The History of Pet Insurance
How long have people been buying insurance for their animals?
Around the world, people cover their beloved dogs, cats and other pets with insurance for a variety of reasons. Whether it is to cover the cost of veterinary services or protect the family from the loss of a valuable animal, getting insurance to cover a pet is now a common practice, especially in America.
The first insurance policy written for animals occurred in Europe in 1890 to cover horses and livestock on farms. This type of insurance was considered necessary because of the intrinsic value of a family’s livestock in those days.
In 1924, the first insurance policy written for a pet was written in Sweden. Today, roughly half of the pets in Sweden are covered by an insurance policy. The trend spread to Great Britain after World War 2, but did not reach American shores until 1982.
The first pet insurance policy in the US was created to protect Lassie, a famous canine TV star, whose ability to generate income was seen as a valuable asset. Despite the notoriety of Lassie’s insurance policy, it still took nearly two decades before pet insurance started to become commonplace among pet owners in North America.
At first, pet insurance was used to cover injury or illness. Today, there are policies that provide coverage for preventative care, vaccinations and even elective surgery such as neutering. Pet insurance policies today are similar in structure to those written for humans as they provide coverage, deductibles and other benefits as well. However, while pet insurance does mimic health insurance in many ways, it really is a form of property insurance.
By 2005, more than half a million pets in North America were covered by some form of pet insurance. However, there was no standard set in the US to uniform the insurance industry in terms of best practices, quality, ethics or even terminology until 2007 when the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) was founded.
By 2009, the number of insurance policies for pets doubled to over 1 million in North America. With over $13 billion spent annually on pet care in North America as of 2010, the future of pet insurance continues to grow exponentially as pet owners look to defray the cost of covering their pets.
This review site is the work of Zaida Falck - With a passion & care for all pets!Because I believe that all animals as pets deserve the best insurance possible. Don't you? |
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