Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

Top 10 Pet-related Trends 2012

Did you know that that spending on pets in 2011 topped $50 billion for the first time? That's a lot of dog collars, don't you think! 

Actually, we spend on everything from pet accessories and food to veterinary care and services such as boarding and pet sitting. To put $50 billion in perspective, the pet industry tops the book publishing ($31 billion) and women’s clothing ($41 billion) industries by a healthy margin.

Want to know what is driving pet spending in 2012? Hop on over to the Embrace site for an in-depth look at pet-related trends for 2012. 

Related Posts:
Pet Industry Trends 2012
Pet Industry Trends 2011
Pet Industry Trends 2010
Pet Industry Trends 2009
Pet Industry Trends 2008
Pet Industry Trends 2007
Pet Industry Trends 2006

About the author: Laura Bennett FSA CFA is the CEO and Co-Founder of Embrace Pet Insurance. Her career working in the insurance industry has taken her from Toronto, Canada and Dublin Ireland to the US, where she obtained her MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Laura was the first pet insurance actuary in the United States and was named to the Society of Actuaries Top 100 Actuarial Pioneers for her ground-breaking work in pet insurance. Laura strongly believes in furthering awareness of pet insurance across North America and leads that work in her third year as Chairman of the Board of NAPHIA, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association. Laura also writes a blog on pet-related issues, the Embrace Pet Insurance blog.

New Feature: View your Embrace claim status online

Excellent news! You can now view your Embrace Pet Insurance claim status online. It's about time!

Go to our website, click on the "after you enroll" tab and right at the bottom, click the "view your claims".

Or you can click directly this view your claims and bookmark it for future use.

It's a good start and I'm sure you'll have suggestions on improvements so email us at hello@embracepetinsurance.com and let us know what your thoughts are.

It goes hand in hand with the claims form download feature - another nifty tool to access your personalized claim form and orthopedic report card for all your pets in one location.

Onwards and upwards... 

 

Embrace wins NorthCoast99 Award second year in a row

The reason why we get such great customer reviews is because of our Embracers.

Yes, we have a great product. Yes, we have a great website. Yes, we are open and honest. But really, the Embrace Experience is not just a concept, it's the people that make all of that happen.

The way you are treated when you call in. The way we admit to mistakes and how we fix them. The way we love your pets too. All of which come from the Embrace Core Values and the Embracers that live them.

Which is why we work hard to hire great people with inquisitive and sharp minds to be Embracers. We can't do it any other way.

So, when someone else, not our mothers, says we have a great place to work, we love the recognition that others get what we are doing too. Yay!

Just in case you aren't from around here, a NorthCoast 99 Award recognizes the ability to maintain great workplaces that support the attraction, retention, and motivation of Top Performers. We won for the second year in a row and don't plan to stop winning any time soon.

Some interesting facts about the 99 companies that won a NorthCoast 99 award this year.

• 65% have onsite fitness classes, activities or programs (we have yoga on Mondays)
• 91% provide new hires with a welcome lunch (each new hire has lunch with their assigned Embrace buddy)
• 14,599 new employees hired in 2010 (wow, we did a rather modest part of that)
• 53% of non-management top performers participated in the creation or implementation of a new workplace policy, program or product/service in 2010 (everyone gets to chip in at Embrace)

Cabela's Pet Insurance - insure your active outdoor dogs

 
Embrace Pet Insurance announces Cabela's Pet Insurance, pet health insurance for active outdoor dogs (and their sibling cats too!)  Protect your hunting, sporting and family dog against costly accidents and illnesses with the quality and superior customer service you have come to expect from Cabela's.

If you live on the East or West coast and never been to the great outdoors, you might not have heard of Cabela's, but for the rest of us, we know Cabela's as the World's Foremost Outfitter of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear and I'm a huge fan.

Nearly every annual trip to our family cabin in Minnesota includes a visit to Cabela's to stock up on fishing gear (and maybe a t-shirt or three). I love browsing through the entire store, including the aquariums filled with local aquatic settings displaying the local fish you might catch. Such a breath of fresh air - literally. 

Cabela's is a source of affordable, high-quality outdoor equipment and their stores are phenomenal. Just try to spend less than $200 everytime you step into one - it's just not possible (or is that just me...?)

Embrace is proud to partner with Cabela's and delighted to provide Cabela's Pet Insurance to Cabela's much loved customers.

To learn about Cabela's Pet Insurance and to get a free quote, go to www.cabelaspetinsurance.com.

 

Embrace Pet Insurance NY Policies Move to RLI

Another step in the move to RLI - Embrace Pet Insurance policies in NY will move from the RLI Mt Hawley surplus lines terms and conditions to the RLI admitted paper effective today, January 31st.

I know - it's a bunch of insurance hooey, but what it means is no more upfront taxes and no more signing unintelligble insurance forms when you start your policy. In other words, no more bureaucracy.

Sing it out louch - freedom, freedom, freedom!

Related Posts - move to RLI
Embrace Pet Insurance NY Policies Move to RLI
Embrace pet insurance policies finally move over to RLI!
Embrace moves 12 more states to RLI
Embrace has a new insurance partner - A+ rated RLI Corp
What the new Embrace / RLI partnership means for you - new terms and conditions
PennHIP Pet Insurance Discount now available at Embrace Pet Insurance
The new and improved Embrace Wellness Rewards program
Anyone interested in some Embrace Dental Rewards? Pick me, pick me!
Embrace Continuing Care Sublimits are gone!
Other interesting changes in the Embrace Pet Insurance policies

Embrace pet insurance policies finally move over to RLI!

Big progress in the move to RLI... 

If you recall, Embrace Pet Insurance is in the process of moving underwriters from Lloyd's of London to RLI Corp, an A+ AM Best rated company based in Peoria IL.

We have already moved 35 states over to RLI but, as of today, we have added 12 more states to the list:

AK, GA, HI, ID, LA, MD, NH, ND, SC, VT and WV

This move leaves just 4 states, MA, NY, FL, and WA, that are not on RLI admitted paper. While we wait for state approval, we have moved these four states over to RLI's surplus lines company, Mt. Hawley, using the terms and conditions we used with our Lloyd's of London policies. The good news is that we will not apply the Continuing Care sublimit to the claims on the Mt Hawley. You can find more details of the change to Continuing Care in my article Embrace Continuing Care Sublimits are gone! 

Once the relevent departments of insurance for the remaining states give their nod of approval, we'll more these last four states to RLI admitted paper. In fact, Massachusetts will move for coverages starting Jan 10, 2011; I expect the others will move shortly thereafter.

Related Posts - move to RLI
Embrace pet insurance policies finally move over to RLI!
Embrace moves 12 more states to RLI
Embrace has a new insurance partner - A+ rated RLI Corp
What the new Embrace / RLI partnership means for you - new terms and conditions
PennHIP Pet Insurance Discount now available at Embrace Pet Insurance
The new and improved Embrace Wellness Rewards program
Anyone interested in some Embrace Dental Rewards? Pick me, pick me!
Embrace Continuing Care Sublimits are gone!
Other interesting changes in the Embrace Pet Insurance policies

Embrace moves 12 more states to RLI

Continued progress in the move to RLI! 

If you recall, Embrace Pet Insurance is in the process of moving underwriters from Lloyd's of London to RLI Corp, an A+ AM Best rated company based in Peoria IL.

Previously, we moved 23 states over to RLI but, as of today, we have added 12 more states to the list:

CA, CT, DE, MO, NV, NM, NC, OK, RI, TN, VA and WY

We're still waiting on the relevent departments of insurance for the remaining states but we'll get there as quickly as we can when they are approved.

Related Posts - move to RLI
Embrace pet insurance policies finally move over to RLI!
Embrace moves 12 more states to RLI
Embrace has a new insurance partner - A+ rated RLI Corp
What the new Embrace / RLI partnership means for you - new terms and conditions
PennHIP Pet Insurance Discount now available at Embrace Pet Insurance
The new and improved Embrace Wellness Rewards program
Anyone interested in some Embrace Dental Rewards? Pick me, pick me!
Embrace Continuing Care Sublimits are gone!
Other interesting changes in the Embrace Pet Insurance policies

Press Release: Embrace Pet Insurance Celebrates 3 Years Offering Direct Claim Deposits

Northeast Ohio –Embrace celebrates is third anniversary offering direct claim deposits to pet parents this month. Embrace was the first pet insurance company to offer claim reimbursements via direct deposit. Since launching direct deposit for claims in October 2007, Embrace has seen the percentage of claim payments using it more than double from just 12% in 2007 to over 27% in 2010.

Direct deposit is fast, easy, and efficient compared to waiting for a paper check in the mail. All Embrace customers can receive their claim refund directly into their bank accounts, usually the next business day after the claim is completed, if not the same day. Policyholders may continue to pay their premiums by credit card even when claims are direct deposited.

“Pet parents love the flexibility and speed of direct deposit for their claim payments” says Laura Bennett, CEO of Embrace Pet Insurance. “It’s incredibly simple to set up and everybody benefits from having claims paid more quickly. We’ve had our share of lost checks in the mail and direct deposit completely avoids that uncertainty.”

If you are an Embrace customer, email hello@embracepetinsurance.com or call in to 1-800-511-9172 to learn how you can benefit from direct deposit claims payments.

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About Embrace

Embrace is a specialist insurance company focused on changing the pet insurance business. Embrace provides flexible cat and dog health insurance products, removing the need to choose between necessary, but costly, medical care versus the life of a much-loved pet. Embrace is a privately owned, Ohio-based company and is one of the most highly rated pet insurance companies in the industry. To learn more, visit www.embracepetinsurance.com.

About the North American Pet Health Insurance Association

Embrace is a member of the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA). Founded in 2007, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association is committed to educating and promoting the values and benefits of quality pet health insurance to North American pet owners, the general public, and the veterinary community. As an association, it is committed to high standards and transparency in all of our actions and products. To learn more, visit www.naphia.org

Embrace Continuing Care Sublimits have gone!

Note that this post has been updated for Dec 31st 2010 conversion date.

No more sublimit on the Embrace continuing care benefit (see Embrace has a new insurance partner - A+ rated RLI Corp).

Yesterday, I talked about cleaning up some niggling things about the Embrace Pet Insurance product, specifically the Embrace dental illness coverage.

Today, we talk about the old Embrace continuing care sublimit of 25% of the annual limit in the second year of the condition.

I've never liked the sublimit but it was something that Lloyd's felt strongly about so that is what we offered. Now that we have some claims experience under our belts, RLI agreed with us that we could remove the sublimit if we added a lifetime limit of $50,000, so we agreed - woohoo! I'm thinking that a $50,000 lifetime payout limit is more than enough for any one dog or cat, don't you think?

Another thing to note is the lifetime limit only applies to RLI claims so if you had claims with Lloyd's before you moved to RLI, they don't count towards the limit. Another woohoo!

So, what does mean for those of you with Lloyd's policies? To set the stage, there was a period of about 4 months where we converted various states from Lloyd's of London terms and conditions to RLI terms (see Lloyd's, RLI admitted and RLI Mt. Hawley states here).

Now we are the end of the year, most of the states are with RLI (all states except MA, NY, FL, and WA), with those 4 exception states being issued on Mt. Hawley paper (a subsidiary of RLI) using the Lloyd's terms and conditions. The one change to the Lloyd's terms for Mt Hawley is that the continuing care sublimit has gone and the lifetime limit is in.   

In summary in regards to the Continuing Care sublimit:

• If you bought a Lloyd's policy recently, you will renew into an RLI policy. The good news for you is that the continuing care sublimit will have no impact on you since it only comes into effect in the second year (and you'll be cozy with RLI by then)
• If your renewal is coming up, you will have no continuing care sublimit and you move to the lifetime limit that only counts claims with RLI

The interesting thing about the continuing care sublimit is that is had very little claims impact in the grand scheme of things but people felt it very restrictive (can't blame them - I agree!) so I'm glad we got rid of it.

Any questions?

Related Posts - move to RLI
Embrace pet insurance policies finally move over to RLI!
Embrace moves 12 more states to RLI
Embrace has a new insurance partner - A+ rated RLI Corp
What the new Embrace / RLI partnership means for you - new terms and conditions
PennHIP Pet Insurance Discount now available at Embrace Pet Insurance
The new and improved Embrace Wellness Rewards program
Anyone interested in some Embrace Dental Rewards? Pick me, pick me!
Embrace Continuing Care Sublimits are gone!
Other interesting changes in the Embrace Pet Insurance policies

PennHIP Pet Insurance Discount now available at Embrace Pet Insurance

Embrace has always been proud to be one of the very few companies that covers hip dysplasia, but now, as part of our move to RLI as our new insurance underwriter, we’re excited to offer a 5% discount as an additional incentive for pet parents that utilize the PennHIP (University of Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Program) test.

PennHIP testing is offered in hopes to help reduce the frequency of hip dysplasia. Once a pet parent has a series of hip x-rays completed, the films are screened and graded by a certified vet and entered into a veterinary database to help analyze dysplasia severity and frequency.

PennHIP testing is valuable for breeders that want to ensure that their puppies are not likely to develop hip dysplasia, and should be considered necessary for anyone looking for a healthy puppy, if that breed is likely to develop hip dysplasia.

In order to qualify for the Embrace PennHIP discount, your pet must have received a score of 0.3 or less. If your pet qualifies, fax (800-238-1042) or e-mail (claims@embracepetinsurance.com) his/her test scores to us and we’ll take care of the rest.

[Note that this discount applies to RLI policies only, so if you currently have a Lloyd's policy with Embrace, send in the information in advance for when your policy renews to an RLI policy.]

Related Posts - move to RLI
Embrace pet insurance policies finally move over to RLI!
Embrace moves 12 more states to RLI
Embrace has a new insurance partner - A+ rated RLI Corp
What the new Embrace / RLI partnership means for you - new terms and conditions
PennHIP Pet Insurance Discount now available at Embrace Pet Insurance
The new and improved Embrace Wellness Rewards program
Anyone interested in some Embrace Dental Rewards? Pick me, pick me!
Embrace Continuing Care Sublimits are gone!
Other interesting changes in the Embrace Pet Insurance policies

Related Posts - Hip Dysplasia:
Hip dysplasia in dogs (and cats)
How much did you say hip dysplasia surgery cost for my dog?

Embrace claims stories:
Hip Dysplasia and Femoral Head Ostectomy
Liko's Hip Dysplasia Story