What a real vet bill might cost you out of pocket, once a plan's excess and co-payment are combined, not just how those “numbers” look sitting next to each other on a comparison page.
Two plans can look almost identical. Say, a $500 excess and a 20% co-payment, and still leave you paying very different amounts once you actually claim. What matters isn't just the dollar figure or the percentage on its own, it's how those two numbers combine on a real bill, and how often the excess gets charged. A plan with a high excess that's only charged once a year can end up cheaper over a year of claiming than a lower excess charged every claim.
Every plan on FurWise shows a Claim Affordability figure, calculated by applying that plan's excess and co-payment (in the order that plan's own policy wording applies them), to a vet bill scenario you set yourself. It's not a fixed amount worked out ahead of time; it's live, and it updates the second you change it.
Claims per year is where it does the most work. If a plan charges its excess per claim or per condition that charge repeats every time you claim for something new. A plan that looks fine at 1 claim a year can get noticeably worse at 3 or 4. A plan with a single annual excess only ever charges it once, no matter how many separate things you end up claiming for that year. Two plans with the exact same headline excess amount can come out very differently here, purely because of how often that amount actually gets deducted.
Like every figure on FurWise, this is an estimate based on each insurer's own published policy wording. It’s not a guarantee of what a real claim will pay out. It can't account for sub-limits on the specific condition claimed, waiting periods, or whether that particular claim is even covered under the policy. Read the full Policy Wording for any plan you're seriously considering, and confirm figures directly with the insurer before you buy.