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.

On this page:

• Public vs private care for pregnancy and birth
• 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

Public vs private care for pregnancy and birth

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.

However, the rate of “natural” births is higher in public hospitals. The statistics are pretty clear on this: there are more natural births (non-instrumental vaginal births with or without pain relief) in public hospitals and more caesareans in private hospitals.

糖心Vlog tip: It’s important to choose the right obstetrician for the type of care you want. Ask about their rate of interventions, particularly caesareans.

Public hospital vs private hospital

Giving birth in a public hospital as a public patient

Pros

• Lower rate of interventions and higher rate of natural births.
• 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.

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 

• Higher rate of interventions and lower rates of natural births. 
• 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.  
• 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. 

糖心Vlog tip: Some public hospitals may encourage you to use your private hospital cover as a public patient in a public hospital without any cost to you 鈥� while there is no difference in your medical care, you may have a better chance of getting a private room.

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 鈥� 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 糖心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 糖心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 糖心Vlog.

Some home and contents policies we review exclude all cover for animal damage. While this may seem strict, at least you know where you stand. We take a closer look at the fine print of the 86 home policies that provide at least some cover for animal damage to figure out what they will and won鈥檛 cover.

Does home insurance cover animal damage?

Most home insurance policies typically cover sudden and accidental damage caused by animals. But not if the damage is caused by your own pets or common pests. So they generally won鈥檛 cover items ruined by Spot or Mittens, but what they actually will cover varies from policy to policy and is often full of exclusions.

What animal damage does home insurance cover?

Sudden damage

For damage to be covered by home insurance, it needs to be sudden and immediate 鈥� they won鈥檛 cover damage that happens gradually over time. For example, if a possum crashes through your roof overnight or a kangaroo breaks a fence, the repairs are typically covered because the event is unexpected and immediate.

However, insurers exclude gradual or preventable damage, such as long-term infestations of termites, or repeated damage from animals that occurs over weeks or months. The key distinction is whether the damage was a one-off incident caused by an 鈥渆vent鈥� versus something that developed slowly and could have been prevented with maintenance.

Trapped animals

Almost one-fifth of policies with animal damage cover in our comparison specify that they will cover damage caused by an animal that has become accidentally trapped inside the house, including birds. QBE though, will only pay for damage to living areas, and will not cover damage to an enclosed crawl space, the outside of buildings, your roof cavity or contents in the open air.聽

Insurers that offer cover for accidentally trapped animals including birds:

• AAMI
• Apia
• GIO
• QBE
• RAC
• RACT
• Suncorp
• Sure
• Youi

What animal damage does home insurance not cover?

Pets

Insurers usually make a distinction between animals you own, or allow to be there, and those you don’t. Some insurers refer to animals “kept at the premises” or animals you permit to be there, but they essentially mean the same thing 鈥� pets owned by you or your guests. And generally, if the animal is allowed there, damage they cause isn鈥檛 covered.

So that means that damage that your own pet causes is not covered. But also, if your friend brings their dog over during your coffee catch up, any damage it causes won’t be covered either.

A few policies will cover some damage caused by pets under the Accidental Damage optional extra. But this comes at an extra cost, and with its own set of exclusions.

Insects and vermin

Insects and vermin are specifically mentioned in some kind of exclusion in 95% of the policies we compare that offer some level of animal damage cover.聽

Two thirds of these policies exclude all damage caused by insects and vermin. Other policies exclude all damage they cause except for fire and liquid escape, while others exclude all insect-related damage but still cover fire damage caused by vermin.

It pays to read the fine print of your policy carefully; there are a few policies that state they will cover damage caused by these creatures, but not if it鈥檚 caused by chewing, clawing or eating. So actually they won鈥檛 cover the most likely damage.

The definitions of insects and vermin vary too. In some cases it means just insects and rats and mice, while other definitions include native wildlife such as possums, as well as bats, termites, lice, and other species. We鈥檝e seen cases where possums are explicitly classified as vermin under some policies, while in others they鈥檙e explicitly excluded from the definition of vermin.

You鈥檒l usually be able to find out exactly what is meant by these terms in the glossary or definitions section of your PDS 鈥� if you’re reading it online, use Ctrl+F to search the document. Don鈥檛 rely on AI, because it often gets the answer wrong (we鈥檝e tried).

You also can鈥檛 count on your policy to cover structural damage from termite infestations. The “action of termites” is specifically excluded by over half of the policies we analyse, and the remaining policies exclude insect damage or damage from insects eating, or only cover such damage if it results in a fire.

Birds

There is a lot of variation in the cover offered for damage caused by birds. Some policies refer specifically to birds, but if yours doesn鈥檛, you can assume they are included as “animals”.

Overall, 24 policies we review that provide cover for animal damage exclude any damage caused by a bird. A further 41 list specific exclusions for actions like chewing, scratching, or soiling; which rules out most of the ways in which a bird might cause damage. So even if you鈥檙e covered for animal damage, most policies are unlikely to cover any bird damage.聽

Some policies will cover damage by birds if they鈥檙e accidentally trapped inside and some cover bird damage to door and window glass or birds colliding with the property only. RAA only covers damage from birds if it results in a fire.聽

The post Does home insurance cover animal damage? appeared first on 糖心Vlog.

1. Home insurance covers your pet鈥檚 accommodation if you can鈥檛 stay in your home

Overall, 95% of the home insurance policies we compared will pay to house your pets if your home is too damaged from an insured event to live in. Only AHM, Aldi, Bupa鈥檚 lower-tier policies, Huddle, Honey, RAA and RACQ restrict emergency accommodation to just the humans in your family.

A few insurers 鈥� Australian Seniors, Bupa, CBA, Everyday, Huddle and Real 鈥� specify that the offer of temporary accommodation is extended only to dogs and cats, while the rest use the term 鈥減ets鈥�, with most mentioning that they鈥檒l pay for commercial boarding facilities if your family needs temporary accommodation.

2. Home insurance will pay if your dog bites someone

If your dog injures someone, your home insurance could cover their medical bills 鈥� even if it happens when you鈥檙e away from home. Home insurance policies include cover for legal liability, so if you or a family member is deemed responsible for an accidental injury, as is usually the case when you鈥檙e responsible for a dog and they hurt someone, your home insurance could pay for things like legal fees, medical bills or compensation.

Some insurers limit this to just dogs, while others extend cover to dogs, cats and horses. Injuries or damage away from your property is covered by contents insurance, while injuries or damage on your property is covered by building insurance, and combined policies cover both.

3. Some home insurers cover vet bills

The following insurers will contribute to vet bills if your pet is injured in a road accident:

• Bank Australia
• Bank of Melbourne
• BankSA
• COTA
• Great Southern Bank
• Guild
• Guild
• HCF
• Hume Bank
• Kogan
• NAB
• National Seniors
• Over Fifty
• St.George
• TIO
• Westpac

And you can add cover for vet bills as an optional extra to policies from GIO, RAA, RACQ and Suncorp.

4. Home insurance will cover damage by uninvited pets

Other people鈥檚 pets that have not been invited onto your property are generally covered, so if they cause sudden accidental damage, you can make a claim for the cost of repairs 鈥� provided it鈥檚 not excluded by one of the other clauses in your policy.

5. Almost no home insurance policies will cover pet damage to your home

While you’re generally covered if an uninvited animal shows up at your house, if it’s your own pet doing the damage the news isn’t so good. Of the 98 policies we analyse, 97 policies specifically exclude all damage caused by pets in their standard version (the exception is Youi 鈥� it provides cover for fire caused by pets, but that鈥檚 it). This exclusion includes your guests鈥� pets, and pets you鈥檙e minding too. Basically, damage they cause won鈥檛 be covered if you鈥檝e allowed the animal to be on your premises.聽

You can pay for the accidental damage optional extra to get some cover for pet damage, but this comes at an extra cost, and with its own set of exclusions.

The post Does your home insurance cover pets? You might be surprised appeared first on 糖心Vlog.

This article is for people who are considering buying extras cover, or upgrading their existing cover, in order to claim benefits for orthodontics. It is primarily written for families whose children need braces, but the advice is just as valid for adults considering orthodontics.

Is it worth getting extras for orthodontics?

Not all extras policies are created equal. Some might only cover a couple of hundred dollars worth of orthodontics per year, while a few premium policies will pay out over $2500. If you’re considering using extras to help manage the cost, you have to consider a few things.

It only works if you claim back more than you spend

This is the most important part, and it’s actually not too difficult to calculate whether an extras policy is likely to save you money. If you spend more on premiums than you claim, you’re wasting your money. Good cover for orthodontics comes at a price, so you should be looking at ways to reduce the amount of time you’re paying for a top-shelf policy.

Our research shows that that claiming against only one course of orthodontics won’t be enough to cover the premium over three years.

Extras policies that include cover for orthodontics typically cost around $2100 a year for a family 鈥� more if your household income is higher than $202,000, due to the lower government rebate. Over three years you might expect to pay $6300 in premiums. But the average annual limit for claiming on orthodontics is generally around $800鈥�$1000 per year, per person, and there is usually also a lifetime limit of around $2500.

As you can see, you will have paid out more in premiums than what you’ve claimed back if you’re only claiming for one child’s braces (or even possibly two). So to make a policy worthwhile you’ll need to make sure you’re getting extra value through other claims.

Even if you include rebates for twice-yearly dental checkups for two parents and a child, most policies don’t stack up financially.

You’ll also need to claim things like optical and physio

In almost all cases, making sure you also claim on services other than orthodontics is the only way to make your extras policy worthwhile. Claiming on glasses, physio, massages and psychology are all ways to get value from your extras. Will your orthodontic treatment require a tooth extraction? Get it done at your dentist and you may also be able to claim a couple of hundred dollars for this as well (dentistry and orthodontics will have seperate caps).

Plan your year in advance. Know how much you will need to claim to make it worthwhile. Extras can be a good budgeting tool, but you still need to write up that budget.

Who should get cover?

If you just want cover for a child who needs braces, you might be on the lookout for a child-only policy. Unfortunately, only Navy Health and Defence Health offer children-only policies, so unless you qualify to be a member of one of those funds, you’ll likely need to get cover for at least one parent to fund braces for your child.

There’s typically little or no price difference between policies for childless couples and two-parent families. However, if you’re a single parent you’ll pay more to cover your children than you would to cover just yourself. The good news is, adding extra kids doesn’t affect the cost of a policy.

If you’re a two-parent family and your main focus is cover for the kids’ braces, a cheaper policy covering just one parent might be worthwhile. Actual discounts depend on the fund, and not all funds offer discounts for single parents. The downside to this plan is you’ll have one less person on the policy able to make claims for physio and optical, so consider whether this will make it harder to claim back the full premium.

When you should take out cover

Extras policies typically have a 12-month waiting period for orthodontic cover. Since a typical course of orthodontics lasts between one and two years, you will need cover for two to three years (including the waiting period).

You can’t know ahead of time what your policy will cost in two years, but a five per cent increase every year on 1 April is a good estimate. If you’re expecting your income to increase past the rebate thresholds, your premium will increase even more.

Health funds usually reset their annual limits on 1 January or 1 July. If you start your course of treatment in the last few months of the year, you can spread your claims out over three benefit years. Check with your health fund when their benefits reset.

Starting treatment during the waiting period

What if you can’t wait? Can you still claim against your extras? Funds have different rules, but will usually still cover you if the treatment is ongoing after the waiting period ends. The important factor is when you pay your orthodontist, not when you actually receive the treatment. In this case, you shouldn’t take the pay-up-front discount, as your health fund will be unlikely to cover you.

The post Should you get health insurance for braces? appeared first on 糖心Vlog.

If you’re planning an extended trip away from home, perhaps that long-awaited overseas adventure or a sabbatical to a holiday house, then checking your home insurance is something to add to your to-do list before you go. 

We take a look at what insurers mean by ‘extended leave’, what happens if you have a house-sitter or Airbnb guest, and what the risks are if you don’t tell your insurer you’re away.

Should I tell my insurer I’m going on an extended holiday? 

“Most definitely yes,” says 糖心Vlog home insurance expert Daniel Graham.

“Almost all insurance product disclosure statements (PDS) will include the requirement that you inform them if your home will be unoccupied, typically, for 60 or more days,” says Daniel.

“Insurers handle unoccupied homes in one of three ways: most will impose an additional excess on events that occur while your home isn’t occupied. Some will make you pay an extra premium instead, or they might only cover you for a limited set of weather events, instead of the full range of insured events covered by the policy.”

Most of the policies in our home and contents insurance comparison require you to tell your insurer if you’re away for 60 days or more, a few give you 90 days away without having to let them know, and some give you 100 days where you’re still covered by your regular policy.

“Your policy might have additional criteria that you need to meet, such as having someone check in on the property once a week, or having the lawns mown regularly,” says Daniel.

“Each insurer defines ‘unoccupied’ in their own way, so it’s important to read your policy documents to properly understand your cover.”

How long do insurers cover you to be away from home?

How does extended leave affect the conditions of your policy?

Companies that cover extended leave generally require customers to pay either a higher premium or a higher excess for that period. Depending on which company you’re with, you may also need to meet other requirements, such as having someone mow your lawn, collect your mail and regularly check on the house.

This won’t just apply to those heading overseas, so if you’re planning a long trip within Australia, you’re staying elsewhere while you renovate, receiving long-term medical care in a hospital or a rehab centre, or you’ve moved out while trying to sell or rent your property, make sure you check your insurance.

Can an insurer deny your claim during your extended leave?

According to Daniel, they can. But it also depends on your insurer. 

“If you haven’t informed your insurer and met your duty of disclosure responsibilities,” says Daniel, “they can either not cover you at all, or not cover you for certain events, such as theft or leaks, or they can charge you an additional excess on top of what you’re already paying.

“It comes down to a case-by-case basis.”

Why does it matter if there’s nobody at home?

An empty house isn’t just a bigger risk for insurance companies, but also for owners. Your home might be at increased risk of vandalism, theft, and damage from weather-related events such as storms, floods, cyclones, bushfires and blizzards.

A house that looks empty is tempting to thieves. According to data from the thieves look for signs that a house is unoccupied. These include:

• rubbish bins left out on the curb
• no lights turned on at night
• no cars in the driveway
• uncollected mail
• overgrown garden or lawn.

Aside from break-ins, another risk for an empty home is if something goes wrong. 

Damage from a leaking washing machine, burst pipe or severe weather might not be discovered for weeks or even months. This raises the risk of a small incident becoming something more serious while you’re away.

I rent 鈥� do I need to tell my landlord I’m going away?

As a renter, you’re not responsible for taking out insurance to protect the property. However, your lease may require you to inform your landlord if you’re going to be away from the property for an extended period of time. Either way, it’s a good idea to let your landlord know if you’re going on a long trip. 

If you have renter’s insurance, read through your PDS carefully and make sure you understand what effect your absence might have on your coverage. If in doubt, check with your insurer.

Is my home classed as ‘unoccupied’ if I have a house-sitter?

“Having a house-sitter will usually meet the criteria for occupancy,” Graham says. “It comes down to the way the insurer defines ‘occupied’ and often if someone is eating, sleeping and living in your home, then it’s occupied. If it’s only someone staying there one night every once in a while, this might not meet the requirements and your insurer might consider that an unoccupied home.”

Do Airbnb guests make my home ‘occupied’?  

It does, according to Graham, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be covered.

“Once you add in tenants it becomes a business situation,” he says. “Home insurers don’t want to take on the added risk of covering someone’s home business, and are increasingly writing exclusions for short-term letting into their policies.” 

If you’re planning to have Airbnb guests stay in your home for some or all of your extended holiday, you must discuss it with your insurance company, advises Graham.

“Not only do you need cover for your building and contents, but if you’re renting out your home you need cover for legal liability,” says Graham. “The last thing you want is to have paying guests injure themselves and damage your property, then find out your insurer won’t cover you for either.”

In November 2023, the urged homeowners planning to rent out their properties to ensure they had the right insurance in place.

“Standard home and contents insurance can exclude coverage for short-term rentals,” they said. They advised homeowners planning to rent out their properties to:

• check their building and contents insurance policy details prior to advertising on short-stay holiday rental platforms. If the policy doesn’t cover short-term rental look for a specialty policy that protects both home and contents while paying guests are staying 
• be aware that a rental platform’s host protection insurance may not cover all the types of damage that might potentially occur聽
• reduce the risk of theft by removing valuables during the short-term stay 
• check strata rules, tenancy agreements and local council laws because these may prohibit short-stay holiday rental.

Most people don’t know whether they are covered

One of the challenges around extended leave and insurance is that most people are simply unaware it’s an issue.

Reading their PDS in detail can help you understand the terms that apply in this situation, but as Daniel says, PDS documents aren’t typically an easy read.

“We know that people very frequently don’t read their policy documents,” he says.” They’re often very long documents, they’re confusing, they’re written in complex legal language and people just don’t have the time to get their head around all the details.

“This is something that would really come up on an ad hoc basis, so it’s not something you’re likely to do often.”

As with most forms of insurance, the devil is in the detail. It’s worth taking the time to read through your policy or talking to your insurer about it, and about what you need to do to make sure your home and valuables remain covered.

Holiday checklist

• Read your policy carefully well before you leave. If anything is confusing or unclear, call your insurance company to talk it through.
• Give your insurance company your holiday dates as far in advance as possible.
• If your insurance company has any requirements (such as having someone collect your mail or mow the lawn), make arrangements with a friend, neighbour or professional service for the time you’ll be away. 
• Consider installing a security alarm or security camera.
• Consider turning off your water at the mains.
• Take basic details of your insurance with you on your holiday, such as your membership number and the name of your plan.
• Make sure you have all agreements with your insurer in writing.

The post How to make sure your home is still insured while you’re on holiday appeared first on 糖心Vlog.

Our insurance experts delved into our extensive car insurance database to look into the cost of insuring electric vehicles and hybrids. 

We reveal how much you may need to budget to protect your car. 

• How much does it cost to insure an electric vehicle?
• How much does it cost to insure a hybrid vehicle?
• What’s the cheapest EV to insure?
• What’s the cheapest hybrid to insure?
• Why is it more expensive to insure an electric car?
• Is electric vehicle insurance different?

How much does it cost to insure an electric vehicle?

Electric vehicle owners in Australia pay more for insurance. The average premium for an electric vehicle is $2545, whereas the average premium for a petrol vehicle is $1702. Electric vehicle owners pay around 40% or $843 per year more than petrol car owners.

That鈥檚 not just because electric vehicles tend to be newer and more expensive. Comparing average premiums for cars of the same age shows that owners of new electric vehicles pay nearly 30%, or $575, more for a year of insurance than owners of new petrol cars. 

This gap persists for older vehicles too, if you look at the average price to insure a 1-year-old electric car compared with a 1-year-old petrol car, the price difference is still staggering: $2458 for an EV compared with $1949 for a petrol car. Owners of 1- to 4-year-old electric vehicles overall pay 22鈥�27% more for insurance than owners of petrol cars of the same age.

How much does it cost to insure a hybrid vehicle?

The average cost to ensure a new hybrid is $2005. The average premium for a new petrol car is $1865, so hybrids are a little more expensive to insure than petrol cars, but not as expensive as EVs.

Comparing prices for cars of the same age, hybrids are roughly 10鈥�20% more expensive to insure than petrol cars.

What鈥檚 the cheapest EV brand to insure?

Geely are the cheapest EVs to insure, with an average cost of $1622 for a new car, and Tesla the most expensive, at an average cost of $2985. 

The price to insure any vehicle varies according to many factors, and EVs are no exception. The car brand alone plays a big role due to things like the price tier of the brand, the availability and price of spare parts and service centres, and even the rate of theft and presence of safety features. 

Click through the infographic below to find roughly how much it should cost to ensure your EV, or an EV you鈥檙e considering.

What鈥檚 the cheapest hybrid vehicle brand to insure?

MG hybrids are the cheapest to insure at an average price of $1463 for a new car. A new Lexus is the most expensive on average at $3400.

Scroll through the infographic to see how average premiums vary by brand and vehicle age.

Why is it more expensive to insure an electric car?

The parts network in Australia isn鈥檛 as well established for EVs as it is for combustion engines, so you鈥檙e more likely to have parts imported from overseas to repair your car. On top of that, there鈥檚 not as many trained EV technicians in Australia yet, so the labour for repairs is higher. All of this feeds through to car insurance premiums.

On the plus side though, as the networks develop in Australia, repair costs should come down. EVs are estimated to have 20 moving parts compared to over 2000 for a combustion vehicle, so they are less likely to require repairs. And of course, there鈥檚 the savings on fuel costs to consider.

Is electric vehicle insurance different?

While brands like Tesla sell their own insurance, Australian insurers don鈥檛 generally sell separate EV policies. Instead, EVs and hybrids are covered under the same policies as petrol cars and other vehicles with internal combustion engines. 

Most insurers don鈥檛 specify any difference in cover between EVs and petrol cars. Although a couple of insurers have EV-specific inclusions. Kogan and Allianz specify that wall chargers and charging cables are included in the value of, and insured with, your car, while Allianz also points out that battery thermal runaway (when the internal temperature of a battery rapidly increases in a self-sustaining way, potentially leading to fire or explosion) is covered under fire incidents. 

The post The cost of insuring electric vehicles appeared first on 糖心Vlog.

• Who is RBHS?
• Does RBHS get many complaints from members?
• How good is RBHS’s gap cover?
• How many hospital agreements does RBHS have in each state?
• Does RBHS offer any discounts?
• Does RBHS offer ambulance cover?
• Does RBHS offer family policies that cover adult children?
• Does RBHS let you claim online or in-app?

Who is Reserve BankHealth?

is a restricted access health insurer for current and former employees of The Reserve Bank of Australia and Note Printing Australia, and their families. It’s a nonprofit fund and is part of Members Health, an alliance of nonprofit and mutual health funds.

Phone: 1800 027 299

Website: 

Does RBHS get many complaints from members?

RBHS has a Medium complaints rating.

When we score policies we give each fund a complaints rating, based on the number of complaints and serious disputes the Ombudsman deals with. We take into account the size of the fund, so big funds don’t get automatically penalised for having more complaints.The ratings are Low, Medium and High. A Low rating is better than a High rating 鈥� it means the fund has fewer complaints and fewer serious disputes for its size.

How good is RBHS’s gap cover?

A medical gap is the difference between Medicare’s recommended fee and what your doctor actually charges for a treatment or service.

Health funds have agreements with particular doctors and hospitals to cover all of the gap, which are called ‘no gap agreements’, or part of that gap, which are called ‘known gap agreements’ (these will have lower out-of-pocket costs, usually less than $500).

Our graphic below displays the 糖心Vlog gap rating, which takes into account the percentage of services where members either paid no gap or a known gap, compared to the state average.

Rating scale

• Well above average
• Above average
• Average
• Below average
• Well below average

How many hospital agreements does RBHS have in each state?

The benefit amount your fund pays you for hospital services depends not only on the type of cover you buy, but also whether your fund has an agreement with the hospital where you’re treated. 

The table below shows how many hospital agreements RBHS has in your state compared to the fund with the highest number (the industry maximum). Note that public hospitals don’t have agreements with specific funds and are generally treated as though they’re agreement hospitals.

Does RBHS offer any discounts?

Discount for direct debit: 0%

Discount for annual prepay: 0%

Total discount for annual prepay via direct debit: 0%

Does RBHS offer ambulance cover?

All RBHS extras, hospital and combined policies have emergency ambulance cover.

Does RBHS offer family policies that cover adult children?

• Adult children are covered on family policies for free until they turn 18
• Full-time students are covered on family policies for free until they turn 25.

Does RBHS let you claim online or in-app?

You can claim via an app.

The post Compare Reserve Bank Health Society health insurance appeared first on 糖心Vlog.

As the cost of living continues to bite, Australians are facing another increase to the price of health insurance, with the largest average hike in premiums we鈥檝e seen since 2017 coming into effect on 1 April.

Minister for Health and Ageing Mark Butler announced the 4.41% average premium increase to the price of health insurance policies in February. 

But 糖心Vlog experts say that the advertised average increase does not tell the full story, and does not reflect the true price rises many Australians will face, particularly those with top-level Gold insurance, which covers things like pregnancy, psychiatry services and joint replacements.

Average increases not the full picture

鈥淭he average increase to premiums of 4.41% is just that 鈥� an average,” says 糖心Vlog health insurance expert Mark Blades. “It鈥檚 useful for understanding how much taxpayers increasingly spend to subsidise health insurance 鈥� which is now at $7.9 billion 鈥� but it’s of very little use to consumers.鈥�

鈥淥ur research has found that there is a huge difference between the increases consumers will face, depending on the level of policy they hold.鈥�

Mark says that while some Australians will face no price rise, a 糖心Vlog analysis of policies available for sale shows that the cover for Gold policies across the largest five funds will rise in price by an average of 13.3%, while those on Basic, Bronze and Silver policies will face increases from 2.6% to 3.3% on average.

HCF has biggest Gold-level price rise of main funds

Of the big five funds, HCF has the largest increase of 25% (more than five times the average of all policies) to its Hospital Optimal Gold cover in all states and territories. This policy was already one of the most expensive, and requires policyholders to also take out an Extras policy.

In NSW, often the most expensive state, the smallest increase to a Gold policy was by HBF at 7.9%. HBF customers in Western Australia, where HBF has its largest member base, will also cop the 7.9% increase.

Average increases to cost of Gold policies by fund:

HCF 鈥� 25%

Bupa 鈥� 12%

NIB (Qantas) 鈥� 11.65%

Medibank 鈥� 9.93%

HBF 鈥� 7.89%

Top cover increasingly unaffordable, up 71% in five years

糖心Vlog experts looked back over the increases to the price of health insurance for the past five years.

Despite the average 鈥榞overnment-approved鈥� cumulative increase of 14.8% in this time, prices for Gold cover across the five biggest funds (Bupa, HCF, HBF, Medibank, NIB) has actually increased by a massive 71.1%.

A single person in NSW comparing comprehensive Gold cover in 2022 from the largest five funds could find cover at $257/month, or $3080 a year.

After the price rise in April, the same Gold cover will cost on average $439/month, or $5270 a year.

Practice of phoenixing has disguised price rises

Mark says that Gold policy 鈥榩hoenixing鈥�, where insurers have closed older policies to new members and open new identical policies with the same name at a higher price, is partly to blame for the huge price increase.聽

鈥淭he good news is that federal legislation outlawing the sneaky 鈥榩hoenixing鈥� loophole used by insurers was introduced in February, but we鈥檙e still seeing the trend that top-level cover is becoming increasingly unaffordable for Australians,鈥� he says.

Australians dropping top-level cover

The significant rise in the price of Gold-level coverage has caused a notable drop in the number of Australians with comprehensive level cover: from 39% in 2020 to 28% at the end of 2025.聽

Many Australians drop their insurance to a lower level to avoid being 鈥榦ver-insured鈥� for cover they鈥檙e unlikely to use 鈥� for example, pregnancy and IVF services. However, 糖心Vlog consumer surveys consistently show the cost of private health insurance is a top concern for household budgets.

Mark says Australians should look out for communication from their fund about the price increase to their policies. He notes that a range of different cost increases will apply to individual policies. 

聽鈥淚f you鈥檙e able to prepay for 12 months before your fund increases the price, you can make some good savings and delay the 2026 price increase, but this isn鈥檛 possible for many Australians.鈥�

The problem with private health insurance in Australia

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

鈥淲hen 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 people’s ability to make informed choices about health insurance,鈥� says Mark.聽

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.
Often these are the people who can least afford higher premiums.聽聽

Taxpayers fork out almost $8 billion annually to private health insurers in rebates, and many Australians are encouraged to take out ‘junk’-level cover to avoid the Medicare Levy Surcharge. In return, private health insurance is meant to complement the public system through relieving pressure and offering an affordable option accessible to many.

Instead, Australian taxpayers are propping up an industry with increasingly unaffordable insurance policies and with more exclusions than ever.

The post Health insurance price hikes higher than ever: What you鈥檙e really paying appeared first on 糖心Vlog.

While driving less is a fairly obvious way to save money on fuel, did you know that reducing the number of kilometres you drive each year can also lower what you pay for car insurance? If you drive fewer kilometres than the average person over the course of the year, you could be eligible for a discounted premium.

It鈥檚 common sense that driving less should mean that you’re at a lower risk of having an accident, so it follows that you should have a lower premium.

This has always been a factor that insurers take into account when determining your premiums, but some insurers are now also offering separate policies designed specifically for people who drive less. These give the same comprehensive cover as regular policies, but for lower premiums.聽

We look into these low-kilometer policies, and help you decide if you need one to save money on your car insurance.聽

Does driving fewer kilometers actually lower your premium? 

In short, yes. It鈥檚 clear that the less you drive, the lower your insurance cost can be. The 糖心Vlog insurance experts crunched the numbers in their database of over 200,000 comprehensive car insurance quotes from January 2026 to see how much your mileage influences your premium.

How can I get these savings?

While insurers generally charge lower premiums for customers who estimate they will drive fewer kilometres than average, some insurers also have a separate policy for short-distance drivers. For example, Budget Direct offers customers its Gold Low Kilometres Comprehensive policy and CommBank has a policy called Comprehensive Saver.

Many others refer to it as a Pay-as-you-Drive (PAYD) option. A number of brands underwritten by Hollard 鈥� AHM, Bupa, Huddle and聽 Real Insurance 鈥� offer PAYD options.

These policies require you to advise the insurer of your odometer reading at the beginning of the policy, and how many kms you expect to drive that year, in return for a lower premium. If you鈥檝e gone over that estimate when you make a claim, you have to pay an additional excess. This was an extra $1000 in all the policies we looked into.

These options are available to those who drive less than 10,000km per year (Budget Direct), or 15,000km (CommBank and most PAYD options). Given that Australians are estimated to drive an average of just 12,000鈥�15,000km per year, these options could be feasible for most consumers.聽

Even insurers who don’t offer these low-kilometre policies do offer reduced premiums for customers who drive less. But the amount by which your premium is reduced is unclear, and depends on the insurer鈥檚 algorithm. A number of insurers, like AAMI, Apia, Coles, Everyday, GIO and Suncorp, may specify that lower kilometres mean a lower premium, however, it generally does reduce your premium with other insurers too.

How much can I actually save?

We took a quick look at online quotes and found you could save roughly 30% buying a low-kilometer policy from Budget Direct capped at 5000km, compared with a regular policy estimating a mileage of 30,000km, with all other options remaining the same.聽Driving less (5000km) with a PAYD policy from Real Insurance could save you even more 鈥� around 50%.聽

Even without taking out a special low-kilometre policy, estimates for AAMI鈥檚 regular comprehensive policy were nearly 30% cheaper when we said we expected to drive 5000km as opposed to 30,000kms.

By contrast, when we entered the same details for a QBE quote, we only found a saving of 4% for driving less. So, as always with insurance, it pays to shop around.聽

One important difference between simply entering a low kilometre estimate when applying for insurance versus actually taking out a dedicated low-kilometre policy is what happens if you underestimate your kilometres. With a dedicated low-km policy, you鈥檒l have to pay an extra $1000 excess if you鈥檝e underestimated.

With a regular policy it鈥檚 not so clear. Since they ask about 鈥渁verage annual kilometres鈥� during the quoting process, rather than determining a specific target or requesting your odometer reading, there鈥檚 obviously a bit of leeway in the estimate. It is important to try to be accurate however, so that the insurer can鈥檛 use an incorrect estimate as grounds to reduce or deny your claim.

How we compared prices

To explore whether you can save more with low-kilometer policies compared to regular policies, we tested two scenarios driving either 5000km or 30,000km per year, with 4 different insurers. We looked at:聽

• Scenario 1: A 2022 Rav4, based in Sydney’s inner west with a 40-year-old female driver聽聽
• Scenario 2: A 2016 Mazda2, based in South Adelaide with a 65-year-old male driver聽

And compared quotes from:

• AAMI
• Budget Direct (low-km policy)
• Real Insurance (PAYD)
• QBE

The post Can you save money on car insurance by driving less?聽 appeared first on 糖心Vlog.

This page describes how we conduct our pet insurance comparisons, and goes into detail about the scoring process.

• About the 糖心Vlog pet insurance comparison
• How we choose which insurers to compare
• How we calculate the 糖心Vlog Expert Rating
• Why we don’t recommend any pet insurance policies

What the 糖心Vlog pet insurance comparison covers

We’ve compared a broad cross-section of the pet insurance market in Australia. Our comparison covers:

• 7 insurers
• 29 brands
• 74 products
• 381 product feature dimensions measured

糖心Vlog compares three types of pet insurance:

• combined illness and injury policies
• illness policies
• accidental injury policies

We compare pet insurance every six months to make sure the product information we publish is current. We assign scores for policy coverage (by looking at dozens of different product features) and potential out-of-pocket costs when you make a claim.

These scores are combined to calculate the 糖心Vlog Expert Rating. This is a score out of 100 that represents a policy鈥檚 breadth of cover and value for money (more on this later).

How we choose which insurers to compare

The insurers we compare cover the majority of the pet insurance market in Australia, including established dominant players as well as newer entrants. To be included in a 糖心Vlog pet insurance comparison, a policy must be available as a standalone product and sold directly to the public.

The following pet insurers are included in our comparison (including the brands they underwrite):

• Auto & General (Budget Direct)
• Guild (Coles, Vets Choice)
• Pacific International (Fetch, Knose, Pet Circle, PetsOnMe, Petsy)
• PetSure (Australian Seniors, Bow Wow Meow, Buddy, Bupa, CBA, Everyday Insurance, Guardian, Guide Dogs, HCF, Kogan, Medibank, Pet Insurance Australia, Petbarn, Petinsurance.com.au, Prime, Real Insurance, RSPCA)
• RACQ (RAC, RACQ)
• Sovereign (Petcover)
• Hollard (Trupanion)

How we calculate the 糖心Vlog Expert Rating

The 糖心Vlog Expert Rating is an overall score out of 100. It is made up of the Cover score (70%) and the Out-of-pocket score (30%).

How we collect the product cover data

The terms and conditions of a pet insurance policy are found in several disclosure documents available from the insurer. The main sources of information for product information are:

• Product Disclosure Statements (PDS), plus supplementary PDSs issued when the insurer updates the policy
• the insurer鈥檚 website (including quote forms, where undisclosed sublimits are often hidden).

We use a product feature questionnaire to collect a wide range of details about what a policy includes. Our questions focus on cover and limits for particular medical conditions and treatments, but we also collect information about things like claims handling. All up, we have 381 questions.

If an insurer issues a new PDS, our insurance experts compare it to the old one and update the data. Our database processes the new information and produces our comparison table. The information we publish goes past our in-house verification team first, and for larger updates we鈥檒l send a draft of the report to insurers for them to review.

How we calculate the Cover score

The Cover score is based on an assessment of 30 policy features, grouped into six categories:

• Illness (10%)
• Injury (10%)
• Specific conditions (40%)
• Treatments (15%)
• Claiming (10%)
• Additional features (15%)

The full list of individual features within these categories and how they are weighted is shown in the table below.

Component scores

Each individual feature receives several component scores based on either whether the feature is included in the policy, the limits that apply to it, and other conditions of cover.

Feature cover

If a feature is included as part of the standard policy cover, it scores 100%. If it is only available as an optional add-on, it scores 50%.

Sublimits and claim limits

Some features have lower benefit limits (sublimits) or restrictions on how often claims can be made. Where these limits are common across policies, they are included in the scoring. Policies with the highest limit (or no sublimit) score 100%, while policies with the lowest limits score 0%, with others scored proportionally in between.

The scores for each feature are then weighted and combined to produce the final Cover score.

Score penalties

In some circumstances a penalty is applied to a Component score. This penalty reduces the Component score by 5%. If the product sample contains a benefit with no sublimit (i.e. cover is up to the policy annual limit, or the 鈥渞easonable cost鈥�), then all the policies that do have a sublimit will have a penalty applied. We do this to reward policies with less complexity: a policy that requires you to be aware of all its various sublimits will find itself penalised across many features.

How we calculate the Out-of-pocket score

The Out-of-pocket score assesses several aspects of the policy related to the cost of making a claim. It does not assess the cost of actually purchasing the policy. Like the Cover score, it is made up of several Components scores, but for the Out-of-pocket score the Component scores are applied to the following features:

• Annual policy limit and per-condition limit: we assess the policy鈥檚 overall benefit limit. Policies without an annual limit score 100%, unless they use per-condition limits instead. A policy with per-condition limits imposes a limit for every condition you claim in a year, rather than an overall policy limit. These policies are penalised due to their complexity and poor value.
• Excess: this is the dollar amount you pay to make a claim. We score policies on the range of excess options available to customers, as well as comparing the minimum amounts available for cats and dogs.
• Copayment: sometimes called a 鈥渧ariable excess鈥�, this is the percentage of the vet bill you have to cover. It can range from 0% to 65%; policies with a 0% copayment (where you only pay the excess) score higher. We score policies on the range of copayments available, and we also take into account the copayment charged at various ages. Policies that increase your copayment as your pet ages are penalised.

Many policies offer a choice of policy limit, excess and copayment. We have scored policies using the option that gives them the best score: high annual limit, and low copayment and excess.

Why we don鈥檛 recommend any pet insurance policies

We have applied a 糖心Vlog Expert Rating to policies to help you compare what we consider to be good versus poor cover. However we haven鈥檛 attached our usual 鈥楻ecommended鈥� label to any pet insurance policies.

Why? For two reasons. The first is because we don鈥檛 have a reliable source of pricing data. We can compare policies on cover and on what it might cost you to make a claim. But without the missing piece of the puzzle 鈥� how much does it cost? 鈥� we aren鈥檛 ready to give any policy our seal of approval.

The second reason has to do with ease of switching and getting cover for pre-existing conditions. Cover for a pre-existing condition is often at the discretion of the insurer, after serving a lengthy waiting period during which your pet cannot show any related symptoms. These rules make it difficult for people to switch insurers, locking them into policies (or self-insurance) and making them vulnerable to loyalty penalties.

The industry has made some improvements since its 2019 Shonky, but we鈥檙e still wary of making recommendations.

The post How we compare pet insurance appeared first on 糖心Vlog.