President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) and first woman Kim Keon Hee pose for a photograph with retriever puppies on the Samsung Guide Dog School in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, in 2022. (Presidential Office)
The Financial Services Commission, Korea’s prime monetary regulator, unveiled plans on Monday to extend the pet insurance coverage enrollment price, at present at roughly simply 1 % in a rustic with some 8 million pets.
“The pet insurance coverage enrollment price within the US is roughly 2 %, whereas in Japan, it exceeds 12 %. Our aim is to position ourselves between these two international locations,” Shin Sang-hoon, head of the insurance coverage division on the FSC, emphasised throughout a press briefing held in Seoul on Monday.
According to a survey carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, there are roughly 7.99 million dogs and cats right here, as of 2022. Among their homeowners, 83 % discover the excessive prices of veterinary care burdensome.
Despite the monetary burden of proudly owning a pet, the pet insurance coverage enrollment price in Korea stood at round 0.9 % final yr, considerably decrease than international locations just like the United Kingdom (25 %) and Japan (12.5 %).
To present impetus to the gradual home pet insurance coverage market, the federal government has fashioned a particular process power crew with involvement from the FSC, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Financial Supervisory Service and different consultants within the space.
The institution of the duty power aligns with coverage commitments made by President Yoon Suk Yeol throughout his presidential marketing campaign for the event of the pet insurance coverage market in Korea.
First woman Kim Keon Hee additionally has demonstrated a major curiosity within the process power’s plan, in accordance with sources.
The authorities’s plan primarily focuses on making a extra systematized surroundings, as this has been recognized as a key issue deterring pet insurance coverage enrollment.
It will think about permitting pet registration utilizing biometric information comparable to noseprints or iris scans. It additionally plans to make the registration of not solely dogs but additionally cats obligatory.
The plan consists of making it obligatory for hospitals to challenge medical information and medical expense documentation when prospects request them to file insurance coverage claims as nicely.
Additionally, standardization of 100 completely different illnesses is deliberate for implementation.
The plan additionally seeks to extend buyer comfort by establishing a one-stop service to permit pet homeowners to enroll in insurance coverage, file insurance coverage claims and handle their pet’s well being and registration multi function place.
To obtain this, the vary of pet insurance coverage merchandise available on the market at native animal hospitals and pet retailers will probably be expanded from short-term merchandise of 1 yr or much less to long-term merchandise of three to 5 years, beginning within the latter half of this yr.
Also, within the first half of subsequent yr, a system is predicted to be applied that permits pet homeowners to transmit medical information to insurance coverage firms with a single click on at animal hospitals.
“The most necessary factor is cooperation between the insurance coverage and veterinary industries. We are constantly discussing what incentives are wanted, particularly in hospitals that cooperate with insurance coverage firms,” Shin pressured throughout the press briefing.
For instance, in instances the place hospitals cooperate, insurance coverage firms could help their pet registration system, he added.
More custom-made insurance coverage merchandise tailor-made to the wants and traits of pet homeowners and their pets can even be provided. Currently, 11 insurance coverage firms are promoting pet insurance coverage, however in accordance with the FSC, the bounds and premiums offered differ solely barely.
As one of many options to this downside, specialised pet insurance coverage firms will probably be permitted to newly enter the market ranging from this yr.
The FSC mentioned that two firms have at present expressed their intention to use for the allow.
“One of those firms is doing pet tech businesses, comparable to pet well being care and e-commerce for pets,” Shin hinted.
“The different is a subsidiary created by a consortium led by current insurance coverage firms and their strategic companions,” he added.
By Song Seung-hyun ([email protected])
