Mozo research shows your dog’s breed impacts how much you pay for pet insurance

New analysis from Mozo has found that the cost of insuring a dog is directly related to specific factors such as the ancestry of the dog's breed.

Our research shows that dog breeds with Australian ancestry are among the cheapest to insure, costing $611 per year on average. However, breeds that originated in the United Kingdom were not far behind, costing $787 on average while European ($825) and American/Canadian ($846) dog breeds were more expensive.

Mozo also found that the average cost to insure a dog is $716 per year, but dog owners who shop around for pet insurance could see savings of up to $729 by switching from a more expensive policy to a more competitive one.

Other things that affect the cost of pet insurance

Size, build and the nature of your dog all need to be weighed up with regard to insurance:

• Large dogs cost 26% more on average than smaller dog breeds.
• Flat-faced dogs prone to health issues tend to come with costly insurance premiums.
• Working dogs tend to be cheaper to insure than designer breeds - for example, the cost to insure breeds such as Australian Shepherds, Kelpies and Border Collies ranged from $566 to $598 which is significantly below the national average.

Despite these findings, there are outliers to the general rule. For example, although French Bulldogs and Boston Terriers are small dogs, they are also among the most expensive to insure.

Mozo’s research found that the most expensive dog breeds to insure are Bullmastiffs, ($1,310) and French Bulldogs ($1,291) while Silkies, ($511) West Highland Terriers ($512) and Australian Shepherds ($566) are the cheapest.

Though some aspects of a dog's make-up and behaviour are clear, others may not be.

According to Personal Finance and Insurance Expert at Mozo, Claire Frawley, “while it’s well-known that breeds prone to health conditions or behaviour issues will have higher pet insurance premiums, what is lesser known is just how much doggy DNA can add to the cost of cover.”

How to choose a pet insurance provider

Pet insurance can act as a safety buffer for when things do go wrong and the vet bills start to add up. Despite this, you don’t want to be paying more than you have to for your pet insurance, so it is important to shop around and find a policy that gives you the best value for money.

Here are some tips and tricks that Mozo suggests when buying pet insurance:

• Insure your pet when it’s young - it is more expensive to insure once it’s older and more likely to have pre-existing conditions.
• Beware of costly breeds - do your research and think hard before buying a dog so you know what to expect with breed-related price differences.
• Value versus quality cover - compare insurance policies carefully to make sure you aren’t paying for things you don’t need.

Mozo’s Experts Choice Pet Insurance Awards are a good place to start if you’re looking for a new pet insurance provider. To choose the winners for these awards, Mozo’s experts compared 150 policies from 35 different brands to determine which insurance providers offer exceptional value for money and outstanding quality policies.

Here are the 2022 winners:

• Coles as Pet Insurance Provider of the year
• Knose for its Exceptional Quality Pet Insurance
• Pets on Me for its Exceptional Value Accident Cover Pet Insurance
• HCF for its Exceptional Quality Pet Insurance

If you want to read more about the findings of Mozo’s 2022 Experts Choice Pet Insurance Awards, you can view the methodology report here or view the winners here.