by PNA
South Korea's nonlife insurers are setting their sights on pet insurance programs as the country enforced a new pet registration policy early this month, industry sources said Thursday.
Lotte Nonlife Insurance Co., a financial arm of South Korea's largest retail conglomerate Lotte Group, plans to sell an insurance program for pets starting in February, according to the company.
"The firm decided to introduce a new product targeting pets following the country's animal registration policy," a company official said. Lotte Nonlife will become the second firm to operate such a program in the country.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., currently the only pet insurer, added 476 policyholders with pet insurance last year, according to the sources.
Starting this month, South Korean residents raising pets that are three months old or older must register them with local governments, as the number of abandoned pets and the cost of rescuing them has increased.
The government may impose a fine of up to 1 million won (US$ 945) on those who fail to register their dogs or those who do not report their new addresses to authorities.
There are around 4.6 million pet dogs in South Korea, with only about 2,000 being covered by insurance, the sources said.
The country's major nonlife insurers, including Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Co. and LIG Insurance Co., discarded similar insurance programs in 2010 as their loss rates hovered above 200 percent.
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