Hollard-owned PetSure is progressively rolling out its financial technology solution GapOnly Australia-wide and has also dropped many exclusions on comprehensive cover.

The paperless claims service allows customers to obtain claims approval while still at the veterinary surgery. The on-the-spot, in-clinic claiming platform means customers only pay the gap between the vet bill and what their insurance policy covers so they are not out-of-pocket for potentially large sums of money.

Using GapOnly, vets request on-the-spot pre-approval from pet insurance providers and receive confirmation of what the pet owner’s costs will be within 20 minutes, says Petsure, which also provides claims processing services for leading pet insurers in the UK and US.

“It transforms the claims experience with reduced out-of-pocket expenses and is progressively rolling-out to veterinary surgeries and hospitals Australia-wide,” PetSure says. “As an underwriter, administrator and fintech company, PetSure is helping to transform the pet healthcare experience.”

PetSure covers half a million Australian pet owners and underwrites more than 30 brands, including IAG, AAMI, Woolworths, RSPCA, PetBarn, Guide Dogs, Medibank, Bupa and HCF.

Under new underwriting terms, temporary pre-existing conditions will no longer be excluded if there have been no signs or symptoms for an 18-month period.

“We’ve made this decision to remove infectious disease exclusions across our comprehensive pet insurance policies to help pet parents claim for more eligible conditions,” PetSure CEO Alex Thomas said. “We want pet parents to find the value in their pet insurance as ultimately, it is a product that is made to be used.”

Included under the latest change are dogs with Parvovirus, Distemper, Influenza and Kennel Cough, and cats with Leukaemia Virus, Immunodeficiency Virus and Calicivirus.

PetSure says the following are now claimable under comprehensive policies: car and travel sickness, feline infectious peritonitis, de-sexing necessary to treat inflammation or cancer, adverse reactions to preventive care treatments and most parasitic conditions.

Total hip replacements are now claimable under some comprehensive policies and there is no limit for ingestion of foreign object conditions for comprehensive policies, no time limit to submit claims, and emergency boarding coverage has been extended to family violence situations.