Pet Insurance

Press Release

Supported by more than 700 independent veterinarians accross the country, the U.S. pet health insurance industry celebrates a quarter of a century of protecting America's pets.

The nation's oldest and largest pet health insurance company, Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI), sold its first pet health insurance policy to television's Lassie in 1982 and has insured more than a million pets since its inception.

Founded in 1980, VPI devoted its first two years to extensive product research and development, creating a blueprint for America's first health insurance plan for pets.

In 1982, VPI received a Certificate of Authority from the California Department of Insurance for license as a property and casualty insurance company, with the classification for pet insurance. VPI sold over 6,500 policies its first year of offering indemnity-modeled health plans to dog and cat owners in California. Today more than 400,000 pets are insured with VPI Pet Insurance and more than 1,600 companies offer it as a voluntary benefit to employees.