Petplan insurance underwritten by Allianz has topped a Choice review of comprehensive pet insurance policies.

It outscored PetSure – the only competitor in the market – in a policy top 10, taking out nine spots for best overall pet coverage.

A $20,000 cover with the Guide Dogs/Petplan Dog Covered 4Life Ultimate product achieved the top score of 59, followed by a similar policy for $15,000 cover (58) and Guide Dogs/Petplan Dog Covered4Life Classic with $15,000 coverage (56).

The consumer group rated 45 comprehensive policies on attributes including excess options and maximum benefits.

“Policies can differ in many ways, and no single policy could possibly hope to have everything, which means we didn’t expect any policy to even approach a perfect 100 points,” Choice says. “Many good features common to all policies weren’t scored.”

Petplan and PetSure, underwritten by Hollard, dominate the market. Australians spend about $1.7 billion a year on vet services.