A guide to Naked

Getting your pet covered takes a few minutes. Head to the app or website, chat to Rose, and answer a few simple questions. You’ll choose your plan, annual limit, and excess as you go.

Once you’re set up, everything lives in the app. Your policy details, claims, and any changes you want to make later.

If you’re new to this, here’s a simple breakdown of how pet insurance works.

Ready to get started? You can get a quote for your pet.

As pets get older, they’re more likely to have pre-existing conditions, and those aren’t covered. Naked Pet also has age limits. Pets over 9 can only get accident cover on the Basic plan.

This is standard across most insurers. It’s why getting cover while your pet is young and healthy makes such a difference.

Yes. Any licensed vet in South Africa. No networks. No approved lists. If your vet is registered to practise, treatment can be claimed.

No. You don't need pre-approval to claim. Go to the vet, get your pet treated, and submit your claim afterwards through the Naked app.

If it’s a major procedure and you want certainty upfront, you can reach out to us before going ahead.

Naked Pet has three plans:

• Basic covers unexpected accidents: being hit by a car, swallowing something they shouldn't, injuries from a fall. Covered from day one, no waiting period.
• Nice adds illness cover, so your cat will be covered if it develops a kidney disease, an infection, or any unexpected illness.
• Plus is the most comprehensive option. It includes everything in Nice, plus routine care like vaccines, deworming, tick and flea prevention, dental check-ups, and physiotherapy.

All three plans let you set your own annual limit and excess.

For accidents and illnesses, we cover consults, diagnostics, surgery, hospitalisation and medication.

You can read more about what pet insurance actually covers, or see plans and prices.

No, and this is worth knowing because most pet insurers do.

A sub-limit is a cap on a specific type of treatment. For example, some insurers limit how much they’ll pay for surgery even if you haven’t reached your annual limit.

Naked doesn't work that way. Your cover sits under one annual limit and one per-claim limit, both set by you. No separate caps on consultations, medication, surgery, or hospitalisation.

Yes, if the diagnosis happens after your policy starts and after the waiting period. Diagnostics, treatment, and medication are covered on Nice and Plus.

If there were symptoms before your cover started or during the waiting period, it’s treated as pre-existing and won’t be covered.

It depends on the treatment.

Routine dental check-ups and cleaning are covered under Plus’s routine care benefit.

If your pet needs dental treatment because of an accident, like a broken tooth, or an illness, like severe gingivitis, that's covered under the relevant benefit on Nice and Plus. Cosmetic or elective procedures aren’t covered.

Like all pet insurers, we have waiting periods. They're the time between when your policy starts and when you can claim for certain conditions. They exist to make sure cover is there for genuinely unexpected events, not for conditions that were already developing when you signed up.

At Naked, the waiting periods are:

• Accidents: no waiting period
• Illnesses: 30 days on Nice and Plus
• Breed and genetic conditions: 1 year on Nice and Plus
• Routine care: 30 days on Plus only

All waiting periods start from your policy start date.

A pre-existing condition is any illness, injury, or symptom your pet showed before your waiting period was up. It doesn't need to be formally diagnosed. If your pet was showing signs of a condition before cover started or during a waiting period, treatment for that condition won't be covered.

If it was a short-term issue that fully cleared up, it may be covered again later. Ongoing or recurring conditions stay excluded.

For example, if your cat had a once-off stomach bug, got better, and hasn’t had any related issues since, that condition may be covered again. But if it keeps coming back, needs ongoing care, or never fully clears up, it’ll stay excluded.

You only need to share what you reasonably know. If you don’t have records, that’s okay. For age, your best estimate is fine.

It’s a good idea to book a vet check-up soon after adoption. It helps establish a baseline and reduces questions later.

Naked Pet covers new conditions for short-term support. If a condition lasts longer than 90 days, or comes back more than three times in a year, it's treated as chronic. Ongoing treatment for that condition won't be covered after that.

This is standard across most pet insurers. What the initial cover does do is give you time to get a diagnosis, start early treatment, and plan for managing ongoing costs with your vet.

An accident is a sudden, unexpected physical injury: being hit by a car, swallowing a foreign object, a fall, or poisoning. No waiting period, covered on all plans.

An illness is any unexpected sickness or health decline diagnosed by a vet. Infections, cancer, and organ disease. 30-day waiting period, covered on Nice and Plus.

A breed or genetic condition is a health issue linked to your pet's genetics or breed, like hip dysplasia in large breeds or heart conditions in certain dog breeds. One-year waiting period, covered on Nice and Plus. You’ll find this exclusion in most South African pet covers.

Your excess is what you pay when you claim.

It has two parts. A percentage and a minimum rand amount. You pay whichever is higher.

If you want a clearer example, here’s how pet insurance excess works.

Yes, in some cases. If you want to increase your cover, lower your excess, increase your annual limit, or move to a higher plan, you can do that within 14 days of buying your policy. After that, you'll need to wait until your policy anniversary.

If you want to decrease your cover, you can request to do so at any time through the Naked app. Any changes are subject to approval and may be affected by claims you've already made.

Yes. Naked Pet works on a reimbursement model. You pay the vet first, then submit your claim in the app. Once it's approved, we pay you back within your limits and minus your excess.

Open the app, tap the triangle icon, and select “Make a claim”. Upload your invoice and details. It takes a few minutes.

We’ll confirm by email and take it from there. In many cases, the claim might even be paid before you leave the vet.

A detailed invoice helps a lot. Ideally it includes:

• An itemised breakdown of treatments with dates and amounts
• Description of each service or treatment
• Your vet's details
• Your pet's name and your name as the policyholder
• Invoice date and proof of payment

If the diagnosis is listed on the invoice, that helps too.

Each pet has their own separate policy.

To add another, just get a new quote. You can insure as many pets as you like.

You can cancel anytime in the app. Just select your policy, scroll down to “More options”, and tap “Cancel cover”. If you take out a new policy later, waiting periods reset and existing conditions will be treated as pre-existing.

If you have questions before cancelling, get in touch at help@naked.insure or call 0860 995 125.

No. It’s not required for cover, but it’s a good idea. If your pet gets lost, it makes a big difference. If you’re on Plus, routine care can cover the cost of getting it done.