Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

North American Pet Health Insurance Month is coming up - get your entries in!

I can't believe it's that time again but Pet Health Insurance Month is coming up in September! The North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) is sponsoring the event across the US and Canada.

Time to dust off your story telling submit your pet insurance claim stories and nominate your favorite veterinarian for some great prizes, including $1,000 for you and a grant for your veterinarian. You can do it!

The 2009 pet insurance story was Heimdall's battle with a rare type of pneumonia that cost more than $10,000.

Last year's winning veterinarian was Dr. Wayne Ingmire of Chicago, IL.

Check out the details over at NAPHIA.org.

Press Release: Embrace Pet Insurance Swims Upstream To Add Goldfish Coverage to Its Product Range

Embrace is tapping into the world of fish parents who care for the 75 million goldfish in America

Mayfield Village, OH – Embrace Pet Insurance swims against the tide, adding goldfish health insurance coverage to its customizable product range.

 

Now that Embrace Pet Insurance is intimately familiar with the cat and dog health insurance market in the US, the company is leveraging its actuarial and insurance knowledge and is announcing its new customizable goldfish insurance product.

 

Laura Bennett, Embrace co-founder and the only goldfish insurance actuary in the US, explains the rational for such a move. “Goldfish might seem to be one dimensional and unfeeling pets to the uninitiated, but underneath their scaly exterior, they really have a heart of gold. Those who welcome goldfish into their family reap a lifetime of emotion from these loving pets.”

 

Bennett developed goldfish mortality and morbidity actuarial tables based on her own lifetime of experience raising the domesticated fish. “Yes, there’s a large drop off when you bring them home from the fair, but if they survive the initial shock, they settle in quite well. I loved many goldfish in our house growing up. I particularly remember my third goldfish, Jonathan, who lived to the ripe old age of 12 years. I’m sure he would have lived several years longer if our cat Lily hadn’t finally found out that cats aren’t actually allergic to water. That was a very sad day in our household.”

 

Embrace goldfish insurance covers hereditary conditions such as swim bladder and telescopic eye problem (as long as they aren’t showing clinical signs before you purchase your insurance). The insurance also covers a variety of treatments for goldfish illnesses, from antibiotics for dropsy, to weight reduction programs for overfeeding, to amputation surgery for fin rot.

 

Bennett says “Most people have no idea how expensive it can be to treat some of these every-day conditions. Fin amputation surgeries can range anywhere from $500 using aquarium sedatives, a fish net, and a pair of nail scissors, to $15,000 for a board certified specialist using a specialized breathing table developed for fish. Gone are the days of flushing a goldfish down the toilet (also known as economic euthanasia). Veterinarians can do so much more for goldfish than they used to, even 5 years ago.”

 

Goldfish premium rates range from as little as $2 up to $56 a month and are based on a number of factors such as fish age (have your veterinarian give you an estimate if you aren’t sure of your goldfish’s exact date of birth), location (fish vets in NY city are so much more expensive than those in Fargo MN); and breed (the overbred Ekoj hybrid is particularly sickly) all affect the premium. You can also get a multi-pet discount, although having a family cat dramatically increases the rate.

 

If you love your goldfish as much as we do, Embrace Pet Insurance recommends goldfish insurance for your finned friends. It’s the one thing you can’t buy when you need it. To explore your goldfish insurance options, call 800-511-9172, or go to www.embracepetinsurance.com for a customized quote.

 

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About Embrace Pet Insurance

Embrace Pet Insurance Agency LLC is a specialist insurance agency headquartered in Mayfield Village, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Embrace was founded by Laura Bennett and Alex Krooglik, pet parents who also happen to be insurance experts, and offers self-serve, customizable pet health insurance for dogs and cats, and now goldfish. All goldfish policies are underwritten by Carp Health Assurance Company. Embrace is based on the core values of innovation and not taking oneself too seriously. On the web at Embrace Pet Insurance and the Embrace Pet Insurance blog.  

 

Addendum: if you didn't notice by now, this was posted on April Fool's Day. Just a little pet insurance humor for the day :)

Announcement: Embrace Pet Insurance partners with The International Cat Association TICA

Ooh ooh! Some exciting news I've been dying to share.

We at Embrace Pet Insurance have partnered with The International Cat Association (TICA) to provide discounts and pet health insurance education to TICA's members and pet owners.

While I do love dogs (having grown up with many different canine characters through to my adulthood), I've most recently had only cats in the house (young family, young company, neglected husband - no time to care properly for a dog - yet!) so I'm very happy with this relationship. Cats get the short end of the stick when it comes to pet insurance so hopefully our relationship with TICA will change that.

Here's my favorite part of the press release:

"Other organizations have associations with other pet insurance companies but Embrace not only provides what we consider the best insurance coverage compared to other companies, but Embrace also shares the same philosophy about cat welfare as TICA," said Fisher. "That is important to our members and it is why we chose to partner with Embrace."

About The International Cat Association
Organized during 1979, The International Cat Association (TICA) is the world's largest genetic registry of pedigreed cats, largest registry of household pet cats and kittens, and one of the world's largest sanctioning bodies for cat shows. TICA currently recognizes more than 54 breeds of cats. No matter where you are, you’re in TICA’s world. A world of fabulous felines…fun…and friendships. To learn more about TICA visit http://www.tica.org/

Picture courtesy of Emily Krooglik, age 6 (daughter of Alex Krooglik, co-founder of Embrace) - it's her modernistic tribute to her black cat Mila. Don't you think it's awesome?!

PawNation talks pet insurance

AOL's Paw Nation blog recently ran an article on pet insurance, with a nice mention of Embrace.

Pet insurance covers your pet's accidents, injuries, and illnesses; sometimes it will even take care of chronic conditions, dental care or check-ups. Depending on the type of care your pet needs, pet health insurance can help your four-legged friend maintain a healthy lifestyle without the build up of vet bills.

It's not a bad little article but needs a little clarification in some areas:

Article: ...Unlike most human health insurance, many pet insurance plans let you keep your vet, so your pooch or kitty won't have to leave his or her favorite doctor.

Fact: currently, ALL pet insurance plans let you keep going to your veterinarian. Quite frankly, your veterinarian doesn't even have to know you have pet insurance because you pay your vet bill and then claim from the pet insurer directly. 

Article: ...On the other end of the spectrum, Embrace Pet Insurance covers cancer treatments and chronic illnesses, but not pre-existing conditions, like respiratory infections.

Fact: it's true, Embrace does not cover pre-existing conditions - but then, neither does any other pet insurer. Having said that, we do cover pre-existing conditions if the condition is curable, like a respiratory infection, after goes away for 12 months or more. And just to be absolutely clear, we cover respiratory infections if they aren't pre-existing conditions, just in case you were wondering :)

Article: Pet insurance isn't for everyone. Talk to your vet about what type of pet health insurance plan would be best for you and your furry companion.

Fact: there's no doubt that there are many veterinarians who understand pet insurance and  would be able and willing help you decide what plan is best for you - but not as many as you might think. Vets focus on loving care and veterinary medicine - that's their job. They may feel pet insurance comes under that purview; they may not.  Would you ask your own doctor which health insurance plan is right for you?

When looking into pet insurance, I recommend you research in many places to find the plan that works for you - by all means, ask your veterinarian what he or she thinks, but also...

• read pet blogs on the topic,
• talk to other pet parents about their pet insurance experience,
• read online reviews (www.petinsurancereview.com is a good place to start),
• go to the companies' websites and call them with your questions.

Then you'll be in a good place to make the right decision for you.

Embrace Pet Insurance joins NAPHIA

NAPHIA is the North American Pet Health Insurance Association and Embrace is the 5th member to join (see bottom of this post for the other members).

I'm not one for joining organizations (I have better things to be doing with my time right now) but I thought this is one was worth the time and effort.

Pet insurance is only going to grow if pet parents know more about the benefits of pet insurance and we (embrace) can't do it by ourselves.

Pet Health Insurance Association Grows in Robust Market Adding Additional Pedigree to Board of Directors

May 7, 2009 (Pittsburgh, PA) The North American Pet Health Insurance Association(NAPHIA) announced today the addition of Laura Bennett, President and Chief Embracer of Embrace Pet Insurance to its Board of Directors.

According to Loran Hickton, Executive Director of NAPHIA, “Laura Bennett is a champion of pets and their owners. Along with her team, she has built a successful pet health insurance company, while supporting the most positive principals of third party support for better pet care for all pets. Laura is creative and a keenly focused business person who will add significant value to the efforts of our Board.”

Ms. Bennett has over 16 years of insurance industry experience, including her work for The Canada Life Assurance Company in Toronto, Canada, and Dublin, Ireland, where she held a number of different leadership roles in asset-liability management, strategic planning, and business development. Laura holds an honors mathematics degree from the University of Western Ontario, is a qualified life and health actuary, and holds a chartered financial analyst designation. Laura is the only pet health insurance actuary in North America. Laura received her MBA, with a concentration in Strategic and Entrepreneurial Management from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, where she graduated with several university and peer awards. She was also part of the team that won first prize in the Wharton Business Plan Competition in 2003, with an entry for a pet insurance company.

“I am honored to be a member of this distinguished board and I look forward to working with all pet health insurance providers to educate pet parents on the value of pet insurance, and to promote the highest levels of transparency in pet health insurance,” added Laura Bennett.  

“While this difficult economy presents challenges for consumers and pet owners, it is also driving a robust market for pet insurance; in fact, the market in North America is very strong and has grown over 300% in just the past few years,” continued Hickton.

Research by the American Veterinary Medical Association shows that today pets are truly members of the American family. In the United States, for example, about 60% of households have at least one dog, cat, bird, or other companion animal; many have more than one. There are more than 72 million pet dogs in the U.S. and nearly 82 million pet cats. The owners of these pets spent $24.5 billion on veterinary medicine in 2006, more than double their spending of ten years earlier.

The Board of Directors of NAPHIA:

Jack Stephens, DVM, President & Founder, Pets Best Pet Health Insurance

Darryl Rawlings, CEO & Founder, American Pet Insurance Company, Trupanion™ and Vetinsurance™ brands

Dennis Rushovich, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hartville Group, which includes Hartville Pet Health Insurance, ASPCA Pet Health Insurance™, and Petshealth Care Plan™ brands

Randy Valpy, President & COO, SecuriCan, Petsecure Pet Health Insurance

Founded in 2007, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association is committed to educating and promoting the values and benefits of pet health insurance to North American pet owners, the general public, and the veterinary industry.  For more information, visit www.naphia.orgor call 412-319-7730 / 412-908-9766.

Loran Hickton

Executive Director

North American Pet Health Insurance Association

Are you an animal lover who wants to be a TV star?

If you are an animal lover who's always wanted to be on TV, here's your chance.

GotCast is casting for a major network television show and they're looking for all sorts of people that have animals as an intergral part of their life. If your family has a love for animals & it is an integral part of your lives, business, hobby or philanthropic nature... they want to hear from you.

What are they looking for?

Families w/kids that either have lots of pets/animals (any type), animal related businesses, animal rescues, or interesting animal dynamics in the family! You could rescue animals, train animals, raise animals, work with animals or just love animals and have lots of them.

Applications run from 4/29/2009 12:00 AM to 5/29/2009 11:59 PM and you must be at least 18 years old.

Casting applications are here. Good luck!

Happy Cinco de Mayo from Embrace Pet Insurance

Couldn't resist - Happy Cinco de Mayo from Embrace... and Stella, an Embraced bulldog.

Pet shipping fraudsters resort to bullying

One of the people who contacted us about her dog being shipped from abroad (Cameroon I believe) pushed back at the scammers:

YOU ARE A FRAUD, USING EMBRACE LOGO IS ILLEGAL, I HAVE SENT YOU TWO NOTICES AND YOU HAVENT GOT BACK TO ME, PEOPLE FROM THE REAL EMBRACE ANIMAL INSURANCE HAS TOLD ME TO GO TO POLICE AND THAT THE REAL EMBRACE INSURANCE IS GOING TO FIND YOU, AND PROBABLY TAKE YOU TO COURT...

Here is the disturbing response:

DEAR CLIENT,

WE AREN'T FRAUDSTERS AND THE MAIN REASON WE NEVER GOT BACK TO YOU IS BECAUSE WE DON'T LOVE TO BE INSULTED.THAT LOGO WE USED WAS CREATED BY ONE OF OUR COMPUTER TECHNICIANS SO WE DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.

BUT NEVER THE LESS WE RECEIVED PAYMENTS TODAY FROM MARY TROTT FOR YOUR PUPPY'S INSURANCE AND CRATE AND WE ARE VERY HAPPY TO INFORM YOU THAT WE WOULD GET HER SHIPPED OVER TO YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

ITS BEEN MORE THAN TWO WEEKS TODAY WE HAVE KEPT YOUR PUPPY HERE AT OUR AIRLINES AND SHE HAS BEEN GIVEN MAXIMUM ATTENTION BY THE PET DEPARTMENT AND BY THE VET.SHE WAS BEEN CHECKED EVERY DAY BY THE VET SO THAT SHE SHOULD FALL SICK OR GET ANY ILLNESS FROM HERE BUT THE VET SAYS THE SERVICES HE RENDERED IS FREE OF CHARGE SO YOU WOULDN'T PAY ANY MONEY FOR THE CHECKS HE GAVE YOUR PUPPY EACH DAY.

WE PROVIDED FOOD TO YOUR PUPPY EVER SINCE SHE WAS BROUGHT HERE UNTIL TODAY AND WE EXPECT YOU TO BEHAVE LIKE A RESPONSIBLE WOMAN AND GET ALL FOOD FEES REFUNDED BACK TO US BECAUSE THE INSURANCE AND CRATE FEES YOU PAID IS GOING TO BE REFUNDED BACK TO YOU AS WELL SO WE WOULD WANT YOU TO PAY OUR MONEY BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO THAT WE CAN GET HER SHIPPED OVER TO YOU.

RIGHT NOW EVERYTHING IS READY FOR HER FLIGHT SHE HAS ALL HER PAPERS IN ORDER BUT WE WOULD GET HER SHIPPED OVER TO YOU ONLY AFTER YOU GET HER FOOD FEES PAID.WE CALCULATED THE AMOUNT OF FOOD WE GAVE HER IT AMOUNTED TO $790 BUT WE CAN'T ASK YOU TO PAY ALL OF THAT SINCE YOU JUST PAID HER INSURANCE AND CRATE FEES.WE WOULD REDUCE THE AMOUNT SO THAT YOU CAN AFFORD IT.

YOU WOULD PAY ONLY $300 FOR HER FEEDING FEES WHICH WE GAVE HER OR ELSE SHE COULDN'T BE ALIVE TODAY AND YOU BEST KNOW THAT FOOD IS VERY NECESSARY RIGHT..SO GO RIGHT NOW AND GET THE MONEY PAID SO THAT WE CAN RECEIVE THE MONEY AND GET THE PUPPY SHIPPED OVER TO YOU.NOTHING IS WRONG WITH YOUR PUPPY,SHE HAS ALL HER PAPERS AND EVERYTHING BUT HER FEEDING FEES MUST BE PAID FIRST AND WE WOULD GET HER SENT ONCE THAT IS PAID.

ONCE YOU ARE READY TO GET IT PAID LET US KNOW SO THAT WE CAN LET YOU KNOW HOW AND WHERE TO GET THE MONEY SENT TO.

THANKS

MANAGEMENT.

Don't be taken in. There is no insurance. There is no puppy.

Related Posts:
Email scam using Embrace Pet Insurance as a lure - bah! - intro to the pet scam
Follow up on Online Scam using Pet Insurance - what you can do if you have been duped :(
Foreign puppy shipping fraud continues - another sample letter from scammers

Hello to my WorkSmark eMarketing webinar participants!

Welcome to Embrace's blog. Delighted to have you drop by.

As I mentioned in the Webinar, you can navigate around the blog using the left hand panels to give you an overview and of course there's the Lijit search box top right. 

Feel free to post any follow up comments or thoughts in the comments below and I'll be happy to address them if I can. And if you start a blog after the webinar because of the webinar, please post your link in the comments - I'd love to see what everyone gets up to.

Happy blogging!

PS. The presentation is below.

Embrace Pet Insurance Business Blogging Case Study - eMarketing Techniques Webinar

Gratuitous Embrace articles and a Free Webinar

First, a couple of gratuitous mentions of articles highlighting Embrace, the first being "In the Doghouse", an article on the Lloyd's of London website covering heriditary conditions in purebred dogs. With the recent controversial stance by the BBC not to show Crufts, the 118-year old dog show (equivalent to the Westminster Dog Show here in the US), the article talks about different costs for different breeds with a few quotes from me.

The second is an interview I did with Dr. Janet Tobiassen over at the About.com Veterinary Medicine site talking about Embrace and our pet insurance product. Check it out - I'm sure you'll learn something about Embrace you didn't know before.

And finally, join me for a free webinar I'm presenting on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EDT. It's a business blogging case study based on Embrace Pet Insurance and is kindly being hosted by Worksmart Emarketing, based here in Cleveland. Do come and join in the fun.