The ‘UK Pet Insurance Market 2021: Consumer Research Report’ has been added to the offering from ResearchAndMarkets.com
In 2021, 50% of pet owners have insurance, which is higher than the percentage for 2019. The rise in pet ownership and insurance is likely to have been boosted by the covid-19 pandemic.
But the pandemic has been a double-edged sword for pet insurance as, on the one hand, it has increased the percentage of households owning pets but, on the other, it has reduced consumer spending on veterinary services, thereby making insurance less relevant.
It has also squeezed the income of some consumers, making it harder to afford insurance and closed or restricted the opening of key retail sales channels for pet insurance.
RISE
In 2020, the publisher estimates, Gross Written Premiums reached more than £1.3bn and the market is expected to rise by 38% between 2020 and 2025.
Each year, more than seven in 10 pet insurance cover holders are existing policyholders, and their choice comes down to either renewing with an existing provider (over half renew each year) or switching from one provider to another (around one in five switch each year).
In 2021, one-quarter of policyholders were first-time buyers.
The pandemic, which closed many outlets for selling pet insurance, has helped reduce the tendency of policyholders to switch provider between 2019 and 2021, with the insured less likely to visit outlets where they could be exposed to new sales literature.
This factor could also account for the drop in first time buyers between 2019 and 2021, with uninsured pet owners (especially first-time pet owners), less exposed to in-store marketing literature and hence less likely to take out insurance for the first time.
