The short version
- Accident-only policies pay for injuries from an accident, such as a car strike, a fall or swallowing something.
- Accident and illness policies also pay for diseases and conditions, such as infections, cancers and skin or gut problems, subject to their waiting periods and exclusions.
- Several insurers sell an accident-only plan alongside fuller cover, usually with a lower annual limit.
- Accident-only cover tends to have fewer age restrictions. Southern Cross, for example, says AcciPet can be started at any age.
What counts as an accident
Each policy defines “accidental injury” in its wording. Broadly it means a sudden, unexpected event that physically hurts your pet: being hit by a car, a bite, a fall, a cut, or eating something it should not have.
Conditions that develop over time are usually treated as illness even if they show up suddenly. Cruciate ligament problems are the common example: several insurers handle them under their own rules, with longer waiting periods and separate limits.
What illness cover adds
Illness cover pays toward diagnosis and treatment of disease: tests, imaging, medication, surgery and hospital stays, up to the annual limit and after the excess and any co-payment.
It comes with an illness waiting period at the start, typically measured in weeks. On the insurers we checked, illness waiting periods ranged from 14 to 28 days.
Why the choice matters later
Once a condition has shown signs, a new policy will usually treat it as pre-existing and exclude it. That makes the decision at the start more important than it looks, because switching later can mean losing cover for anything your pet has already had.
Where this comes from
Insurer details checked on 26 October 2026. The policy wording always governs.
Keep reading
- Annual limits, excess and co-paymentThree numbers decide how much of a vet bill comes back to you. They interact, and most people only look at one.
- Waiting periods (stand-downs)The days at the start of a policy when an illness will not be covered. Insurers apply them strictly.
- Pre-existing conditionsWhy a condition your pet already has is usually not covered, and what “already has” means.
- Age limits for starting coverMost policies have a youngest and an oldest age to start. The oldest age is the one that catches people out.