Pet Age Staff //September 28, 2016//
To celebrate its 10th year, Petplan, an insurance provider for pets, has re-launched its pet insurance products in the United States and Canada with the industry’s first fully customizable pet insurance plan. The company credits XL Specialty Insurance Company, an XL Catlin Insurance company and Petplan’s new underwriting partner, for making the launch possible.
According to the company, Petplan was the first provider to insure pets of any age with no policy exclusions for hereditary and chronic conditions or premium increases based on an individual pet’s claims. These features have since largely become industry standards in today’s rapidly-growing pet insurance marketplace.
“More than ever, pet parents want to ensure that their pets can receive the medical care they deserve,” said Petplan co-CEO and co-founder Chris Ashton. “Our goal was to put those treatment options within reach for everyone.”
New plan features include:
These new features come in addition to Petplan’s existing standards, including:
The amount of dollars spent on veterinary care has risen sharply over the last decade. The American Pet Products Association (APPA) estimates that Americans will spend $15.92 billion on veterinary care this year, a 69 percent increase over the $9.4 billion spent in 2006.
According to Petplan, rising costs are due, in part, to the availability of more sophisticated treatment options. Modalities such as MRI, surgery and chemotherapy have become widely available. With today’s cutting-edge treatment options such as cold laser, gamma knife and stem cell therapy, veterinarians can treat and cure more conditions, less invasively, than ever before.
The American pet insurance market has grown in direct response. According to figures from the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA), over 1.4 million pets were insured in the U.S. at the end of 2015, and that number is growing at 12 percent annually. In 2006, there were just six pet insurance providers; today, they count 12.
“We’re delighted to partner with Petplan,” said XL Specialty Insurance Company’s Chris Bressette, senior vice president and head of North American programs at XL Catlin. “We look forward to working with them to significantly grow the market by providing pet owners with innovative coverage and dedicated and attentive claims service.”
To learn more about Petplan’s pet insurance products, visit www.petplan.com.