Pet industry has recently grown rapidly due to rising income, aging, and an increasing number of single households. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Beginning in May, those with pets will be able to make an insurance claim with an animal insurance company immediately after receiving animal care.
Sung Dae-kyu, the head of the Korea Insurance Development Institute (KIDI), said at a press conference Wednesday that the ‘Pet Insurance Claims Online Processing System’ (POS) will be launched by April.
“POS is a key infrastructure for activating the animal insurance market,” said Sung.
While currently the size of market is small, however, it is assessed to have a huge potential for growth.
The reason for this is that the pet industry has recently grown rapidly due to rising income, aging, and an increasing number of single households.
The insurance system is similar to health insurance policies for humans.
Most subscribers pay a monthly premium of 30,000 won (US$26.55) and pay 30 percent of the cost of the treatment out of pocket, and the insurance company covers the rest.
The KIDI is also planning to revise the POS system by preparing methods to establishing a standard medical code system that can help standardize veterinary clinic fees.
In addition, the KIDI plans to develop related products by calculating the risk of high blood pressure and its complications such as heart disease, brain disease, peripheral arterial disease and retina disease.
D. M. Park (dmpark@koreabizwire.com)
