In the year 2015, the UK pet insurance market continued to grow, with gross written premiums (GWP) increasing by 6.3% from £853m in 2014 to £910m in 2015. The available data with regards to the UK pet population and pet ownership suggests dogs now lead the way over cats, after the roles were reversed in 2014. Medical costs and pet care continue to influence the cost of claims significantly, and as a result encourage insurers to raise the price of their premiums. Medical inflation remains the underlying factor driving GWP, with the quality of medical treatments and veterinary procedures influencing cost greatly and sparking inflationary pressure.

Product penetration has also grown, with the number of policy subscribers continuing its upward trend from 2012 to reach 3.4 million – an increase of 8.7% from 2014. The pet insurance market is expected to break the £1bn mark for the first time in 2016 as insurers continue to battle rising costs. The market has been battling to increase product take-up and is vying to maintain distribution output by increasing the availability of policies on direct propositions and price comparison sites. Aggregators still serve the pet space, but while many of the smaller providers continue to place more of their business onto these platforms, the major players are still refraining from using price comparison sites as a means of product distribution – with good reason.