Pet insurance: a new opportunity for retailers?

Sydney-based Pet Circle recently announced its decision to enter the pet care industry with the aim to “take on big players.”

Co-Founder and CEO Mike Frizell said that launching their new insurance product is an opportunity to provide a better policy in the market. 

Pet Circle Insurance allegedly offers one of the highest policy limits in Australia for dogs at A$30,000 ($20,250/€18,500) annually to cope with the rising pet cost and a single annual excess. 

It estimates the average annual premiums to be around A$776 ($523/€478) per dog and A$535 ($360/€329) per cat.

According to Animal Medicines Australia (AMA), the local pet insurance industry was worth A$1.1 billion ($742M/€678M) in 2022. However, it recognized that only 17% and 12% of dog and cat owners pay for pet insurance. The numbers fell from 30% and 21%, respectively, since 2019.

Other ventures 

After the increased demand in recent years, Pet Circle’s move is a testament to the growing spotlight on the pet healthcare and insurance industry. 

This spring, American online pet retailer Chewy expanded its CarePlus health and wellness offerings by adding options for personalized pet plans with pet insurers Lemonade and Trupanion. In 2021, it partnered with Trupanion to offer pet health insurance to more than 20 million customers.

In 2022, Petco also announced a partnership with US-based pet insurer Nationwide to offer “integrated and affordable” protection solutions for pets.

Walmart is also in the pet insurance business. In 2020, it partnered with provider Petplan.