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Provider guide

Tower Pet Insurance, plan by plan

Comprehensive, Essential and Accident Only compared. Tower is self-underwritten, with no excess mechanism on any plan.

Tower is one of only two NZ pet insurers on FurWise that self-underwrites (Southern Cross is the other) rather than using a third-party underwriter. Tower Limited carries an A- (Excellent) A.M. Best rating, disclosed in-document, and claims are administered by AWP Services New Zealand Limited, trading as Allianz Partners. All three Tower plans share one distinctive feature: none of them have a dollar excess at all.

Comprehensive

Tower's top tier product. The only Tower plan with a routine care benefit.

Cover typeAccident and illness (Table of Benefits)
Annual limit$15,000
ExcessNone — no dollar excess mechanism on any Tower plan
Co-paymentFlat 20%, not selectable
Cruciate ligament/patella surgery$1,500/yr each, covered directly under accident cover with no carve-out
Alternative therapy$500/yr, included as standard (acupuncture, hydrotherapy, physiotherapy and more)
Routine careUp to $100/yr, the only Tower plan with any routine-care inclusion
Where it's strong
  • No excess mechanism at all.
  • Cruciate ligament and patella surgery are covered directly under accident cover.
  • Alternative therapy and a routine-care benefit are both included as standard.
Worth knowing
  • Their pre-existing conditions captures captures anything a 'prudent, reasonable person' would have sought vet attention for, not just a formal diagnosis. There's also no time-based clearance path at all.
  • Congenital conditions are fully excluded, and hereditary conditions are excluded if they manifest before the pet's 2nd birthday.
  • No overseas travel cover on any Tower plan, and dental is a paid add-on rather than standard.

Essential

A lower-limit version of Comprehensive, with routine care removed.

Cover typeAccident and illness
Annual limit$7,000
ExcessNone
Co-paymentFlat 20%, not selectable
Cruciate ligament/patella surgery$800/yr each
Alternative therapy$350/yr, included as standard
Routine careNot covered — the main scope difference from Comprehensive
Where it's strong
  • Same no-excess structure as Comprehensive.
  • Alternative therapy still included as standard, just at a lower cap.
  • Same 14-day illness wait as Comprehensive.
Worth knowing
  • No routine care benefit at all, unlike Comprehensive.
  • Same broad pre-existing conditions test and lack of any clearance path as Comprehensive.
  • Congenital fully excluded; hereditary excluded before age 2.

Accident Only

Tower's accident-only plan.

Cover typeAccident only — no illness cover
Annual limit$5,000
ExcessNone
Co-paymentFlat 20%, mandatory
Cruciate ligament/patella surgery$800/yr each, covered directly under accident cover, no carve-out
Alternative therapy$350/yr, included as standard
What's not availableEmergency boarding, dental and overseas travel are all unavailable on this plan
Where it's strong
  • Cruciate ligament and patella surgery are covered no direct exclusion excluding them from accident cover.
  • No excess mechanism, same as Tower's other two plans.
  • Alternative therapy included as standard.
Worth knowing
  • No illness cover at all, so conditions like cancer or infections have no cover.
  • No emergency boarding, dental or overseas travel available on this plan at all.
  • Same broad pre-existing conditions test as Tower's other plans, which is still relevant for injury-related exclusions.

Any information shown on FurWise is not financial advice. FurWise is a features comparison tool. It's a helpful starting point so you can understand how pet insurance policies in New Zealand work. If you are still unsure about what might be right for you after using FurWise, we strongly recommend you seek independent advice from a financial adviser about your specific situation.

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