Veterinary Pet Services Inc., a provider of health insurance for pets, plans to relocate to a new 50,000-square-foot headquarters being built in Brea that’s more than double the size of its current Anaheim facility.
“This was a case of needing more space,” said Dr. Jack Stephens, Veterinary Pet’s president and founder.
The company’s current headquarters is set in 21,000 square feet of a multiple-use building that Stephens said was “not conducive” to the company’s needs. Veterinary Pet brokers and underwrites insurance policies covering medical treatments for dogs and cats.
The company plans to move to Brea as soon as the new building is finished,the scheduled completion date is Aug. 1. Veterinary Pet signed a 10-year lease valued at more than $7 million for the structure on Saturn Street. The company also has options on additional structures.
Veterinary Pet, which currently employs 125 people, expects to grow to around 260 within the next three to four years, Stephens said.
“For years, the pet insurance market was stagnant,” he said. “We were the only players. Dozens of companies would come and go.”
Stephens founded Veterinary Pet in 1980 with the backing of veterinarians. Today, Scottsdale Insurance Co., a subsidiary of industry giant Nationwide Insurance Co., owns 63% of Veterinary Pet.
Veterinary Pet expects to do around $36 million in premiums this year, up from $25 million in 1999 and $15 million in 1998, Stephens said. He estimated that the insurer was going to write around $50 million in premiums next year.
The company currently has 200,000 policies in force and has sold more than 1 million policies in its 20-year history. Policies are renewed at an 82% clip, the company said.
Veterinary Pet’s concept works like this: Pet owners pay their veterinarians for services. After that, the company reimburses policyholders. National Casualty is the underwriter in every state except California, where subsidiary Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. does it.
“Unlike human medicine, there is no managed care in veterinary medicine,” Stephens said. “Veterinarians don’t want the additional paperwork.”
The policies cover a wide range of conditions and have an average premium of $200 a year and a $40 deductible. Many conditions are covered, including feline and canine cancer, feline leukemia and canine parvovirus. Eligibility begins at six weeks of age; there is no age limit.
Veterinary Pet distributes its products through brochures in veterinarians’ offices. It also gets referrals from existing policyholders. Additionally, the company’s policies are being offered as part of some large employers’ cafeteria benefit packages.
Some of those include Fujitsu Ltd., Health Net Inc., Miller Brewing Corp., MGM Mirage Inc., Novell Inc. and Ralston Purina Co., according to the company.
Other companies that offer either pet healthcare insurance or financial assistance for various animal illnesses include First Heritage Financial Group of Abbotsford, B.C., Pet Assure Inc. of Dover, N.J., Pet Care Plus+ Inc. of Winter Park, Fla., Petshealth Insurance of Canton, Ohio, and Premier Pet Insurance of Wauwatosa, Wis. n
