Nationwide Pet Shedding 100,000 Policies

The leading pet insurer in the U.S. said it is dropping about 100,000 policies starting this spring, citing inflation in the cost of veterinary care.

Nationwide Pet, the leading provider of pet insurance for dogs, cats, birds and exotic animals, said May 29 that it needs to take underwriting actions to maintain long-term viability and profitability.

“Inflation in the cost of veterinary care and other factors have led to recent underwriting changes and plan availability in some states — difficult actions that are necessary to ensure a financially sustainable future for our pet insurance line of business,” said a statement from the company.

Impacted policyholders will be notified in writing. The firm insures more than 1 million pets and is the first pet health insurance provider in the U.S. It said it has paid billions of dollars in claims over the last 40 years.

“Given the current environment, our rates will continue to be fair and appropriately priced for the plan, pet, and breed,” Nationwide Pet said. “We are making these tough decisions now so that we can continue to be here for even more pets in the future.”

Nationwide Pet said it will continue to expand its distribution network with new partnerships as well as the established relationships it has with Walmart, Petco and Unum. About a week prior to thedecision to reduce its pet insurance policy count, Nationwide Pet announced Joel Carnes as chief pet officer. Carnes served as vice president of Nationwide Pet’s operational excellence team for the past two years.

In other pet insurance news, Chubb has acquired managing general agent Healthy Paws from Aon plc. Chubb had been the exclusive underwriter of the Healthy Paws’ program for Aon since 2013.