After bike and notebook insurance, they launch prepaid pet insurance

Qualia, the insurer of the Petersen group, was founded about five years ago linked to the four banks owned by the Eskenazi family holding company. But two years ago she became independent and now, in a 100% digital format, she searches market niches neglected by large companies who work with manufacturers.

The company does not sell auto insurance, one of the most popular. He preferred to step into the home, into life and put together a portfolio of huge products, such as bicycles, ATMs, notebooks, bags and now pets.

According to a study conducted by the Gfk Group, which included a sample of 27,000 people from 22 countries, Argentina is the country with the largest number of pets per person. 80% of its citizens claim to have at least one pet at home.

According to Diego Gentile, Qualia’s chief executive, there is no such thing as an animal health product, which comes at a high cost in vaccinations, operations, daycare, hairdressing and other services for dogs and cats.

Only a few companies (Santander, Zurich, BBVA, Life, Galicia) offer it, but many times as an extension of home insurance, “as if the pet is another asset,” he says.

“Pet owners take them to the vet one to three times a year and everything is in cash, “explains Gentile. Qualia offers 5 plans, from $ 650 to $ 1,800, with a spending cap of $ 24,000 and $ 72,000 respectively, in addition to covering half the costs of vaccines, deworming and others and Give a free online veterinary service.

The system is not like traditional prepaid, which have a network of clinics, but the customer receives a refund for the shopping you do at your vet. In addition, it covers civil liability.

In Qualia they calculate to reach 20,000 policies sold by the end of the year and believe they have one potential to place 2 million in 3 or 4 years

Moving forward, the company seeks to partner with resellers and add more banks, in addition to the four of the Petersen group. These two channels represent 40% of the market, while the remaining 60% are sales through producers.

In June, the company issued 1.5 million policies for a total of $ 7,000 million and would add another 100,000 by the end of the year. These numbers place it in 20th place in the sector.

Gentile explains why they rely on mass insurance: “They are relatively low cost. For the traditional market they are not profitable, but for us, being digital, it is easier for us to sell “.

Regarding the situation of the sector in general, the executive assures us that it is “this year very difficult, complicated mainly due to inflation which will generate changes in people’s consumption behaviors, but we still don’t know exactly where “.

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