HCF Pet Insurance

I recently joined with HCF pet insurance and can’t recommend them enough ! RV went above and beyond to help me and made me feel very happy. Good value, even better customer service ! Thanks RV Show details

Support when needed – We have been insured with HCF Pet since 2013 and added another pup to the fam in 2015. Over this time we have had multiple claims for one dog and not so many for the other. They have paid 80% of almost all claims and the policy has been value for money. As the dogs get older, the fee increases are substantial but HCF have been generous in giving… Read more

us a 3 month fee waiver which has saved us quite a considerable amount of money when things are tough. Have appreciated being able to give our pets the best care in conjunction with HCF and our vet.

HCF Pet insurance works for us – Claims are processes quickly and easily and staff are always happy to help and friendly. My cover is reviewed and explained clearly. I have been a customer with this policy for 7 years. Show details

Premium Increases over 30% pa in last 2 years – My pet insurance monthly premium for my cat and dog have just been increased by over 30% for each of the last 2 years - for the 2025 year from $126.05 to $168.79 per month. This is a 33.9% increase. How on earth can this be justified ? This is price gouging at its worst given the cost of living crisis in which we are now in. As a pensioner I am… Read more

going to have great difficulty in meeting this impost and it may well have put me in a situation where I can no longer afford to insure my pets.

HCF Petsure claimed to be able to identify areas where I can reduce my premiums. They would probably suggest getting rid of parts of my level of cover eg Routine Care plus Dental, or increasing my excess. I can't imagine what else they may have up their sleeve. How are these options going to benefit my pets ? I think I would be far better off to just self-insure. If my pets do suffer a serious enough illness or injury that I can't afford then I would just let them suffer, surrender them, or let them die.

As well as the 2025 year, I note that my premiums rose from $95.97 to $126.05 in the 2024 year. That's another 31.3%. I therefore presume that this will be the level of premium increases that I can expect every year from now until my pets pass away ?

They are going to be hard pressed to justify that sort of ongoing price gouging to me. I cannot believe that the salaries of vets are going up by this amount every year. Apart from their profits what other costs are going up by this amount ?

My dog is a very small Shih Tzu cross and my cat is a just an ordinary rescued moggy. My wife and I don't have children so these are our only companions. They've had no serious illnesses or accidents in their 6 years. The only significant medical cost has been to have their teeth cleaned. These cost me about $525 for my cat, and $728 for my dog (which had to include teeth extraction). The cost was high mainly because they had to be anaesthetised. Guess how much I got back from HCF - $50 each ? It's the vets that are encouraging owners to have their pet's teeth attended to (not just for profit I hope). If this is so essential for my pet's health then why isn't it included in standard cover? They have forced me to add Dental to my cover for an additional cost, but with a 2 year waiting period, and even then I don't know that I would get much back.

In 2022 I changed my pet health insurance from Pet Insurance Australia (PIA) to HCF because of an unreasonable rise in premiums. HCH offered lower premiums and increased benefits, although 2 year waiting periods on some items and refusal to cover existing illnesses, was an unexpected shock. Now I find the initial lower premiums have been increased such that they are not that much more cheaper than the ones from PIA - not surprising in hindsight as both companies are underwritten by Petsure. One wonders how much competition there is in this industry.

It's about time the government took unreasonably high pet insurance premiums seriously.

The HCF Pet Insurance Rip-Off – Be aware of the HCF Pet Insurance rip off. Unlike many other pet insurance plans there is a $2,600 "sub-limit" for cruciate ligament injuries that doesn't go anywhere near covering the cost of surgery, which is well over $5,000. Signing up for pet insurance unless one has experience, they'd never know how terrible the "benefits" are from HCF Pet… Read more

Insurance and how little they pay. It is a rip off. After close to 10 years with one dog and maybe only one other claim, and 2 or 3 years with my other, I'm very dissatisfied. Most other pet insurance companies do not have sub-limits for injuries such as to a cruciate ligament. Be aware.

Massive second year premium increase despite no claims – We are long term HCF members but now, for the first time, I wouldn't recommend them to friends. We've had their human health insurance with them for about 15 years and for roughly 11 of those we've also had our pet insurance through them as well. Much of that time was with our old dog who we kept with them until she passed. Last year we got a new… Read more

puppy and immediately signed up for pet insurance. He is now 1 year old and completely healthy. No claims at all in the last year and no hint of illness. We just got our second year premium and it has increased by $150 a year. Pet insurance for a perfectly healthy 1 year old dog is now $56.74 a month. We apparently get a 15% "loyalty" discount so their standard premium is coming in at $65.25 per month. If I do a new customer quote online the price is $35.97. I don't mind a reasonable price increase. With insurance you expect it. But that is honestly ridiculous and, for loyal customers, a real kick in the teeth. We are now preparing to move to a new insurer next month. Beware the "honeymoon" rate of your first year premium with this company at the moment as their price increase inn the second year will knock you out of the park.

Rome was extremely helpful and provided me with the answers to all my questions in a most friendly manner - he was a delight to deal with and a great ambassador for HCF Pet Insurance. Show details

Arvie is an excellent customer service representative. He patiently explained all relevant details without confusing me. I feel confident my pets are now on an excellent value for money policy. Thanks sir much!! Show details

Great Value and Peace of Mind The price is good, especially with the existing HCF member discount. The real standout is the 24/7 Vet on-call service. I had a scare yesterday and was connected to a vet in under two minutes. Knowing that support is included and so easily accessible is priceless. Highly recommend! Show details

Great customer service, easy to use portal, caring staff – Love my insurance with PetSure. Claiming is easy. The online portal is simple to use. Customer Care is very helpful. Katrina was able to help me today and we ended up with a better result than I was expecting. The staff genuinely care about animals and what to help their customers provide the best care for their pets. Would definitely recommend it. Show details

Highly recommend – Service was accurate, quick and transparent. It was clear what was covered and what wasn't. Staff were always helpful and compassionate. I was a member for 14 years and felt I received value for money. Show details

Don't use this company, find others – Significant price hikes year on year of over 20%. They also sit on claims and reimbursement without processing the money back..have been with the company for over 8 years and they now want $235 per month for coverage, crazy stuff Show details

Don’t recommend. Giant price hike in second and third year of the policy – Although the app was simple to use and claims were paid quickly, the price went up by $600 over two years, from ~$950 to over $1,500. In the first year I did make some claims, one for cherry eye surgery and a scan but no claims in the second year. I felt like the company offered an attractive price in year 1 to get you in and then hiked the price.… Read more

They ‘warned’ me that if I left I would not be covered by preexisting conditions. I have been with HCF health insurance for our family for 30 years but the pet insurance division is HCF in name only, it’s actually owned by another company and is for profit, unlike HCF person health insurance.

Would not be without it – My dog has been insured with HCF pet insurance for 7 years and in 2 of those years I have had massive emergency vet procedure bills of which I have received 80% back in refunds. This past week alone my dog had to go to the emergency vet on two occasions with one overnight stay and the bill was over $2,000. After the emergency vet upload the claim… Read more

to HCF pet insurance I received $1200 refund into my bank account in less than 36 hours.

The only downside to the insurance is that they only pay up to $300 for consultations per annum.

Customer telephone service does need improvement

Customer Service Needs a Big Shake Up – As most Pet Insurances are underwritten by only a couple of different Insurance company's and policy's are similar, it really gets down to how easy it is to navigate the sign up process, the claims process and customer service. And HCF's Pet Insurance Customer Service is worse than terrible. If I could give negative 5 stars I would. I have been… Read more

with HCF Pet Insurance for many years with over 6 animals insured over that time. When I've unfortunately had to make a claim in the past it was pretty easy. What has prompted me to write this review is the incredibly frustrating experiences I've had with adding 2 animals to my policy one in April 2021 and one yesterday 28th June 2021. In April I managed to get my cat insured but it was a painful process, I couldn't understand the consultant, the phone line was terrible and it took ages to finalise. I have no idea why you can't just sign up a new pet through the portal, all the Product Disclosers can easily be added to the sign up process. I stayed with HCF as I have HCF Health Insurance and I wanted to be loyal to a great company. The Pet Insurance has HCF name but is run by Petsure and it certainly does not have the same personalised caring consultants to deal with. I understand that yesterday Sydney was in lockdown, however, this should not negate the experience of the consultant that you talk with. Again the line was terrible, I couldn't understand the consultant and she didn't know what she was doing. When the consultant doesn't even know how to spell Burmese you really are wondering what is going on, when I had been on the phone for an hour and still wasn't close to finalising my policy I was getting very frustrated, I had to spell nearly every important detail and correct details again and again. I asked a question about continuity of cover from another policy and that created a whole other saga. I ended up being transferred to a supervisor that really wasn't much more help and then guess what, I was expected to go through the saga all over again. I really couldn't understand why the Supervisor couldn't finalise the policy, but I'm guessing the consultant didn't send the information on. When I remarked that I was just about to finalise the policy she was lost for words, suggested I sign up online and then have the policy transferred to my existing account, this would negate the discount I would get for having an extra pet on my policy and quite frankly from my point of view just more of my time being wasted. Or I could wait for the original consultant to call me back, this wasn't acceptable to me at all. My time is as valuable as anyone else's, but that didn't seem to matter to HCF Pet Insurance. For it to take over an hour and not even sign up your pet up is unbelievable and very bad customer service. I ended up forgetting about HCF and signed up with RSPCA.

Waste of Money – The worst pet insurance cover you could get - absolutely disgusting that they take your money every year to cover your pet on the essentials or in an emergency yet they don't cover a thing. Take your business elsewhere, I am. Show details

They have been fantastic – We have our 7 years old insurance with HCF since he is a puppy and we have never came across bad customer services and claims are paid quickly. I also think the inclusions are good. Show details

Absolutely terrible service!! – Do not take out pet insurance with HCF. They have been impossible to deal with and provide inaccurate advice on policy cover. I was advised that I would have 80% of my veterinary expenses covered and so submitted my claim only to be advised over a month later, after numerous follow ups on my behalf, that I was not covered. Show details

Wouldn't be without it – Nearly 7 years with HCF and I have had no issues with claims and get back exactly what I expected. I find team members helpful with any queries. Pepper and I wouldn't be without it. Grateful for their assistance with financial concerns. Show details

Terrible – Never deal with this company. They say they are membership focussed but really they are just agents for privately owned insurance companies. They take your money and never pay without several phone calls and resending of already sent documents. When I cancelled they kept charging my account without my permission. Luckily I saw this and after a fight, I managed to get my money back. Definitely not an honest company. Show details

Groundhog Day – I have been with Manchester Unity since 2011, now taken over by HCF. My policy came with a special condition called No Claim Reward. Essentially, if you don't make any claims, they will reward you with $75. Yet, each year, I have great difficulty in getting this reward. It requires hours on the phone each time. It seems they don't recognise or… Read more

understand their own policy at all, and it is very painful to have to explain their own policy terms to them every year. Today, when I called, the first call centre person decided he will transfer me back to switchboard, and after a long hold, I have to repeat the whole story. Now, I was told by this call centre person that he cannot deal with my query, and a manager will need to speak with me, but she is not available. First, I doubt if I will get a call back. Secondly, either way, it will mean retelling the whole history for the third time today and for the tenth time with each year. I hate to think what would happen if I have to make a claim for illness. I will not be using them for our new puppy. Appalling customer service.

HCF Pet Insurance – I am a pensioner and have been paying good money to this company for 6 years and in that time made 2 claims, both of which were rejected. In the first instance the claim was for a cruciate ligament injury for which I honestly thought was a new injury to my pet but HCF went right back to AWLQ and discovered a comment about this on my pets file… Read more

for which I was totally unaware of at time of adoption . Several years later and my little pet is in trouble again with abdominal problems and again my claim for Veterinary expenses has been rejected by HCF although I have taken all due care and responsibility with my pets health. I rang HCF Pet Insurance today and explained to them that although I pay monthly premiums via autopay with my bank I have not received a Certificate of Insurance for the current year and was not aware of level of care that I had, nor what "Pet Essentials" meant. I am most annoyed with this company and feel that some ex gratia payment should be made to me for leaving me in the dark as to what my pet was insured for. At the very least they could compensate me for the costs of Euthanasia which was the ultimate result. RIP SaSa

Stay away – I had been with HCF for a few years and not one claim with my two dogs I just recently tried to make a claim For a Non pre exisiting problem And I proved it was Non exisiting by sending them vet reports from previous vets. They Never pay they keep requesting more vet info that you simply don’t have If your dogs not sick why would I attend a… Read more

vet apart from routine injections etc After 7 attempts of trying to explain this I cancelled my insurance ... funny they did that via email in one day hmmmmm .

Absolutely Horrible – I feel absolutely scammed by this insurance. Prices are reasonable but they make claiming as difficult as possible and I find their claims to provide an 80% refund (minus a $200 excess) is misleading! I lodged 2 claims for the one incident (initial consultation, repeat consultation and medication). I can say I certainty did not receive 80% of the… Read more

claim even with the $200 excess removed. Be sure to read the PDS! I lodged 3 claims involving one incident in the past, and received over 8 follow up letters with different claim numbers requesting vet notes. I feel like they try to make the claim process as difficult as possible and confuse you. I have cancelled one of my pet policies and will cancel the other at it's end date. I'll also be moving my entire families health care cover as a result.

Beware!

Above and Beyond – Emmerose fronted my call: was finalising a claim as there there were missing information that that the insurers needed; She put me on hold to check - when she came back on - she had contacted the Vet on my behalf and organised what was required - no more stress on me. Very touched by the extra effort ! Show details

Awesome so quick and without any fuss – We were a bit nervous taking out Pet insurance, you hear a lot of horror stories about companies refusing to pay up. I can honestly say I was more than surprised with the great service HCF gave us when we made multiple claims for our puppies elbow displaysia only months after joining. The refunds were prompt and easy payment being reimbursed… Read more

within the week. Thank you so much HCF for making a difficult time so much easier. We are with you for the long run. Cannot recommend HCF enough. We now have our health insurance with HCF as well.

Slow Claims Process – I lodged my claim on 9/1/2019 and uploaded necessary documents via Portal. Since then I have constantly been asked for the same information even though on two occasions HCF Staff contacted my Vet directly in order to obtain information and I was verbally advised everything was OK. I also personally emailed outstanding items required and was… Read more

advised by reply email on Monday 11/2 that everything was ok and claim was being processed. Then on 16/2 I was advised by same customer support officer that advised everything was OK that now it is not OK as they were still waiting on outstanding Invoice.

Incredibly difficult claims process-repeat requests for the same information – We have had pet insurance for our dog for around 5 years. This year was our first claim and it seems that we repeatedly get requests for the same information that has already been provided. Almost a month later and we are still no closer to a result; I suspect HCF just try to make life so difficult you can’t be bothered chasing the money anymore. We have had terrible service, I would not recommend at all!  Show details

Easy and fast claim – Have had pet insurance policy for two dogs for 3.5 years. Purchasing the policy was easy, as has been the renewal process. The level of cover as good or better than any we've found with any other insurance for the price. 1st time claim (entitled to or not, we just never bothered to claim anything before.) After reading other reviews on… Read more

this site I was concerned this would be a draw out series of arguments to not got what I felt entitled to back; My experience turned out to be anything but.

The claim process was super simple and easy - the documents required were clearly specified and the upload via the pet portal quick and efficient.

As this was a first claim I needed to provide a 'patient history' - which I forgot to do but e-mailed through separately and it was acknowledged - as was the claim lodgement - within hours.

In under a week with no issues at all the claim was processed as per the stated benefits according to our policy and the refund was in my account. (paid benefit was just under 75% of total invoice)

I was/am very pleasantly surprised and have no hesitation recommending this policy to others.