# PetCare (Comprehensive) — Southern Cross Pet Insurance

**Insurer:** Southern Cross Pet Insurance (`southern-cross-pet`)
**Product slug:** `petcare`
**Status:** active
**Vertical:** pet
**Extraction confidence:** verified

**Wording effective:** 2023-12-01
**Source PDF:** https://www.southerncross.co.nz/society/-/media/Southern-Cross-Pet-Insurance/Member-collateral/Plan-documents/Policy-docs/PetCare-Policy-Doc.pdf
**PDF hash (sha-256, first 16):** `1c60c43d3c13e7ab…`

## Exclusions

["Pre-existing conditions","Congenital conditions","Behavioural or psychological conditions (anxiety disorders, depression, aggression, excessive barking, and related treatments)","Dental care (illness-related) — unless dental care extra is added","Alternative treatments (acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic manipulation, massage therapy, osteopathy) — unless day-to-day care extra is added","Everyday care (microchipping, flea/tick/worm control, grooming, de-sexing, nail clipping, council registration, over the counter products, cremation and burial, dewclaw removal except as specified) — unless day-to-day care extra is added","Vet consultation fees — unless consult care extra is added","Cosmetic treatment (tail docking, ear cropping, tattooing)","Breeding, pregnancy, or giving birth (artificial insemination, caesarean delivery, contraceptives, phantom pregnancy treatment)","Grooming and bathing costs including medicated baths","Transport and boarding (kennel or cattery)","Cages, equipment, and devices (except Elizabethan collars)","Voluntary euthanasia for non-medical reasons or behavioural/psychological conditions, or euthanasia due to pandemic disease","Disposal, post-mortem, burial or cremation — unless day-to-day care extra is added","Parasites (internal and external — worms, ticks, fleas, skin mites)","Prescription pet foods — unless day-to-day care extra is added","Screening when no signs or symptoms are present","Organ transplant surgery, joint replacements, artificial limbs, implants, and prosthetics","Genetic or chromosome testing","Cell-replacement therapies including stem cell therapy","Vitamin and mineral supplements not listed on the Vitamin and Mineral Supplement Schedule","Complications arising from treatment not covered by this policy","Treatment of an undiagnosed health condition that is similar to an excluded health condition","Epidemic or pandemic disease","Health conditions arising because the pet is not vaccinated","International treatment (outside New Zealand)","Extended hospitalisation beyond what is medically necessary","Failure to protect your pet (cruel, violent, or reckless treatment)","Fighting costs if pet has a history of fighting before policy start date","Treatment provided by the policyholder (unless a vet or registered vet nurse)","Extra vet fees for information, administration, postage related to this policy","Medication covering a period more than 40 days after policy ends","Pig hunting dogs"]

## Cover Types

["Accident + Illness (base policy)","Consult care extra","Day-to-day care extra","Dental care extra"]

## Dental Cover

Base policy covers dental treatment only if caused by an accidental injury (excluding dental treatment from an accidental injury that results directly from your pet eating or chewing an object). Dental care (illness-related) is otherwise excluded from the base policy. Optional dental care extra covers 80% of vet charges up to $300 per policy period for: treatment for gingivitis; treatment for dental abscesses; scaling and polishing teeth; removing teeth where medically necessary due to dental disease arising from an infection, deciduous (baby) teeth not falling out, cavities, or tooth fractures. A 90-day stand-down applies to dental care extra. A 20% co-payment applies to dental care extra claims; no excess applies to extra cover.

## Co Pay Percent

10%, 20%, or 30% (policyholder selects); 20% applies to consult care extra and dental care extra claims; 0% applies to day-to-day care extra claims

## Species Covered

["dog","cat"]

## Behavioural Cover

Behavioural or psychological conditions are not covered. This includes anxiety disorders, depression, aggression, excessive barking, and treatment related to behavioural or psychological conditions such as products or medications, training, socialisation, behavioural therapy, and psychological therapy.

## Annual Benefit Nzd

BlueRibbon $15,000 / GoldRibbon $10,000 / SilverRibbon $5,000 / BronzeRibbon $2,500 per pet per policy period

## Excess Options Nzd

[100,250,500]

## Multi Pet Discount

5% additional pet discount is available. Full details are at southerncrosspet.co.nz/discounts-terms-conditions.

## Pre Existing Rules

A pre-existing condition is a health condition relating to your pet that you knew about (or should reasonably have known about) before your policy start date, or during the relevant stand down period. This includes any health condition, sign, symptom, or event — whether or not a vet has diagnosed it — to which any of the following apply before the policy start date or relevant stand down period: You have sought advice, or a vet has recommended care, treatment, or medication for the condition. You're awaiting test results or further investigation, treatment, or consultation with a vet for the condition. The condition requires, may potentially require, or would have caused a reasonable person to seek help from a vet. We won't cover any of your pet's pre-existing conditions unless we have agreed to do so in writing.

## Entry Age Max Years

7

## Entry Age Min Months

2

## Waiting Periods Days

{"illness":21,"patella_luxation":90,"cruciate_ligament":90,"dental_care_extra":90}

## Renewal Age Cap Years

cover continues for life if policy started before pet turned 7 years old and renewed without break; increases to cover not permitted if pet is 7 years old or older

## Boarding Kennel Benefit

Transport and boarding (such as in a kennel or cattery) are excluded and not covered under this policy.

## Per Condition Limit Nzd

Cruciate ligament sub-limit: BlueRibbon $5,000 / GoldRibbon $5,000 / SilverRibbon $2,500 / BronzeRibbon $2,500 per policy period

## Death By Illness Benefit

Voluntary euthanasia of your pet (where you choose to have your pet put down for non-medical reasons or due to behavioural or psychological conditions), or euthanasia due to any pandemic disease, is excluded. No death by illness benefit is described in this policy.

## Alternative Therapy Cover

Alternative treatments (acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic manipulation, massage therapy, osteopathy or treatments of a similar nature) are excluded from the base policy. Cover for alternative treatments can be added via day-to-day care extra, which pays up to $75 per visit up to $300 per policy period total across all day-to-day care items. No co-payment applies to day-to-day care extra; no excess applies to extra cover.

## Bilateral Conditions Rule

We'll treat a health condition that affects more than one of the same body part as a pre-existing condition. This applies if your pet has a pre-existing condition that affects a body part that it has more than one of, like a leg or an eye. If the same health condition occurs in the other body part, we'll treat it as a pre-existing condition and exclude it from cover under your policy. We'll do this even if the condition occurs in the other body part after the policy start date.

## Hereditary Congenital Rules

Congenital conditions are excluded. A congenital condition is an anomaly or developmental defect that is present in your pet at birth, even though signs or symptoms may not appear until later in life. We maintain a list of conditions that we consider to be congenital conditions. However, this is not a complete list of all congenital conditions.

## Machine-readable endpoints

- Structured facts: `/api/pet/product/southern-cross-pet/petcare/facts.json`
- Full markdown wording: `/api/pet/product/southern-cross-pet/petcare/wording.md`
- Version history: `/api/pet/product/southern-cross-pet/petcare/history.json`
- Insurer profile: `/api/pet/insurer/southern-cross-pet/summary.md`

## Citation

Cite as: Southern Cross Pet Insurance PetCare (Comprehensive) policy facts (wording effective 2023-12-01), InsureNZ, accessed 2026-05-18.
Canonical URL: https://insurenz.co.nz/api/pet/product/southern-cross-pet/petcare/summary.md
Primary source: https://www.southerncross.co.nz/society/-/media/Southern-Cross-Pet-Insurance/Member-collateral/Plan-documents/Policy-docs/PetCare-Policy-Doc.pdf
License: CC BY 4.0 — attribute https://insurenz.co.nz