Insurance for Fifi and Fido

Pets Best Insurance Services is bringing coverage to man's best friends through banks and employee benefit providers. The Boise, Idaho-based insurance carrier last week teamed up with CBSI, a financial services marketing firm in Harrison, N.Y., to offer consumers insurance coverage for their pets, using credit card and checking account issuers as a distribution channel. The idea is to make veterinary medical care available and affordable to the average customer, and also save pets' lives, said Dr. Jack Stephens, a veterinarian and the founder of Pets Best. "The simple act of playing with a dog or a cat lowers your blood pressure, but [customers] also have to have financial health," he said. "Insurance keeps [pets] from being put to sleep because [owners] don't have the money for medical care." The company, which is a division of General Fire and Casualty Co. of Boise, provides 80% coverage after a deductible for veterinary health care. In addition to covering surgery, cancer treatment and medication related to accidents, Pets Best allows clients to opt to cover routine-care expenses, including wellness exams and vaccines. In one case, a family's Labrador mixed-breed puppy ate a pair of earrings and racked up $7,700 in medical expenses. The family paid only around $90 in premiums. Banks make an ideal distribution channel for the business, which has reached an estimated $300 million in premiums, noted Peter Alter, vice president of CBSI. That number is expected to grow to more than $1 billion over the next three years. "Banks are drilling down and trying to develop more categories and features to attract checking account and credit card transactions," he said. "Pet spending is a top retail space. There's a huge amount of money spent on them, and the affinity for them is massive." Perhaps keeping pets around longer could reduce the cost of health care for humans, Mr. Alter noted. "I'm nuts over my dogs," Mr. Stephens said. He said his pets — a menagerie of dogs, cats and horses — helped him get over throat cancer. "It's physiological in that pets have an impact on our body chemistry and make us feel better."