HEALTH
Pet Insurance
Trupanion launches lower-cost, “Furkin awesome” Furkin [“fur-child”]
This story has been updated. Trupanion, Inc., the Seattle-based pet insurer, is expected to launch millennial-friendly Furkin (literal translation: “fur child”) in Canada in the next 48 hours. Update: Furkin’s website quietly went live over the weekend and we expect to hear from Randy Valpy, who is overseeing the company’s Canadian insurance products, including a […]
Pet insurers threaten to oppose model law if regs block lengthy waiting periods; consumer reps blast industry trade group NAPHIA
During a contentious ninety-minute Pet Insurance Working Group meeting on July 22, insurance regulators and consumer representatives clashed with pet insurance industry stakeholders over language that would restrict the ability of pet insurance companies to impose lengthy waiting periods on consumers in what would be America’s first significant piece of pet insurance legislation. “We have […]
Consumer reps blast pet insurance industry in scathing letter; our story to follow
In damning written comments submitted to the Pet Insurance Working Group task force on Wednesday, consumer representatives blasted the pet insurance industry’s trade group, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA), for comments made by the group’s attorney Cari Lee during last week’s meeting. “We have given, and given, and given, and given, and […]
High-brow pet insurer launches breakaway, “fluff-free,” low-cost product; first of several launches in Trupanion’s 60-month plan
America’s second-largest pet insurance provider Trupanion, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRUP) has just launched a “time-limited,” low-cost pet insurance brand in Canada, PHI Direct, which will launch in the United States later this year, along with a third insurance product at a medium price point, Furkin. But unless you follow insurance closely or read TCR, you may never know that Trupanion is the parent company.
Pet insurance and veterinary lobbyists squabble over “pre-existing condition” language in pet insurance law ahead of year’s first meeting
This afternoon, a group of state insurance regulators from across the country will meet online for the first time this year to resume their website’s stated goal: “to complete the development of a model law or guideline to establish appropriate regulatory standards for the pet insurance industry.”
Walmart Goes Nationwide for Pet Insurance, Leaving Its Own Partner at the Altar
America’s most popular retailer, Walmart, is adding to its recently launched suite of pet products and in-store pet services by teaming up with the most popular pet insurance provider, Nationwide…However, the new Walmart-Nationwide alliance may have come as a surprise to Walmart’s other pet insurance partner, Petplan – including Petplan CEO Paul Guyardo.
Walmart teams up with Petplan to take the plunge into pet insurance. Can Walmart take the pet insurance market mainstream?
Amid the Pandemic Puppy Boom, Walmart is taking the plunge into the U.S. pet health insurance market. The mega-retailer’s decision to get into the pet insurance business — still a niche industry in the U.S. with less than 5% of pets now covered by an insurance policy–may be a gamechanger. Can Walmart take the pet insurance market mainstream?
Trupanion to release third quarter earnings Thursday amid strong, increasingly competitive pandemic puppy economy
It’s been a busy and successful year for the U.S. pet insurance market at large, which has seen eight newcomers since 2017 alone: Wagmo (2020), Spot (started in 2019 with personality Cesar Milan as its figure head), Lemonade (July 2020), Prudent Pet (2018), TrustedPals (2019), Bivvy (2018), Companion Protect (2017), and Pumpkin (2019). The newcomers offer some of the most budget friendly options in the pet insurance market, but there are a staggering number of pitfalls neatly tucked away inside the fine print of the policies.
