How do NZ's pet insurers compare?
Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a trading name.
Seven insurers sell standalone pet insurance in New Zealand: AA Pet, Cove, PD Insurance, Petcover, SPCA Pet, Southern Cross Pet and Tower, and their annual limits alone span $5,000 to $25,000 across their full plan ranges (SPCA Pet Insurance Everyday Cover Policy Document, p.7; SPCA Pet Insurance Big Stuff Cover Policy Document, p.7). The table below pulls one representative entry-level plan from each insurer's own current policy wording or PDS, so you can see the structure, not just the number on the box, before you compare quotes. Every fact on this page is sourced and was retrieved 17 September 2026 unless a different date is shown; where an insurer does not publish something, it says so.
The comparison table
Figures are for each insurer's lowest-limit standalone accident-and-illness plan (or, where an insurer sells only one structure, that structure), for a healthy adult dog or cat, current as at 17 September 2026. All figures are drawn from each insurer's own current policy wording or PDS unless the last column names a different page; every fact below was retrieved 17 September 2026. Disclosure: QuoteHub does not sell these policies on this page. Its licensed advisers may receive commission from an insurer if you take out cover through them.
| Insurer | Underwriter | Plans | Annual limit (entry plan) | Excess | Co-pay | Illness wait | Cruciate wait | Entry age | Pays vet directly | Dental | Multi-pet | Primary source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 AA Pet Insurance |
The Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd, FSP480747 | One customisable plan, no named tiers | $5,000 / $10,000 / $15,000, customer's choice | $0 / $100 / $250 / $500, per condition per policy period (Dog Insurance page) | 20% (80% reimbursed), fixed | 14 days | 6 months, waivable with a vet exam form | 8 weeks to 9 years | No; "GapOnly" point-of-care gap payment at participating vets only | Accident fractures under core cover; disease dental free as an Additional Benefit, $600 limit, 80%, 6-month wait | 5% AA Member discount; a 10% multi-pet figure appears on the main page only (Main page) | AA Pet Insurance Policy Document |
 Cove |
Not published on the pages checked | Accident Only, Major, Major + Minor | $5,000 (Accident Only) | $500 (Accident Only) | 10% (Accident Only, Major); 20% (Major + Minor) | 21 days | 6 months | Not published | No; claim via MyCove account | Unpriced optional extra on Major + Minor only; scope not published | Not published | Cove pet insurance page |
 PD Insurance |
Pacific International Insurance Pty Limited, FSP394846 | Accident, Classic, Deluxe | $5,000 (Accident Plan) | $100 / $150 / $200, per claim (FAQ page) | Not published; PD pays 100% above the dollar excess, not a percentage | 21 days | Not covered on Accident; 180 days on Classic/Deluxe | 6 weeks to 12 years (Accident); to 8 yrs 11 mths (Classic/Deluxe, FAQ page) | No; paid to a nominated NZ bank account | Not on Accident/Classic; free Dental Illness benefit on Deluxe only, $500 limit, 180-day wait | 5% for two or more pets (FAQ page) | PD NZ Pet Insurance Policy Wording |
 Petcover |
Provident Insurance Corporation Limited, FSP270065 | Nine plans in three families: Superior (Entry, Mid-Point, Superior), Mid-Range (Core, Vital, Key), Safety-net (Economy, Catastrophe 1, 2) | $5,000 (Mid-Range Core / Catastrophe 1, Mid-Range PDS) | $0 / $100 / $200, Mid-Range only; other families give a worked example, not a menu (Mid-Range PDS) | 10% / 20% / 30%, Mid-Range only (Mid-Range PDS) | 28 days (Mid-Range); 21 (Superior, Economy); 30 (Catastrophe) | 6 months (Mid-Range, Catastrophe); no separate wait named on Superior/Economy | 8 weeks; no published max on standard-breed Economy; 8th birthday cap on Superior/Mid-Range | Opt-in "Pay Direct to Vet," needs the vet's agreement and Petcover's sign-off | Accident dental only, conditional on annual checks; $50 teeth-cleaning inside Mid-Range's "Day to Day Care" add-on only | Threshold published (3+ pets); percentage not published anywhere checked | Superior PDS |
 SPCA Pet |
The Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd, FSP480747 | Everyday Cover, The Works Cover, Big Stuff Cover | $11,000 (Everyday Cover) | $0, no excess | 30% (70% reimbursed) | 21 days | 6 months, waivable with a vet exam form | 8 weeks; no published max on Everyday (The Works alone caps new applicants under 9 years) | No; claim via Pet Portal | Excluded on all three tiers, including the top tier, other than oral tumours | 10% on a second and each further pet policy (Homepage) | Everyday Cover Policy Document |
 Southern Cross Pet |
Southern Cross Pet Insurance Limited | PetCare, AcciPet, FreeCover (a free 6-week bridge for puppies/kittens) | $2,500 (PetCare BronzeRibbon) | $100 / $250 / $500, per policy year not per claim | 10% / 20% / 30%, selectable | 21 days | 90 days | 8 weeks to under 7 years (PetCare); AcciPet has no maximum | Only via the Pet Easy-Claim vet network; otherwise reimbursement | Accident dental under base cover; optional dental extra (gingivitis, abscesses, scale/polish) 80% to $300, 90-day wait | 5% per additional pet, stacks with a 2.5% Health Society and 2.5% direct-debit discount | PetCare Policy Document |
 Tower |
Tower Limited, acting through AWP Services New Zealand Limited trading as Allianz Partners | Accident Only, Essentials, Comprehensive | $5,000 (Accident Only) | No dollar excess on any tier | 20% (80% reimbursed), fixed on every tier | 14 days | Not separately extended; standard 14-day wait, capped by a dollar sub-limit instead | 8 weeks to under 8th birthday (5th for select breeds) | No; paid to a nominated NZ bank account | Not on Accident Only; optional add-on on Essentials/Comprehensive, $350 limit, 20% co-pay, 90-day wait | Not published; Tower's general multi-policy discount was discontinued for new customers (Multi-Policy Discount page) | Comprehensive & Essentials Policy Wording |
Cove's underwriter was not disclosed on the pages checked; see Cove pet insurance for what is and is not published. AA Pet and SPCA Pet share the same underwriter (Hollard) but price and structure their plans very differently; see Southern Cross Pet vs AA Pet Insurance and the individual insurer pages linked above.
What the wordings settle that the marketing does not
A comparison page built only from marketing copy misses three things the policy wording settles instead.
Whether a chronic condition's dollar pool resets every year, or is frozen at diagnosis. PD Insurance's wording is explicit: the payout for an ongoing condition is capped for the pet's lifetime at "the benefit limit, claim limit or sub-limit that applied in the period of cover when the ongoing condition first presented" (PD NZ Pet Insurance Policy Wording), Tower's Comprehensive and Essentials wording uses the same fixed-at-diagnosis mechanic (Comprehensive & Essentials Policy Wording). Petcover's Economy plan is stricter still: "Umbrella for Life, No," with any single injury or illness capped at 12 months of claims regardless of renewal (Petcover Economy PDS). Southern Cross, AA Pet and SPCA Pet instead let the annual limit simply refresh every renewal for a continuously-held policy, with no per-condition lifetime freeze (PetCare Policy Document, p.9; AA Pet Insurance Policy Document, p.16; Big Stuff Cover Policy Document, p.6). A pet with a five-figure allergy is a different proposition under each structure, and no insurer's marketing page mentions this. See lifetime vs annual pet insurance NZ.
Whether "direct to vet" means every vet or an opt-in exception. Every insurer here except AA Pet and Petcover is reimbursement-only by default (PD NZ Pet Insurance Policy Wording; Comprehensive & Essentials Policy Wording). Southern Cross's Pet Easy-Claim network and AA Pet's GapOnly feature pay at the point of care, but only at participating vets (Southern Cross Questions page; AA Pet Insurance Policy Document, p.4), and Petcover's "Pay Direct to Vet" needs the vet's agreement plus Petcover's own sign-off, which its PDS reserves the right to decline (Superior PDS). Check your own vet is actually in the relevant network before you buy; more at pet insurance that pays the vet directly NZ.
Whether a bilateral condition (both knees, both ears) is one exclusion or two. Southern Cross, AA Pet, Petcover and SPCA Pet each publish a bilateral-condition clause: a pre-existing condition on one side of a paired body part excludes the same condition on the other side even if it appears only after the policy starts (PetCare Policy Document, p.15; AA Pet Insurance Policy Document, p.6; Superior PDS; Big Stuff Cover Policy Document, p.23). Neither Tower's nor PD Insurance's wording, searched in full, contains a bilateral clause of any kind (Comprehensive & Essentials Policy Wording). This matters most for cruciate ligament surgery and luxating patella surgery, which regularly affect a dog's other knee within a few years of the first.
Two further gaps: no insurer's pet insurance page discloses a financial strength rating figure directly, other than Southern Cross and AA Pet's underwriter Hollard, both rated A (Strong) by S&P; Petcover's PDS instead points to its underwriter's own site. And pre-existing-condition review timeframes are not always in the PDS: AA Pet and SPCA Pet both write an 18-month symptom-free reset into the wording itself, while Petcover's website gives two different timeframes (12 months in one article, up to two years in another) that appear nowhere in its PDS. See pre-existing conditions and pet insurance NZ and pet insurance waiting periods NZ.
Questions people ask
Which insurer has the highest annual limit?
At entry-plan level, SPCA Pet's Everyday Cover publishes an $11,000 annual limit, the highest of the seven entry-level figures compared here, though every insurer except Cove and AA Pet also sells a higher-limit tier above its entry plan (Everyday Cover Policy Document, p.7). At the top of each insurer's full range, SPCA Pet's Big Stuff Cover reaches $25,000 (Big Stuff Cover Policy Document, p.7), and Petcover's Superior plan reaches $20,000 for dogs (Superior PDS).
Do all seven insurers cover cruciate ligament surgery?
Yes, all seven cover it as an illness or a dollar-capped benefit, but every one applies an extended waiting period, a dedicated sub-limit, or both. AA Pet, Petcover, SPCA Pet and Cove all apply a 6-month cruciate-specific wait, and several offer a waiver if a vet completes a cruciate examination form before that period ends (AA Pet Insurance Policy Document, p.12). PD Insurance excludes cruciate rupture from its Accident Plan definition entirely and only covers it on Classic or Deluxe after a 180-day wait (PD NZ Pet Insurance Policy Wording). See cruciate ligament surgery cost for dogs NZ for what the surgery itself costs.
Is a cheaper excess always a cheaper policy?
Not necessarily. SPCA Pet's Everyday Cover and The Works Cover both carry $0 excess but reimburse only 70% and 80% of the claim respectively, while Big Stuff Cover has a $1,000 excess but reimburses 90% (Big Stuff Cover Policy Document, p.5; Everyday Cover Policy Document, p.5). On a $1,500 bill under AA Pet's structure, for example, a $250 excess plus a 20% co-pay on the remaining $1,250 leaves you paying $500 and the insurer paying $1,000. See pet insurance excess explained NZ for worked examples across more of these seven structures.
A licensed NZ adviser can compare the pet insurers on your pet's details. Get pet cover quotes.
Adviser's view
QuoteHub's read is that the marketing pages tell you the annual limit and the waiting period; the policy wording is where you find out whether a chronic condition keeps its dollar pool every year or is frozen at the year it was diagnosed, and that difference matters more than any headline number.
Get pet cover quotes from a licensed NZ adviser · free, no obligation.
Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Compare Pet Insurance NZ: 7 Insurers Side by Side. www.quotehub.co.nz/pet-insurance/compare-pet-insurance-nz. Updated 2026-09-17.
Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, For Brokers.