Pet insurance in India – a far-fetched idea !!

For long animals have been man’s best friend, especially cats and dogs. But in a country where almost half of the population is uninsured, the daunting task of pet insurance seems like a far fetched dream. One even wonders regarding the amount of awareness prevalent among the masses about the ‘pet insurance’.

Last year, Insurance Plus conducted a survey involving 100 pet-owners asking them regarding pet insurance and all they could respond was by asking “do we have a pet insurance policy in the country?”. Frankly speaking, I do not find this suprising considering that most of the compaines do not have pet insurance policies in their portfolios except the four GIC subsidiaries; National Insurance, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance. However, even these companies have a ‘standard dog’ policy, which does not highlight any other animals.

Further, there is no promotion of these policies as compared to the life and non-life sector. Compare this scenario with the international countries and one will wonder how far behind this situation in our country is. Internationally, pet insurance market seems to be experiencing a steady growth of about 10%-15% as against 5% growth of general insurance markets. Further down, this market is not just growing but animals are often left with hefty sums from their owner’s will. Britain’s pet insurance market is estimated at 1 million insured pets.

One of the reasons, that this huge gap exits is because of the difference in ‘pet buying procedure’ in India and abroad. For example, after a buying a pet, registration is compulsory (in Australia registration charges are $50 for desexed pet & $100 for non-desexed). Then the pet is micro-chipped on the back which on scanning provides its registration details (pet stores have all the animals micro-chipped, if you purchase your pet from a breader then you have to pay for the micro-chipping process from your pocket which is about $150). Failing to register, the owner is liable to pay heavy fines. During this process, the animal registration officials provides pet owners with various Insurance policies. In India too we have pet registration process (registration charges start from Rs. 800 for dogs), however we do not have any facility of micro-chipping and the registration process is not compulsory.

The few pets that are insured in India, mostly consists of dogs and elephants. For example, police dogs like Labradors and German Shepards are normally insured. Also, companies like United India Insurance insures elephants in Kerala. The company has provided insurance cover to over 50 elephants of the Guruvayur temple. The major problem according to me that exits, is the difference in pet plans being offered in India and abroad. For example, most pet insurance plans overseas include insurance cover for veterinarian bills, which contributes towards major expenses. Whereas, this is not the case with pet-insurance policies being offered in India. They just insure pets against death due to accident or disease. Extra premium charges would have to be paid to cover additional risks such as accidents, lost or stolen cases, etc.

Another reason, is the non-existence of promotion and advertisements in relation to pet insurance policies, which is the main reason for poor awareness in our country. Besides, media advertisements Insurance companies can also collaborate with various kennel clubs across India which definitely would result in creating more wide-spread awareness regarding insurance policies for pets.

Looking at the situation in India, it seems currently most of the animals is only insured from a commercial viewpoint. for instance, there are various insurance plans for animals like horses, cattles and poultry but none for household pets. This could only mean that most insurance companies are too busy cashing in on life and non-life policies and have not realised the immense potential that this market holds. 

(*Disclaimer – Some of the above information has been taken from ‘Insurance Plus’ magazine.)