Ogden Nash an early 20th century poet and Groucho Marx a comedian of the same era, are among the first few people to have referred to a dog as being man’s best friend. However, since 1500 BC, when man first began to record history in words and pictures, he made references to his dog. In fact, Ethiopian people thought the dog was so valuable that they elected him their king. And, a thousand years later, the Egyptians made the dog one of their gods! Even today we have provided our pets with food, shelter and even some extravagant toys and clothes. However, as our financial world grew and advanced, somewhere down the line the pets got left behind, with only those with a high monetary value remaining a financial concern.

Roshan, a marketing executive in Mumbai, recently had twins. His family, friends, and Spotty, his 13 year old dog were all overjoyed. A week later Spotty fell severely ill and soon succumbed to his illness. The family was understandably upset and Roshan, who had virtually grown up with his pet, had a lot harder time getting over it. He desperately wanted his kids to grow up with a faithful companion like he had.

Though buying a new puppy right away was not a viable option, especially given his recent spurt of expenses. The following week, Roshan bought Rusty, a young golden retriever. When asked a little sceptically by his wife as to from where did he get the money to buy a new pet, hoping he had not spent his money on an emotional whim, he told her that Spotty was insured 7 years ago. The insurance was like a life insurance policy, and he had used the money he received from the company to bring Rusty into their lives. Quite unbelievable what she was hearing. In a country where most people are not insured, the concept of pet insurance existed! And, it wasn’t a recent phenomenon either, but something that’s been around for a long time now.

Who offers pet insurance?

Pet insurance is one of the lesser publicised insurance products in India. Hence most people are barely aware of its existence. However, public sector companies like New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance, National Insurance and United India Insurance have had pet insurance policies for some years now. A chief manager within New India Assurance tells us, “Yes we do offer pet insurance, and have been doing so for over 10 years now. However, since our policies are still old, most of the times dogs are insured for sums between Rs 10,000-20,000 depending on the pedigree and breed. People today want to insure their pets for higher amounts, even over 1 lakh at times, so we have to slowly change our policies. While the general public may not be aware of this industry, those who know about it have always taken the policy and this market is still popular. Unfortunately, due to a lack of marketing and publicity we had not been able to sell many policies initially and the popularity of such a product was low.

This could be why the private sector has so far shied away from this area. The minute they feel this product is a money spinner, they too will jump into this area.? While most people are less worried about insurance for pets in India, especially, in contrast to Western countries, I doubt this has much to do with a lack of care or affection for the pet. In fact, I am sure many a pet owner will wince at the thought of referring to his/her pet as an animal, as most people tend to accept these pets as a part of their families and lives. Thus, it is mainly due to a major difference in health care prices for pets, veterinary doctor charges and litigations from third parties, all of which are a lot lesser here, with the latter being the rarest, causes fewer pet-owners needing a pet insurance. Sheetal Gandhi, president, Interlink Insurance Pvt Ltd adds, ?So far the insurance sector has not concentrated on a product like pet insurance, except for public sector insurance firms. These firms too do not offer as much insurance cover as most people would like. Though if a person does have a rare or special pedigree of pets, they may insure them for higher amounts, based on their value.?

Pet-insurance know-how

Pet Insurance is the insurance which pays the veterinary costs if one’s pet is ill, injured due to an accident, or in case it has died, or is lost or stolen. It does not cover veterinary treatment like vaccination and neutering. Currently, pet insurance seems to come under rural insurance schemes, which these government companies have started. Such a product had been originally launched for cattle owners wanting to insure their cattle and since then have gradually gone on to cover dogs, horses, camels, ducks, elephants, pigs, rabbits and even sheep.

While racehorses are insured for huge sums these days, and cattle and poultry animals are not that far behind, the most common insurance for a house pet is dog insurance. This policy is available to dogs usually ranging from the age group of 8 months to 8 years. Indigenous, cross-bred and exotic species are all covered within this scheme.

The dog’s valuation would be required to be done by a qualified veterinary doctor before going in for insurance, and a veterinary certificate describing identification marks, breed, sex, age, etc should also be gotten. The area which all insurance companies are most concerned about his identification as this can often cause a problem. For this, tattooing, nose prints and photographs are all acceptable identification proof. A detailed pedigree and kennel club record is also required.

The premium charged by most insurance companies for a basic insurance cover is anywhere between 3-5%. ?The basic insurance covers death against accidents or diseases caused during the insurance term,? explains Premanand Nair, senior relationship manager, HSBC Insurance Brokers. He goes on to add, ?The procedure and documentation required to get insurance here is not always easy. This is why this product is not so popular here. Also, in Europe, the US and other developed nations, due to better publicity and efforts in this direction, the market has picked up a lot more.? Indemnity offered by the firm’s state that they would cover up to 80% of the claim amount, ascertained on the basis of market value as certified by a veterinary doctor or the insured value, whichever is lesser. The claim procedure is relatively simple, with a veterinary certificate for death on the company’s form and a post mortem report being the only documents required. The major exclusions to these policies are partial and permanent disability of any nature, rabies, canine distemper and leptospirosis. However, these diseases can be covered if preventive inoculation is done and a certificate to that effect is submitted.

These policies can also be extended to cover death by accident in transit by air, rail, road and water, show risk, and death by accidental poisoning. Also, breeding risks like death by whelping and loss of litter in case the whole litter dies within 14 days after birth can be covered. Lost or stolen dogs (including burglary or housebreaking), loss of show entry fees (max limit Rs 250) when the dog registered with the kennel club is unable to attend the show because of accident or disease, and loss of value resultant upon an accident can also be insured against.

Liability for personal injury and damage to property (including animals, poultries or third parties) up to Rs 5,000 and a worldwide transit clause can also be selected within the things you want to cover your dog for. All of these require you to pay an extra premium ranging from additions from 0.25% – 2%. You can select which of these you wish to insure your pet for by checking the following sections in your insurance form. A comprehensive policy which covers all of the above and your basic policy would come with a premium of 12-15%. However, third party liability risks do not cover members of your own family.

What next?

?There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face,? Ben Williams once said. All pets are priceless as far as their owners are concerned, yet the entire pet industry leaves a lot to be desired. While a wide variety of reasons have been cited for why the pet-insurance industry in India is so under-developed, be it lack of private sector participation, marketing, publicity or lower medical costs, the fact remains that the system here still lacks in procedure.

The pet health insurance market in the UK, which is growing at 10-15% a year, is worth more than $495 million, approximately Rs 2,170 crore. This compared to the Rs 400-crore market in India, only goes to show the potential to be tapped here. While procedures have been cited as a major hurdle here, one of the main reasons that the private sector has refused to enter this market so far, and why the current insurance procedures may seem so cumbersome in India, is due to the lack of registration and formalising of the system. In most countries, registering your pet is compulsory. In fact most pet shops insert a micro-chip on the back, which provides registration details of the pet. And, if you have gotten your pet from a breeder you can pay and get this micro-chipping process done. A failure to register your pet will leave the owner liable to heavy fines. Also, during this process of animal registration, officials provide the prospective owners with insurance policies as well. In India, to get ones pet registered, one has to dole out Rs 800 and since this process is not compulsory, it is rarely done. While micro-chipping and selling insurance covers for the pet along with it are still a far cry, if India continues taking steps in the right direction and pet-owners become more conscious of what is available here and abroad, one never knows how far an idea like this can reach.