Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

unusual brands for pet insurance in the UK

There are over 80 brands of pet insurance in the UK, backed by maybe 10 underwriters. Here are some of the more unusual brands for pet insurance.

	Kwik-Fit are experts in automotive parts repair and replacement including tyres, exhausts, brakes and MoT testing.
	Halfords is the UK's leading retailer for car maintenance, car enhancement, and leisure accessories for cars.
	Virgin - one of the most respected brands in Britain - is now becoming the first global brand name of the 21st century.They are involved in planes, trains, finance, soft drinks, music, mobile phones, holidays, cars, wines, publishing, bridal wear - the lot!
	Superdrug is a UK based health & beauty retailer, offering great value on the high street.
	The Southampton Football Club is an English premier league football team (aka soccer in the US)

A lot of new cats and dogs every year

In the UK, one of the British speakers at the pet insurance conference I was at last week said that the UK pet population recycles itself every 14 years, so there are about 1.1 million cats and dogs born in the UK each year as replacements.

If you were to apply this rough rule of thumb to the US pet population of approximately 164 million cats and dogs (according to the APPMA), that means there are about 11.7 million new cats and dogs born each year.

That's a lot of cats and dogs to find homes for indeed.

1st International Pet Insurance Conference 2006

I was lucky enough to attend the first ever International Pet Insurance Conference in Birmingham, UK last week (April 19 & 20, 2006) along with many of my pet insurance colleagues from many different companies from around the world. I'll be passing on some tidbits I learned while I was there in this blog over the next couple of weeks.

What was my biggest learning? That the UK pet insurers look just like the US insurers but bigger. The products and issues all seem to be the same, just with a different accent.

How to choose the right pet health insurance

Pet insurance is becoming a more popular financial service if you just look at the number of articles that are popping up in reputable media sources about the topic.

For example, the April edition of Smart Money had a lengthy article on the pros and cons of pet insurance and check out this recent MSNBC article about how to choose pet insurance. It's not a bad article as it actually mentions more than one pet insurer; however, the article doesn't cover the important aspects of a pet insurance policy.

The MSNBC article sums up the need for pet insurance as follows:

“There is no discounting the human-animal bond,” says McConnell. “When your cat is the reason you get up in the morning, and you are in the vet’s office being told there is a procedure that will save its life, you are willing to find a way to pay.” Having pet insurance can make doing so that much easier.

Related blog entries:

What questions should I ask when buying pet insurance?

Smart money pet insurance article

New Poll

Check out the poll in the right hand menu. It's a natural follow on from the previous poll about dogs - how many cats do you have? Even if you have none, we'd love to know.

Thank you!

How many dogs do you have?

Here is the poll summary for this week. Interestly, a quarter of you don't have a dog. Does that mean you have a cat, an iguana, a parakeet instead? Or just looking for information on dogs as you are planning to get one.

None:               23%

One:                23%

Two:                38%

Three:              8%

More than 3:      8%

Even Microsoft thinks pets are the next big idea...

According to Microsoft, businesses related to pets are one of the fastest growing sectors for entrepreneurs:

To tap into the market, imagine human or child-care needs that can migrate. Pet obesity, for instance, is a growing problem. Health and life insurance policies for pets are likewise skyrocketing.

Nice of them to notice pet insurance but I wouldn't recommend anyone try to get into it - it's so much harder than I ever imagined.

Have any of you recently started a pet-related business? What prompted you to do it and what challenges are you facing? Perhaps our readers can help your business.

Dog-eared

I was sorting through my boxes of books the other day and some of them were beginning to look a little "dog-eared" after our move last year. Sometimes I feel a little dog-eared after a day of pet insurance too.

I know, it's a little "lame" (another pun intended) but even our puns are looking a little dog-eared too.

Lifetime cost of a dog

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Almost $12,000 over a lifetime for a small dog that lives 15 years, and more than $23,000 for a larger breed that lives for 12."

That's only an average; it only gets worse if your dog gets an illness early in its lifetime that needs a lot of treatment at the vets.

Before you commit to a dog or cat, make sure you are ready for the costs (pet insurance can help here) and be sure to do your research on any particular breed you are considering. Some are more likely to have expensive veterinary bills than other. Go ask your vet for some advice before you bring a new puppy (or kitten) into the house.

pet trusts

In the US, pets are property by law - in other words, your beloved bundle of fur is treated the same way a fur coat would be under the law. Not a  very nice thought is it? That means you cannot leave money to your cat or dog directly in your will, you have to do it through a pet trust.

Each state's laws are different but lawyers and courts are seeing more of these pet trusts, meaning that they are implemented in the way the pet guardian intended.

Some tips:

• use a lawyer - you don't want anything being unclear or a relative who feels hard done by somehow undoing the trust
• assign your pet to someone who has agreed to take on the pet once you are gone - the key point is that it shouldn't be a surprise when Fluffy shows up on his or her doorstep
• assign a different person to manage the trust on behalf of the pet. In other words, the person controlling the money should not be the person benefiting from the money.
• set it up as soon as possible. Death is never expected...
• provide instructions and enough money to cover all the care your pet will need for it's remaining lifetime: food; treats; accessories; boarding; day care; and of course, veterinary care (pet insurance works well here) - it can add up to quite a bit
• decide what to do with any money left in the trust after the pet has passed on

I'm not an expert by any means, so do your research to do it right.