FAQs

Specialised short-term insurance cover for large, unforeseen dog & cat vet bills. We cover those unexpected, significant expenses you could not otherwise afford, giving you peace-of-mind that you will be able to give your pets the best vet care when they need it. We offer a full range of plans, from accident cover to basic, limited cover, pre-existing condition cover, & lastly but not least, the most uniquely, comprehensive cover in South Africa.

MediPet is South Africa’s leading pet insurance broker. Our small Cape Town-based team of over 26 vet-trained specialists partner individually & directly with members daily, representing their pets’ needs directly to the underwriters. We really do care, & take our member happiness personally. Our team has stayed with us forever, & we keep growing, to better serve our increasing members. One of our unique benefits is our in-house vet team who are able to apply their extensive professional expertise to better motivate & understand your claims, partner with your vet, & ensure our cover continues to meet the needs of real pets – not houses or cars. As the only pet-specialised insurance broker, we intuitively understand & care about the health of your animals. Our team has been trusted by owners, & recommended by 98% of vets for more than 15 years.

There are several reasons vets & members choose us:

• We welcome all breeds, & cover common-breed conditions as well as hereditary & congenital conditions that others don’t, without additional waiting periods
• There’s no such thing as different premiums for different breeds, sizes or “so-called” body scores
• Our offer of pre-existing condition cover on Lite plan is unique in SA
• Ongoing add-on cover for pets that develop chronic medical conditions lasting more than 3 months every year
• Our Benefit Booster add-on assists with cover for conditions not covered in your plan (e.g. pre-existing conditions), & adds or increases benefits. This add-on is particularly beneficial for those expensive surgeries you cannot afford to pay for upfront
• We offer illness cover to pets of all ages
• We don’t have sub-limits on any of our plans e.g. medication limit, x-ray limit, illness limit
• In-house vet expertise allows us to successfully refund over 96% of member claims
• The MediPet team is compassionate, our cover is genuine, & our communication is transparent
• 99% of our members choose to stay with us every month

MediPet offers 4 different plans to suit everyone’s budget. What you pay for is what you get – if you’re being offered lower premiums elsewhere, it is always because the cover is less, so check for annual max comparisons or sub-limits. If our premiums seem higher than others, it is simply not for the same cover being offered for less elsewhere. It is sometimes hard to understand all the terms & conditions, & easy to miss hidden fine print. So do please call us to help you understand why our cover is the most comprehensive. We love a good chat. Our Lite plan is the most affordable accident, & illness cover – comparable to alternative insurer’s plans in cover, premium & limits, but unmatched in that it cover all ages, & it also offers pre-existing cover! No cover matches the comprehensive Essential & Ultimate360 plans, with holistic wellness, behaviour benefits & more.

These are the administrators behind your insurance – they take on the risk today of your pet having a future accident or illness. They offer you funds upfront you may not otherwise have access to for big costs. They do the behind-the-scenes work necessary for all insurance, as they set your premiums, add any special exclusions or endorsements (if necessary based on your individual pet history & wellness), & they accept or decline your cover. We work with them daily, represent you, & importantly, process your claims, motivating on your behalf for refunds.

MediPet is underwritten by Renasa Insurance Company Limited. Established in 1998 by the international Reliance National Group, & following its restructure in 2004, Renasa has developed into an A-rated short-term insurer.

We represent your needs to the underwriter, & vice versa, using our unique vet expertise helping with assessing your pet’s history, & making recommendations. Our relationships with most vet practices in South Africa helps greatly as we are able to communicate & work directly with your vet when necessary on your behalf, ensuring pets come first.

We offer the convenience of both monthly debit order or annual EFT payments to our members. All cover will automatically lapse after 15 days, in the event that your premium is not paid.

This fee allows us an in-house vet team to actively assist in providing the very best pet insurance cover, using their extensive animal health knowledge. Specifically, they partner with vet practices, using trained expertise to motivate your technical, medical claims, presenting on your behalf directly to our underwriters, assisting with approvals, & speeding up refunds. They also help develop new cover plans, as they know what is vital for your pets’ ongoing wellbeing. At MediPet we pride ourselves on our unmatched over 96% claim success rate, which we attribute mostly to the unique skills & resources of our in-house vet expertise. This monthly fee is applied per family, not per pet.

If you are a monthly-paying member, your policy year will end at the same time every year, & your cover will be automatically renewed. You will receive an email with the details of any cover changes & adjustments to premiums at least 31 days prior. This is when all your annual benefits will also be refreshed.

Annual-paying members must renew their cover at their individual policy anniversary by making the EFT payment. These members will also receive an email notifying them of any cover changes, premium adjustments & payment details at least 31 days prior.

A unique benefit at MediPet is that your vet does not need to sign your claim form. Pre-approvals are also not required. In fact, we can pay your vet upfront, & directly, should they agree.

Underwriters take on the future financial risk of something significant and costly occurring down the road based on present, healthy circumstances. Waiting periods are important & standard across the insurance industry to protect against conditions that already occurred prior to cover (if you do not have pre-existing condition cover). They assist in preventing fraud, reduce unfair risk, & thereby keep premiums fair & affordable for everyone. The good news is that there are no waiting periods for any claims related to an accident across all our plans.

• Accident plan has no waiting periods
• All claims related to accidents across all plans are, of course, covered immediately
• There is a 30-day no-claims period on Lite, Essential & Ultimate360 plans
• This is followed by a 30-day 50% shared co-payment period on Essential & Ultimate360 plans
• There is a 6-month waiting period on Essential & Ultimate360 plans for knee & hip, elbow & shoulder, eye, respiratory system, & spinal treatments. The alternative side of a limb/eye/spinal condition will have an additional 6-month waiting period from date of diagnosis. Pets under 4 months of age may be considered for part or full cover of the above treatments, on a case-by-case basis
• Prescription food, dental care benefits & sterilisation on Ultimate360 plan have a 4-month waiting period
• The cremation contribution on Ultimate360 plan has a 6-month waiting period
• All day-to-day routine care add-on claims have a 30-day waiting period
• Benefit Booster has a 30-day waiting period

Anything that occurs before taking out cover is deemed “pre-existing” & excluded from general cover for all plans, unless selected when joining Lite plan, for an additional premium. Our Benefit Booster does offer additional cover, as well as for an excluded or pre-existing condition – this add-on is available on Lite, Essential & Ultimate360 plans.

Pre-approval is not required for our cover of treatments or claims, & we will never pre-approve over the phone. Should you wish to gain pre-approval, for your peace-of-mind, we will provide this at your request in writing.

Most members prefer to pay the vet themselves first, & then be refunded after claiming, but you can always ask us to pay your vet directly &/or upfront for your claim. This will be the total amount less the relevant excess, & can take up to 4 working days.

With Essential your annual general maximum cover is R60 000 per pet per year, & Ultimate360 plans have an annual general maximum cover of R72 000 per year. Lite plan has an annual maximum risk cover of R40 000 per year, & Accident plan allows for accident claims of up to R25 000 per year.

Sub-limits are restrictions placed on cover by some insurers to limit their risk on your general cover. Unsuspecting pet-owners may join an insurer thinking they have done the responsible thing by covering their pet with comprehensive insurance, only to find these sub-limits in the small print when they claim. Insurers place sub-limits on illnesses, accidents, consultation fees, hospitalisation, procedures (x-rays, surgery etc.), blood tests or medications, post-operative care etc., all within your annual maximum. This means you can never claim the full benefit of your plan for general medical insurance cover. MediPet, unlike others, does not apply sub-limits to line items on your invoice for mainstream vet treatments covered by general insurance. If you need your full annual max for a surgery covered on your plan, it’s yours.

Refunds are paid directly to you using the bank account details that you provide to us. Alternatively, refunds can be paid directly to your vet, if pre-arranged with us.

Claim excesses are standard in insurance. This is either a percent or a minimum amount that you agree to contribute towards the cost of your full claim.

Applying excesses, the first part of your claim that you are responsible for, is standard practice to help reduce fraudulent claiming, & to help keep monthly premiums fair & affordable for all.

• Excess for Accident plan claims is 15%, minimum of R150 excess per claim
• Excess for Lite plan claims is 20%, minimum of R300 excess per claim
• Hospital excess for Essential & Ultimate360 plan claims is 25%, minimum of R350 excess per claim
• Day-2-Day excess for Essential & Ultimate360 plans is R250 excess per claim
• Dental claim excess on Ultimate360 plan is 25% minimum of R500 excess per claim
• Chronic care support & Benefit Booster add-ons, holistic wellness claims, supplements, & emergency boarding fees have an excess of 18%
• There is no excess on behavioural therapy & missing pet advertising claims, as well as sterilisation benefit, cremation benefit & prescription food
• There is no excess on routine care claims

“Excess busters” always need to be balanced out by sub-limits to account for the increased risk without member contribution to claims. We, at MediPet, do not limit our cover with the use of sub-limits. For this reason, we do not offer so-called “busters” as we believe in genuine, transparent, comprehensive cover. We do now, however, offer our Lite, Essential & Ultimate360 plan members two Premium Saver options – lowered premiums with a structured excess helps our members save. For more information, read here: Premium Saver .

Yes, we must receive your completed claim form with all relevant invoices within 60 days of the treatment date.

All members can add everyday routine, preventative care to their general cover, with either of our 3 options: Routine Supreme, Routine In-Between & Routine Lean. These value-added benefits contribute either R3 300, R2 200 or R1 100 per year towards routine, preventative care for R195, R130 or R65 per month (or R2 340, R1 560 or R780 per year). This can be used for vaccinations, any tick/flea & deworming treatment, microchipping, sterilisation, grooming, nail-clipping, training & puppy socialisation classes. The benefit can be added to your existing cover, or increased in value, at any time, no matter what plan you choose, with a 30-day waiting period.

These routine care add-ons are annual benefits available to you upfront, although you only contribute monthly. Therefore, if you decide to cancel this add-on during the policy year, after having claims paid out to you in advance of the year ending, you will be debited with your last premium for the the remainder of the premiums due for the remainder of the policy year.

Poor dental hygiene can cause long-term pain & discomfort. Most owners are unaware because animals will not always cry out in pain – they just tolerate it. Dental disease in an older animal can cause illnesses which the owner may mistakenly attribute to “getting old”. If there are infections in the mouth it can allow bacteria into the body via the blood stream, & cause illness elsewhere. Kidney, heart, lung, & liver infections can all be caused by poor oral health. Some experts agree, by the age of 2, as many as 80% of dogs, & 85% of cats 3 years & older already have some form of dental disease.

Accident plan covers only the most basic of accident insurance – falls, car accidents, snake bites, accidental poisonings etc. It’s best to view Accident plan as your last resort, should your budget not afford illness cover. Lite plan for accidents, & illnesses is comparable to other insurer’s affordable, limited cover, although Lite is unique in the SA market in that it welcomes all ages, & pre-existing condition cover can be added for an additional premium. Essential plan offers comprehensive cover for younger pets. Ultimate360 plan is our top, most comprehensive cover with additional benefits such as dental care, prescription food, sterilisation, & cremation contribution. All our plans have an optional routine care add-on available for everyday, preventative costs. No matter the plan you select, all members have the same teams partnering with them to provide the same best service, & trust in our transparency, vet-expertise, passion & compassionate care.

Comprehensive plan members on Essential & Ultimate360 have a benefit with a low excess for those smaller, everyday claims when your pet isn’t admitted for hospitalisation. This caters to claims for those quick, in & out, day-to-day treatments done in the consult room – costs that typically fall outside of unforeseen, significant accident & illness insurance. Our 3 routine care add-ons provide contributions & savings towards everyday, preventative care including vaccinations, tick/flea & deworming, microchipping & sterilisation, grooming & nail-clipping, training & puppy socialisation. The Hospital cover is Essential & Ultimate360 plan member’s general insurance within your annual max for when your pet is admitted to hospital.

Lite allows you up to 4 vet visits per year, & up to a maximum of R13 760 per claim, with an annual maximum cover of R40 000.

You can choose your 4 claims per year including consultations, procedures, surgeries, medication or any illness treatment. Benefit Booster add-on can always supplement a pet’s needs, if necessary.

All 4 claims for Lite plan are subject to the per claim limit or R13 760 within annual maximum of R40 000. So for example, if you claimed twice already for the claim maximum of R13 760, you would have your remaining annual maximum of R12 480 to use in remaining 2 claims for the rest of the year.

Absolutely yes! This is how insurance works (vs medical aid), & is what we call “smart claiming.” Save your claims for the bigger unforeseen incidents that you cannot afford on your own, & keep your premiums low.

Short answer: Yes. Amounts already claimed as well as number of claims (if applicable) carry across when you change plans during a policy year. Motivations will be needed for changes to cover during the policy year, & are always granted subject to underwriter discretion.

History may be requested from vets that have treated your pet, when our vets have questions about a treatment or claim.

This is where underwriters adjust the general cover to add an additional waiting period, or to exclude a possible pre-existing condition, or where you decline additional cover for a required chronic care support plan (Essential & Ultimate360 plans) for the remainder of the policy year. Benefit Booster is one way of adding to your cover, for example a pre-existing condition.

• Pregnancy
• Elective procedures
• Unprescribed special foods & diets
• On Accident, Lite (if pre-existing condition cover is not selected), Essential & Ultimate360 plans, any pre-existing conditions (from before joining), unless a Benefit Booster is added (available on Lite, Essential and Ultimate360)

Unlike most other insurers, these conditions are uniquely covered on Lite, Essential & Ultimate360 plans, without any additional waiting periods.

Of course! We actively support many shelters & pet rescue organisations in South Africa. Something to note for rescued pets on joining Essential or Ultimate360 plans: If your pet was rescued or adopted in the last 6 months, & is over 18 months old, & you have no vet history, you will have a temporary limit of R3 000 for the first 6 months after joining. (This won’t apply to accident claims).

Insurance does not traditionally cover ongoing conditions, but rather “incidents”. If you need ongoing cover for ongoing treatments after 3 (consecutive or non-consecutive) months, we will offer you a chronic care support plan. Should you accept this, it will be added to your general cover at an additional premium. If you don’t adjust your cover to include a chronic care support plan add-on (meaning you decline the addition of a chronic care support plan), mainstream maintenance treatment will be excluded (for example medication, consults, testing required for monitoring the condition) for the remainder of the policy year from your cover on Essential & Ultimate360 plans. Surgery, & any related hospitalisation events are not excluded. You will also still be able to use your Holistic Wellness benefits in support of the ongoing condition, if needed. You will be able to claim for a further 3 months the following policy year again.

Both Accident & Lite plans have no maximum age limit for joining. Essential & Ultimate360 plans do have a maximum age limit of under 9 years of age for dogs. If your dog is between the age of 8 & 9 years old, or your cat is 8 years or older, & you wish to apply for Essential or Ultimate360 cover, a vet history will be required.

We will cover your pet for life, no matter how old they get, as long as you continue to pay your premiums. They will not be downgraded to lesser cover as they age. Their premiums, however, will increase as they age due to changing medical needs based on life-stage.

Euthanasia is covered on all plans so long as the claim meets your individual plan rules.

Yes, but all vaccinatable diseases & related complications will be excluded from cover if these are not kept up-to-date as per your vet’s vaccination protocol.

You can go to any registered vet of your choice in South Africa.

It is always a good idea to ensure your pet is identifiable to assist you if your pet gets lost & is taken to a vet, possibly with an injury. We do not require this for cover. Our contributions towards routine care add-ons (should you add this preventative care benefit to your plan) can also be used to microchip your pet should you not have already done so.

We will pay the full price of your approved vet bills (after your excess) & do not attempt to limit refunds by applying a supposed “South African Guideline of Approved Tariffs,” because this was done away with in 2013!