Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

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

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

10 Things You Can Do To Have The Best Pet Insurance Experience Ever

Now that you have bought your Embrace pet insurance policy, here are 10 activities you can do to make your pet insurance experience a productive and . 

1. Memorize the Embrace phone number on your cell phone
   800-511-9172 You never know when you'll want to call in with questions
2. Print out 2 copies of your personalized Claim Form
   Put one in your car's glove compartment and take one to your veterinary clinic and ask them to put it in your file. That way, it's one less thing to think about during a health issue.
3. Print out your Orthopedic Waiver Form
   Coming soon to an Embrace policy near you - a form to record the veterinary exam that can reduce the 6 month waiting period for orthopedic issues down to 14 days. Currently, we have a 6 month waiting period for cruciate ligament issues and your vet can examine your pet and write a note saying there are no issues with your pet's knees - there's no form needed for that.
4. Read your terms and conditions!
   I know, this is so obvious, why should I even mention it but my experience is that only 1 in 10 pet parents actually read their policies. At the very least, check your information is correct and your policy is what you asked for. Then read the rest of the policy; understanding of your terms and conditions will make for a much better pet insurance experience. 
5. Call us with your questions
   Here's the number again 800 -511-9172 (of course, it's already on your cell phone, right?) Now that you've read your policy, you probably have questions. What better time to call than now to get those questions answered. You really don't want to be getting the answers from the lobby of your local emergency vet clinic.
6. Have your Embraced pet checked up by your veterinarian.
   Not only is it a good idea, particularly if you don't have much health history for your pet (makes your first claim go faster if you have something to fax in), but you can get the Orthopedic/Cruciate Waiver check out of the way. And you can get them to do task number 8 below. Woohoo!
7. Tell your veterinarian you've Embraced your pet
   Let your vet know you have Embrace pet insurance and that it covers hereditary conditions, chronic conditions, and pays based on their vet bills, not on a benefit schedule. She or he might be surprised that such a thing exists! 
8. Fax in your pet's health history
   800-238-1042 (it's on your claim form too - the one you are going to put in your pet's file, right?) This will make your first claim go faster. Specifically, ask your vet to fax us your doctor's hand written notes for every vet visit you pet has made, including routine visits and for every vet including one-off visits to other clinics. If your pet is older than 2 years old, start with the last 2 year's worth of history.  
9. Maximize your discounts
   We offer discounts for spayed/neutered pets (5%) and microchipped pets (another 5%) so if your pet wasn't spayed or neutered and/or microchipped when you signed up for your insurance but that changes, phone in (remember the number?) and let us know - you'll need the microchip number for that discount. We'll drop your premium immediately.
10. Set up your own pet health savings account
    Your Embrace pet insurance policy has a deductible and copay component to your policy. So to be financially prudent, you might want to set up a small fund to cover your annual deductible and copay. For example, if your annual deductible is $200 and your copay is 20%, you will be paying the first $200 of a claim and then 20% of the total thereafter. On a $500 claim, that's $260 out of pocket and on a $1,500 claim (about what an inexpensive cruciate repair costs), that's $460.
11. And bonus points - send us photos of you and your Embraced pets. We love the cute and fuzzies and you might see them on this blog one day!

For the experienced Embraced pet parent, any other suggestions come to mind?

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.

News: Embrace Pet Insurance Secures Over $2 Million in First Institutional Funding Round

You may have seen our press release this week - we've just raised our first round of institutional funding. Woo-hoo!

In the evolution of developing company, it's quite a big accomplishment to pursuade professional investors to take a plunge in one's company, particularly in this economic environment, so we feel very positive about our next phase of growth.

“We are excited about NCT Venture's decision to invest in our company and see this funding as a tremendous vote of confidence in our product leadership and growth strategy, particularly in these difficult economic times,” said Bennett, Chief Executive Officer of Embrace. “This investment will help us continue to deliver the industry’s best pet insurance product suite to pet parents, grow our sales and marketing support, and become one of the few in the industry to do so profitably.”
[That Bennett, she's such a know-it-all :)]

We're particularly pleased with NCT Ventures as our investing partners. They are entrepreneurs as well and know from experience the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. We are looking forward to working with them to grow Embrace.

NCT Ventures (www.nctventures.com) is a Columbus, OH-based venture capital firm that is founded by entrepreneurs. The NCT investment team is passionate about people and they believe an idea is only as good the entrepreneurs behind it. Over the past 20 years NCT has helped build and grow many successful companies and they get excited about sharing experiences, methods and time with entrepreneurs through hands-on operational support. NCT’s investment focus is in marketing, logistics and disruptive business models that are headquartered in the Midwest.

Now that we have raised some money, don't be looking for an Embrace Super Bowl ad any time soon (nor a placement on a cable home renovation show - please stop calling!)

It's time to stay focused and continue to grow. This difficult economy is going to be a test but when we make it through the other side, we'll be a better company for it.

Now, back to work; no time for slacking...

Embrace Pet Insurance in AARP magazine

Even AARP is talking about pet insurance in their November 2008 online article "Is a Policy on Your Pet the Best Deal?"

I was quoted about using pet insurance reducing risk in the family finances:

By opting for pet insurance, 'You're reducing the risk in your life,' said Laura Bennett, chief executive officer and co-founder of Embrace Pet Insurance. 'In today's uncertain economy, you want to decrease uncertainty in your life. It reduces the spike of expense you would have to face,' if a pet faced an expensive health issue, she advised.

The idea of pet insurance usually comes around 'after the fact,' she continued. 'The fact is that the unexpected can always happen. You think of all of the positive things about having a pet the company, the fun, the naughtiness, not the financial responsibility, which obviously hits home when something expensive happens. Pet insurance is one of those things you can't buy when you need it.'

The tone of the article is very typical for the US though - not sure really if pet insurance is a good idea.

Interestingly, in the UK, where over 20% of cats and dogs are insured, most articles about why you'd be crazy not to get pet insurance.

When do you think US journalists will work it out? 

Do we see Geico Pet Insurance on the horizon?

Richard Zatorski, a consulting actuary writing for the American Academy of Actuaries magazine, Contingencies, recently wrote an article on innovation in insurance. He starts off:

The insurance industry has rarely been known for its creativity and foresight with regard to the emerging needs of its customers. In fact, many recent policy changes have been attempts to clarify what isn’t covered as opposed to giving consumers more and better features to choose from.

Anyone living in Florida or on the gulf coast needing home owners insurance knows all about that.

He then goes on to talk about microtrends - "intense identity groups that are growing and have needs and wants unmet by the current crop of companies and marketers." (the book he references is Mark Penn’s book Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes if you are interested in the topic.)

So I was gratified to see he picked up on pet insurance as one of these trends in insurance.

Veterinary Pet Insurance in Brea, Calif., and Embrace Pet Insurance in Cleveland are among those companies that currently offer comprehensive health insurance products for pets, but considering all those childless couples, empty nesters, and retirees for whom the pet has become a true family member, this area may be ripe for further exploration.

Someday, that ever-present gecko may become the official spokesanimal for policies covering pet life insurance, funeral expenses, and maybe even genetic cloning to replace dear old Fido in a way never before possible.

Now that would be something - Geico Pet Insurance. Perhaps I could do the voice of a talking British dog for that one :)

The rest of the article goes on to talk about other niche insurance products - you'll just have to read the article Why Didn't I Think of That? to find out what they are.

Canadian pet insurer buys UK pet insurer

In an interesting development in the pet insurance world, Pethealth, a Canadian pet insurance company, bought Pet Protect, a British insurer from Domestic & General Insurance in the UK for 3.5 mil British pounds (7.133 mil Canadian dollars/$6.98 mil US) in cash.

Some interesting points to note from the press release:

The purchase price represents 27% of 2007 gross written premiums placed by Pet Protect.
Prior deals involving pet insurance companies have been in the 1-2 times gross written premium so this is a bargain indeed; however, it also implies that the earnings of the book of business isn't the best, which means there's work to be done by the new owners.

The purchase price being paid for the company represents approximately Pounds Sterling 64.50 (C$129) per paid policy in force.
Not bad. Pethealth gets policies that make money for them (hopefully) and infrastructure to sell more policies that make money for them. As a reference, according to Pethealth's prior earnings discussions, their acquisition costs per policy in North America is in the range of $50-60 (although this does not include any non-insurance costs that are incurred to generate those policies).

Pet Protect currently places insurance for over 54,300 dogs and cats, representing approximately 3% of the U.K. market.
54,300 dogs and cats insured resulting in 3% of the market implies that the total market in the UK is 1.8 million pets insured.

According to the latest Defaqto report (2006) on pet insurance in the UK, the total number of cats and dogs in the UK is around 16.4 million with 3.8 million insured (23%). When I was at the International Pet Insurance Conference in 2006, UK insurers uniformly said that about 20% of cats and dogs are insured insured (3.3 million cats and dogs insured). So that would make Pet Protect's share in the 1.4 - 1.7% range rather than 3%. Probably some rounding and different assumptions making up the difference (numbers - who needs them!)

So overall, kudos to Mark Warren and the gang over at Pethealth. It will be interesting to see what they do in the UK. They've certainly done very well in the US.

Geeking out - who owns certain pet insurance website domains?

I was playing around with Whois - a fun service for geeks who want to know who has registered a particular domain name. I figured I would take a look at who owns some hypothetical pet insurance domains - and what fun it turned out to be.

Let's start with www.purinapetinsurance.com - an obvious (but wrong) candidate for Purina to launch with. Who owns it? Strangely enough Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI - largest pet insurer in the US) [if you are wondering, the Purina product is going out under www.PurinaCare.com.] Perhaps they have this because they used to have a relationship with Purina many years ago.

Moving right along, how about Walmart Pet Insurance - we all know Wal*mart has been getting its fingers into the financial services arena. No reason they wouldn't consider pet insurance for their stable of products. Turns out that has been snapped up by the Hartville Group (third largest pet insurer in the US.)

Along the same lines, what about Target Pet Insurance? Pet Protect has it (a smaller pet insurer that stopped selling new business in 2006.)

Very interesting! I wonder what the motivation for holding these urls is.

My question to my geekier friends out there - can you get big money out of holding branded domain names like this?

By the way, for those of you looking for some pet insurance web real estate to invest in, www.AmazonPetInsurance.com, www.BlueCrossPetInsurance.com, and www.CostcoPetInsurance.com are all free - for now.

Dig in!

Update: Looks like AmazonPetInsurance.com was snapped up by a Hong Kong firm July 2008.

Celebrating the top posts for the Embrace Pet Insurance blog

Hard to believe but it was 3 years ago today that I wrote the first pet insurance blog entry. Time flies, as they say, but boy, has a lot ever happened in that time.

So, in honor of our big day, I thought I'd share the top viewed posts from the blog:

1. Saddle Thrombus in Cats - a description of this awful and mostly terminal condition. This blog post also has the most comments, most of which are heart rending. Get out the Kleenex's when reading this one.
2. My Dog or Cat is Limping - what could that limp be? Post describes a number of different scenarios.
3. Dog or Cat Protective Head Cone - could it be those great pictures on this post? What a strange one to be in the top 6
4. Toe Amputations for Cats and Dogs - an odd but strangely interesting post on loosing a toe to illness or accident
5. Perineal Urethrostomy: Description and Costs - an altogether ouchy topic for male cats but costly too
6. Repairing a Tracheal Collapse in Dogs - another costly procedure for smaller dogs

Wonder what the next year's top posts will be - any suggestions for topics you'd like me to cover?

PS. That's Ruby, Jonathan's new dog, who came to visit the office this morning. Nice to have our puppy therapy so early in the week.