Policies for pets energize insurance industry

When it was just three years old, Newton Township resident Don Baker’s cairn terrier, Dickens, developed an infection that wreaked havoc on his pancreas.

Fortunately, there was a prescription remedy — but it’s cost was $100 a month.

Though the treatment put a dent in Baker’s wallet, it was a setback he was willing to absorb in order to save Dicken’s life.

“It’s really hard to put a dog down [because] you don’t want to pay for the medication,” said Baker, 60.

Thanks to his owner’s affection — and wherewithal — the dog lived more than a decade, passing away at the ripe old age of 14. But Baker’s not taking any chances on medical costs with his new best friend, “Clancey.” He purchased pet health insurance for the Boston terrier in late 2006.

Play-it-safe pet owners like Baker are fueling growth in a relatively obscure sector of the insurance industry devoted to pets, according to analysts. As recently as 2005, veterinary pet health insurance was a $160 million industry, according to market research firm Packaged Facts. The firm reports that between 2000 and 2005, the market for doggie-inspired insurance had grown an average of 27 percent each year.

“We started noticing it around 1999 or 2000,” said Ohio Department of Insurance spokesman Jerrett Dunbar.

The Ohio Department of Insurance has licensed about 20 companies to carry pet insurance in the Buckeye State, said Dunbar. But the agency doesn’t keep figures on individual policies, he said.

About 10,000 Ohio cats, dogs and other pets are insured through the pet insurance industry’s oldest and largest insurance provider California-based Veterinary Pet Insurance, said company spokesman Brian Iannessa. Since the VPI began underwriting companion animals in 1982, their coverage has reached consumers on both coasts and in all 50 states. The company currently claims about 450,000 policies nationwide, or about 75 percent of the pet insurance market share, analysts say.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com