Do you want to know how big the pet insurance industry is and what you will get by buying an insurance policy for your pet? Are you interested in learning how much it can cost you?
If your answer is yes, continue reading.
What Percentage of Pet Owners Have Pet Insurance?
Research shows that only around 3% of American pets are insured. Although the number seems small, this is already an improvement from a few years ago when only around 1% of pets were insured.
(PropertyCasualty360, 2021)
Captivating Pet Insurance Statistics
Here are some of the most interesting and fascinating stats we’ve found on pet insurance.
19.2% of Californian pets are insured.
(North American Pet Health Insurance Association, 2020)
This makes California the state with the highest number of pet insurance policies sold. Californian pets are twice more likely to have an insurance policy than those from New York state — ranked second, with 8.7%.
A routine checkup with no insurance can cost up to $150.
(Emergency Vets USA, 2020)
If you need any emergency treatment, it can cost more than $1,000. Serious surgeries go up to $5,000 with other added costs, such as hospitalization, X-ray, and many more.
The average cost of dog insurance is $594.15 yearly.
(North American Pet Health Insurance Association, 2020 )
Cat insurance is a lot cheaper and equals $341.81 annually. These are the numbers for the most popular accident and injury policy.
For the accident-only policy, the numbers are significantly lower — $218.13 for dogs and $133.61 for cats.
Pet insurances should cover between 80% and 100%.
(Investopedia, 2021)
If your pet has a medical emergency or develops an illness, good pet insurance can save you thousands of dollars. Just keep in mind that it’s supposed to reimburse you after you’ve already paid for vet services.
Moreover, studies show that having pet insurance makes pet owners less likely to choose economic euthanasia.
Dogs are the most insured pets — 2.571 million dogs have insurance.
(North American Pet Health Insurance Association, 2020)
This is true only for around 531,000 cats. So, 82.9% of insured pets are dogs, while only 17.1% are cats.
However, the good news is that the numbers are growing for both. There were 22.5% more insurance policies bought for dogs and 26.7% more for cats in 2020 than in 2019.
The first pet insurance policy in the US was sold in 1982.
(The Insured Pet, 2018)
The first insured dog in the US was Lassie, a famous TV star.
The first insurance for animals ever was issued in 1890 in Sweden, and they were focused mainly on horses and cattle.
There are about 20 insurance companies that offer pet insurance.
(North American Pet Health Insurance Association, 2020)
This is the number for the US only. Most are specifically pet insurance companies. With these companies available, there’s a great variety of affordable insurance plans and programs you can choose from.
The global pet insurance market is expected to reach $10 billion dollars by 2025.
(GlobeNewswire, 2019)
This number might be even higher, since the North American insurance market alone already reached $2.174 billion in 2020.
Conclusion
So, in the end, although only around 3% of pets are insured, there are significant changes in the industry. With high savings and growing care for pets, pet insurance numbers are sure to grow as well.
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