Pet insurance grows in the US

Pet insurance grows in the US

The cost of veterinary care for pets is becoming more expensive, prompting many Americans to rush to insurers to buy insurance for their pets.

Revenue of over $ 1 billion

On average, three households in the United States, two households (about 85 million households) pet and the cost to feed these lovely friends is not cheap. Last year, Americans spent a total of $ 17 billion on veterinary care, according to the American Pet Products Association. Each dog costs $ 257 a month for routine health care, with cats at $ 182.

But accidents or illness can cost them more than double the cost, and to offset this cost, more and more families in the United States rely on pet insurance. The first niche market generated more than $ 1 billion in revenue last year. The number of US insured pets has also increased sharply, to 1.83 million last year, up 16 percent from 2016.

About 12 companies are selling pet insurance in the United States and the market leader is Nationwide, Trupanion and Healthy Paws. These companies are relatively new faces in the pet insurance market. In 2008, Trupanion began selling pet insurance, while Healthy Paws was established in 2010. In 2009, Nationwide Insurance Company began leaping into the field after acquiring veterinary pet insurance company.

Trupanion is insuring 472,000 pets and charging premiums based on their breed and age as other pet insurance companies. Insurance companies primarily focus on the two closest "human" dogs and cats, though they also offer insurance policies for many other types of pets.

Plenty of growth

The pet insurance market is still far behind in value compared to other auto, home and medical insurance markets but is growing fast. Last year, total pet insurance sales in the United States increased 23% from the previous year, according to the North American Pet Health Association. With just under 1 percent of the "population" of dogs and cats being raised in the United States, insurance companies expect growth momentum to continue.

"12 million dogs and cats are born each year. As a result, the pet insurance market is still growing, "said Rob Jackson, executive director of the Healthy Paws Pet Insurance Company.

A measure for assessing the potential of the pet insurance market is the UK where 25% of dogs and cats are insured, according to pet insurance specialist Laura Bennett.

In 2017, Americans fed 94.2 million cats and 89.7 million dogs, representing nearly 50 percent of the 393 million pets raised in the United States, including birds, reptiles and other large animals such as pigs, horse.

Pet insurance packages that cover the cost of veterinary care are a hybrid. As with health insurance, these packages usually pay for accidents and illnesses, but because pets are owned, technically, they are also considered as a type of property insurance. Like home and car insurance, there is a difference: with auto insurance, drivers are not expected to have many accidents and pet owners will take their pets to the veterinarian whenever they have health problem.