SEATTLE — Trupanion Inc., a provider of medical insurance for cats and dogs in the U.S. and Canada, has insured its 500,000th pet, according to a press release from the company.
Trupanion enrolled its first pet in 2000 in Vancouver, B.C., and moved to Seattle in 2008.
“We are humbled by the trust and loyalty of our members,” said Darryl Rawlings, CEO of Trupanion. “Pet owners understand that worrying about the cost of care for their pet can be a thing of the past. Trupanion set out to solve the problem all loving responsible pet owners face, the challenge of budgeting for the unexpected when their pet becomes sick or injured. Our product is different. We can pay the veterinarian directly, which means that reimbursement can be a thing of the past. And our team, from the tireless staff in our claims center to our hundreds of on-staff veterinary professionals to our territory partners throughout the U.S. and Canada, all play a role in protecting the pets we love. This major milestone is not one we take lightly.”
The North America market has been lagging for decades behind its European counterpart, with only 1 percent of pet owners choosing to cover their four-legged family member, according to the release.
“Markets like the UK and Sweden have over 25% and 40% penetration rates respectively,” said Rawlings, “People don’t love their pets any less across the Atlantic, we now finally have created something that truly solves the problem.”
The number of pets insured in the U.S. and Canada exceeded 2 million in 2017, according to a report from the North American Pet Health Insurance Association. That represented a market average increase of nearly 17 percent year-over-year.
According to the 2018 report, the pet insurance marketplace also surpassed the $1 billion mark in gross written premium by the end of 2017, an increase of 15 percent over 2016.