Most Paid Pet Insurance Claims: 'Seulgyegol Talgu' for Dogs... 'Wijangyeom' for Cats

Analysis of Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Petpermint 2nd Anniversary Launch

Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Petpermint

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] The most common reason for insurance payouts to dogs insured under 'pet insurance' was found to be 'patellar luxation.'

According to Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance's pet insurance analysis data released on the 1st to mark the 2nd anniversary of the launch of the pet health insurance product 'Petpermint,' about 30,000 dogs have been insured since the product launch in October 2018 until October this year. The most insured breed was the 'Toy Poodle.'

Also, since the launch of the cat insurance product in April last year, about 3,000 cats have been insured, with the 'Korean Shorthair' breed being the most common.

The ranking of insurance payout cases for dogs was as follows: gastroenteritis (1,779 cases), otitis externa (1,677 cases), dermatitis (1,437 cases), and foreign body ingestion (1,158 cases).

The highest insurance payout amount was related to patellar luxation, totaling about 550 million KRW, followed by foreign body ingestion (230 million KRW), gastroenteritis (200 million KRW), and foreleg fractures (130 million KRW).

For cats, the most common insurance payout cases were conjunctivitis (99 cases), vomiting (74 cases), gastroenteritis (72 cases), dermatitis (62 cases), and cardiomyopathy (54 cases). The payout amounts were highest for gastroenteritis (14 million KRW), cardiomyopathy (12 million KRW), and vomiting (10 million KRW).

A Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance official stated, "Meritz Petpermint is the first long-term pet insurance in Korea to cover patellar luxation and skin diseases as basic coverage, creating a significant impact on the domestic pet insurance market. Since it is a product with the largest number of subscribers in Korea, its statistics can be considered highly reliable and meaningful."

Meanwhile, to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of Petpermint, Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance plans to donate the amount collected from subscribers through a donation rider to the Animal Freedom Coalition, a non-profit organization. The donation rider is a special clause where insurance subscribers who register their dogs in the Animal Protection Management System receive a discount on their premiums, which is then donated to animal protection-related organizations. Since the launch of the donation rider a year ago, there have been 103 subscribers.