Almost two-thirds of pet owners without insurance for their animal believe having a policy is too expensive, a new YouGov survey shows.
The Pet Insurance 2017 report explores some of the barriers that prevent people from seeking coverage for their animals. It finds that 65% of pet owners without a policy believe that insurance is too expensive and 30% think it is a “waste of money”. However, while almost half (49%) of people with pet insurance believe policies are too expensive, just 3% feel they are a waste of money.
Money is at the heart of why non-policy-holders have not got insurance for their pets. A quarter (26%) state outright that they can’t afford the premiums while almost as many (24%) say they would like to pay for the treatment themselves when and if they needed to. But the desire for flexibility also seems to be driven by cost as over half (52%) would use their savings to pay if their pet needed treatment, while over a fifth (21%) aren’t sure how they’d cover the cost, but they would “somehow find the money.”
Reducing the price of policies would encourage many pet owners without insurance to sign up. More than four in ten (41%) state upfront that lower prices would encourage them to take out a policy, while around a third (32%) would be encouraged if the policies available offered better value for money and greater benefits.
Kate Fillery, of YouGov, reports said: “If insurance companies could find ways to reduce the burden on pet owners, our research suggests the rewards could be vast. When it comes to those without policies, in many cases it is not that they don’t want cover – it is simply that they don’t feel that they can afford it. But if they can get this group of owners to take out pet insurance the chances are they would stay loyal, after all, while many people with policies feel that they are expensive, hardly any feel as though they are a waste of money.”
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