Broker and insurer team up for pilot pet insurance project
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Brightside Group has entered the UK pet insurance market after signing up for a six-month pilot scheme with Markerstudy.
The Bristol-headquartered broker will act as an introducer for Purely Pets Insurance, a trading name for Ultimate Pet Partners.
The latter is part of Ultimate Insurance Solutions which in turn is owned by Markerstudy.
Policies will be underwritten by IIC Hannover.
Neil Laird, Brightside head of product development said: "The arrangement is for an initial six month term and will enable Brightside to work with Ultimate to test the product set with our customers.
"Our aim is that, following this initial period, we will push ahead and introduce a full Brightside-branded pet insurance proposition."
Under the pilot customers will be directed to a Purely Pets bridging page from the Brightside website, where they'll be offered quote and purchasing options on a range of cover, including insurance for pets over five weeks old and discounts for multiple pets on one policy.
Laird cited figures showing that the UK pet market grew by 11% to £853m in 2014 but that only 50% and 34.7% of dog and cat owners respectively choose to insure their pet adding that it was "a huge untapped" market.
"We want to offer a wider choice of insurance products to our customers, and we are confident our proposition will appeal to owners who don't currently have protection for their pets," he concluded.
Paul Hampshire, managing director of Ultimate Insurance Solutions, commented: "We're delighted to be working with Brightside on this new proposition. "We have over 20 years' experience in the pet insurance market, making us the perfect partners to support them in their exciting new business venture."
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