James Max in today's FT wonders whether that £328.42 a month is worthwhile.
" Like many of you, I’ve been looking through my household expenditure to make savings. I nearly canceled the dogs’ respective policies to divert the money spent into a savings account to use if required. But given how many visits to the vet I’ve had to make, would this be a false economy?"
At the end of the day, Max decides -yes. But which insurer did he choose and why?
"The internet tells me that if I switched, the cheapest insurance would be £293.80 a month but even they recommend staying with the existing provider."
No clue there but he did try online so I thought I would see which pet insurer has the best online way of buying insurance and managing claims. The Altus DigitalBar very conveniently compares the digital maturity of pet insurers.
Overall pet insurers do a good job with buying policies but seem somewhat backward when it comes to eFNOL, and settling claims. As for renewals and MTAs? In the "Dark Ages"
See how to get a free 14-day trial of the Altus DigitalBar at end of the article.
There are big variations from the highest to the lowest in the digital maturity list. The top of the ratings with a score of 84% is 'ManyPets'.
'ManyPets' has a 16 percentage points lead over 2nd placed 'Waggel'. And what of the gorilla in the market 'PetPlan'?
Wow-
Given the fact many buyers use price comparison websites and Amazon has just launched Home Insurance in partnership with Ageas, LV=, and Co-op Insurance, you would think the incumbent market leaders would want to keep up with growing competitor ManyPets and the potential threat of Amazon in future years. Particularly those ranked low in the DigitalBar.
Many have tackled the digitalization of motor and home insurance but the pet category seems to be a lower priority. With 13million pets in the UK ( source: Statistica) that seems a costly strategy. Why haven't traditional pet insurers innovated?
Is it because the amount spent on motor and home transformation has exhausted budgets and energy? Or do the technology platforms leveraged for motor and home insurance not lend themselves to adding pets to the transformation strategy? It can't be because the market is too small.
James Max describes the growing number and cost of claims as pets grow older so let's look at claim technology. Pet insurance requires a combination of efficiency and empathy.
Efficiency to check cover against the individual claim, pay the vet directly (within cover & excess criteria), and enable secure communication between owner, ve,t, and insurer.
Empathy as owners are worried about their pets and need reassurance. So any eNOL process must have the right tone of voice, concern, and ability to bring in a claims handler when required. A bot-framework personalized to the type of claim and pet that shows the owner that attention will be quick, effective, and attentive.
Efficiency by managing the relationships of the pet owner, vets, and insurer as margins must be managed while delivering high customer satisfaction.
Modern claims platforms deliver that whilst at the same time integrating with core platforms whether Guidewire, Duck Creek, EIS, ICE, Instanda, or even legacy e.g.
RightIndem, Claim Technology, 360Globalnet- I have written about choosing claims and core systems in: -
Creating value, finding focus and choosing the right technology partners
The important point is that any pet insurer, however inflexible the current systems and technology stacks, can implement a pet claims service to match or even exceed the top of the digital maturity rankings. And at a price and resourcing capacity that won't break the bank.
Want to find out more? Drop me a line at mike.daly@rightindem.com
PS: The Altus DigitalBar covers far more than just Pet Insurance. Motor, Home, Gadget, Bike, Short-term Car Cover, Renter's (home and flat). Carriers, brokers, and SIs should all have this market intelligence to help plan, choose partners and compete effectively. Drop me a line to get a 14 day free trial courtesy of Insurtechworld and Altus.
Further Reading.
Dog insurance is expensive. I’ve just received the renewal quote for the older of my two dogs, Barnaby. It’s an eye-watering, dog-howling £328.42 a month. That’s nearly £4,000 a year.
https://www.ft.com/content/af0ded3e-158c-4678-a1ce-a67256db4d06
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