PetSure has recorded $3 billion in cumulative claims paid, a figure the company says points to a broader change in how pet insurance operates within Australia’s veterinary system. Breed-level claims data published in the insurer’s 2025 Pet Health Monitor provides additional context on the cost drivers underpinning that volume, drawing on one of the country’s largest pet healthcare datasets.
The $3 billion figure has accumulated as veterinary medicine in Australia has grown considerably more complex. Procedures, diagnostic tools, and specialist services that were largely unavailable to domestic animals a decade ago are now standard offerings at many clinics. As treatment options have expanded, so too have the costs attached to them – and pet insurance has followed, shifting from a product owners purchased as a financial backstop to one that now plays a role in how treatment decisions are made during consultations.
PetSure underwrites or administers pet insurance across more than 20 brands in Australia and New Zealand and handles more than 5,500 claims on a typical weekday. Chief executive officer Alexandra Thomas described the milestone in terms of what the volume of claims represents at an individual level. “Behind every claim is a pet that needed care and an owner trying to make the best possible decision in a stressful moment. What $3 billion tells you is the scale at which that is now happening across Australia,” Thomas said.
One of the mechanisms behind the claims growth is GapOnly, PetSure’s real-time claiming system, which is now in use at 85% of Australian veterinary clinics. Rather than requiring pet owners to pay the full cost of treatment and later seek reimbursement, GapOnly allows eligible claims to be assessed and processed while the patient is still in the clinic. The practical effect, according to Thomas, is that financial considerations are less likely to interrupt or curtail clinical conversations. “One of the hardest parts of a vet visit is managing a large upfront cost when you are already worried about your pet. When that can be resolved in the room, in real time, it changes the experience for everyone,” Thomas said. From an underwriting and distribution standpoint, the system’s presence across the majority of Australian clinics embeds the insurance product directly into the care pathway – a level of integration that has implications for claims frequency, policy utilisation, and the relationship between insurers and the veterinary profession.
PetSure operates a separate program, PetSafetyNet, directed at pet owners who face financial hardship or other barriers to accessing veterinary care. The program draws its funding from a $1 contribution attached to each GapOnly claim and uses those funds to provide 24-hour veterinary telehealth at no cost, as well as subsidised in-clinic care for urgent cases. In the roughly 19 months since PetSafetyNet launched in October 2024, the program has assisted around 1,500 pets and delivered close to $1 million in care support. “PetSafetyNet is about making sure the system works for more people – that access to care doesn’t depend solely on what someone can afford in that moment,” Thomas said.
PetSure’s 2025 Pet Health Monitor – published last year using 2024 claims data from 700,000 insured pets – provides a detailed picture of how claims costs vary by breed, a variable with direct relevance to pricing and risk assessment. The cross-breed average for annual dog claims was $1,047 in 2024, but the range either side of that figure is wide. Border Collies generated the lowest average annual claims at $771, with Cavoodles at $776, Kelpies at $793, Dachshunds at $795, and Groodles at $813 rounding out the lowest-cost group. At the higher end, French Bulldogs averaged $1,641 per year in claims – more than twice the figure recorded for Border Collies – followed by Beagles at $1,428, Rottweilers at $1,341, Miniature Schnauzers at $1,296, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels at $1,259.
The concentration of brachycephalic breeds among the highest-cost cohort reflects, in part, the surgical interventions commonly required to manage structural health issues in flat-faced dogs. Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome, a breathing condition linked to compressed airways, carries an average treatment cost of more than $3,100 for uncomplicated cases, with costs reaching close to $30,000 in severe presentations. Despite those costs, French Bulldogs were the fifth-most popular dog breed in Australia in 2024, a detail that underscores the disconnect between breed popularity and actuarial risk.
The 2025 Pet Health Monitor data also captures the upper end of the claims distribution. The largest single claim recorded in 2024 was for a lymphoma case exceeding $61,000. Tick paralysis produced a top claim of more than $57,000. At the other end of the severity scale, skin conditions were the most frequent reason dogs presented to a veterinarian, followed by gastrointestinal issues and ear infections. The pattern suggests a claims environment where routine, high-frequency conditions drive volume, while a smaller number of complex cases – concentrated in oncology and acute toxicological events – account for disproportionate cost exposure. Breed mix among policyholders and geographic exposure to tick-endemic regions are likely to remain material pricing considerations.
