Rising burden of veterinary costs... Pet insurance enrollment stuck at around 2% in Korea
Shift from post-claim reimbursement to on-site payment... My Brown's "Live Claim" in the spotlight
My Brown, a pet insurance specialist, announced on the 12th that the share of its on-site payment system, "Live Claim," introduced in July last year with reference to the business model of Japan's Anicom Insurance, has been increasing. The company explained that the pet insurance market is shifting from a post-payment reimbursement system to an on-site payment system.
Japan's Anicom: "Counter settlement that keeps wallets closed"
According to the insurance industry, there are about 15 million people raising companion animals in Korea, and 26.2% of households have spent more than 1 million won on veterinary treatment over the past two years.
According to the "2025 Korea Pet Report" published by the KB Financial Group Management Research Institute, as of the end of 2024 there were 5.91 million pet-owning households in Korea, accounting for 26.7% of all households. The penetration rate of pet insurance is only around 2%. In contrast, Japan, regarded as an "advanced market for pet insurance," has seen its market size surpass about 1.3 trillion won (140.8 billion yen), with a penetration rate of approximately 21.4%.
Experts identified "claims settlement methods" as the key factor behind the gap between the two countries. The "counter settlement" method, which has recently helped grow Japan's pet insurance market to the 1 trillion won level, is drawing attention in Korea as well. In Korea, the burden of premiums (50.6%) and the low perceived level of benefits still act as barriers to enrollment, whereas in Japan, insurance has become established as everyday infrastructure that can be used directly at veterinary hospitals.
Anicom Insurance, the number one player in Japan's pet insurance industry, was founded in the early 2000s by CEO Nobuaki Komori, a former veterinarian. Instead of requiring policyholders to pay in full and later file claims, Anicom introduced a counter settlement structure in which customers pay only their copayment (30% to 50%) at the time of treatment. When a policyholder presents the animal health insurance card issued by Anicom, the insurance benefit is immediately reflected at the hospital. This simultaneously reduced both the hassle of paperwork and the initial burden of high treatment costs.
Currently, about 87% of Anicom policyholders use the counter settlement method, and roughly 6,900 veterinary hospitals, accounting for about 50% of all animal hospitals in Japan, are using this system. This has transformed insurance from "compensation reimbursed later" into a payment experience that can be felt immediately at the hospital.
Korea also shifting from claim to on-site payment
Signs of change are emerging in Korea's pet insurance market as well. The settlement methods for pet insurance in Korea can largely be divided into three stages. In the early stage, the standard model was "post-claim reimbursement," in which the pet owner paid the full treatment cost first and then submitted documents to receive the insurance benefit.
Later, the "on-site claim" method was introduced, in which veterinary hospitals and insurers were linked to simplify document submission procedures. However, the burden on pet owners to prepay treatment costs and the administrative workload on hospitals remained.
Most recently, the system has evolved one step further into an "on-site payment" method, where the insurance benefit is immediately reflected at the hospital and the pet owner pays only the copayment.
This trend is seen as a response to consumer demand. According to the KB report, the improvement task that pet owners most frequently cited as necessary to vitalize pet insurance was the "introduction of an automated claims system (12.1%)." The industry expects that payment convenience will become the core competitive edge that determines the future landscape of the pet insurance market.
Against this backdrop, My Brown, which launched in July last year as Korea's first dedicated pet insurance company, introduced "Live Claim," an on-site payment structure tailored to local conditions with reference to the Anicom model in Japan.
When a pet owner presents a QR code issued through the application at the veterinary hospital, the insurance claim and payment are processed simultaneously at the time of billing. The pet owner only needs to pay the amount excluding the insurance benefit.
Previously, if surgery costs of 1 million won were incurred, the pet owner had to pay the entire amount upfront. By using Live Claim, however, the pet owner pays only the remaining balance after the insurance benefit is deducted (for example, 300,000 won) on the spot. No separate document submission is required, and it has been receiving positive feedback because it immediately eases the burden of large out-of-pocket payments not only for minor treatment costs but also for expensive surgeries, tests, and treatments.
From the hospital's perspective, the system reduces the workload related to issuing cumbersome insurance claim documents and improves patient convenience through a more efficient claims settlement system.
The share of Live Claim in My Brown's total number of insurance payment cases increased each month, from 23% in October last year to 26% in November and 27% in December. As of today, the number of partner hospitals has surpassed 260 and continues to expand nationwide.
Lee Yonghwan, CEO of My Brown, said, "Japan's pet insurance market was able to grow to a scale of 1 trillion won because it was supported by innovations in hospital-use convenience and claims procedures," adding, "Through Live Claim, we will lead the growth of the pet insurance market by spreading a new payment experience in which customers pay only the portion of medical expenses not covered by insurance."
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