures they’re trapped in are costly and complex to unravel.”

The debts can amount to millions of dollars, and the long-term consequences include bankruptcy, poverty, and homelessness.

It’s a form of financial abuse that “traps victim-survivors in a cycle of poverty, and the psychological toll can be so devastating that some are unable to recover their independence,” Opdam says.

A policy blind spot

Associate Professor and co-author Vivien Chen of the Monash Business School says coerced debt has largely been left out of the policymaking discourse focused on other types of financial abuse.

“While Australia has made progress in addressing financial abuse through consumer credit reforms, there has been little recognition of how company and tax systems can also be exploited to cause harm,” Chen says.

“We need to treat coerced business debt as a serious form of economic abuse and design safeguards to reflect that reality.”

“Another way to dominate”

Sally Renfrey, a financial abuse specialist at the Centre for Women’s Economic Safety, says the size of the problem is unclear, but anecdotal evidence suggests that many women are falling prey.

“It’s certainly not uncommon for the women that we work with to present with personal coerced debt, business coerced debt, or a combination of both. But there’s no national comprehensive data that lets us know how widespread this actually is.”

Renfrey points out that financial abuse is a form of family violence, whether or not physical abuse occurs.

“It often goes hand in hand with emotional and psychological abuse. It’s another way to dominate, to keep someone in the dark about financial matters that affect them. We see women being told, ‘you’re bad with money, you wouldn’t understand, you don’t need to know about it’. So there is a deliberate hiding of information.”

The lack of consumer protections around business lending gives perpetrators the room they need to set these financial traps.

“Without consumer protections, where can it be escalated to?” Renfrey asks. “It means there are fewer options for resolution; it means more women are left holding the debts. These cases are large, complex, expensive, and need multiple expert services to be able to resolve them. There isn’t a service that exists that can do all of this.”

One victim discovered she owed $500,000 in debts

A woman Renfrey is currently advising recently found out that there’s a $400,000 tax debt plus $100,000 in director’s penalties in her name. She’s also liable for an outstanding car loan associated with her ex-partner’s business. A family lawyer has informed her that there’s no money available in any business accounts to pay the debts.

“Where does she go for support?” Renfrey asks. “Tax legislation doesn’t have a provision for absolving innocent spouses. And you can’t just make it go away. Survivors of family violence are being left in a horrendous position. The impacts are long-lasting, and loss of housing is not uncommon. It’s the behaviour of individuals that causes this kind of harm, but it’s the systems and structures that allow it to happen.”

The new national study makes a number of recommendations to safeguard against coerced business debt, including:

• Tightening safeguards in the company director and ABN registration processes.
• Extending consumer-style protections to small business lending.
• Reforming corporation and tax laws so that directors can be prevented from managing companies due to a history of family violence.
• Introducing family violence policies to encourage business creditors to respond appropriately to a victim’s circumstances. 

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