Petplan USA
Encyclopedia
Petplan USA is a Philadelphia-based pet insurance
company, providing insurance for pet owners to cover veterinary bills. Since 2003, it has operated in partnership with Petplan UK, a unit of what Bloomberg describes as "Europe's largest insurer", Allianz SE.
Petplan USA holds the exclusive US license to use the Petplan name in marketing. It has also since 2007 operated in partnership with the Humane Society of the United States
(HSUS) to promote pet insurance as "a key component in responsible pet ownership". In the United States, American National Property and Casualty (ANPAC) underwrites Petplan.
they could not get coverage for their own sick pet. Along with Alex Krooglik and Laura Bennett, they submitted a plan for a pet insurance company, then called PAWS, to the annual Wharton Business Plan Competition, winning the contest's $20,000 grand prize. For several years, the company struggled with debt, as the Ashtons were unable to secure bank loans.
In 2006, Chris Ashton approached the Wharton Entrepreneurial Program for advice on a national marketing plan and was directed to visiting lecturer Alan Abrahams, who assigned Petplan USA as a data-mining test case to his students. The students' work helped determine marketing strategies for the company, providing information on potential areas of interest. The main benefit of the data mining likely was the media coverage attracted, because according to the peer-reviewed article published by Abrahams, the data mining was merely to find demographic features of zipcodes containing at least one vet.
In April 2008, the company, which had nine employees in Spring of 2007 and 11 in February 2008, appointed Vernon Hill
II, the founder and former president and CEO of Commerce Bancorp
Inc., as chairman of the board.
Pet insurance
Pet health insurance pays the veterinary costs if one's pet becomes ill or is injured in an accident. Some policies will also pay out when the pet dies, or if it's lost or stolen....
company, providing insurance for pet owners to cover veterinary bills. Since 2003, it has operated in partnership with Petplan UK, a unit of what Bloomberg describes as "Europe's largest insurer", Allianz SE.
Petplan USA holds the exclusive US license to use the Petplan name in marketing. It has also since 2007 operated in partnership with the Humane Society of the United States
Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States , based in Washington, D.C., is the largest animal advocacy organization in the world. In 2009, HSUS reported assets of over US$160 million....
(HSUS) to promote pet insurance as "a key component in responsible pet ownership". In the United States, American National Property and Casualty (ANPAC) underwrites Petplan.
Background
The company was founded in 2003 by Chris Ashton and his wife Natasha Ashton, who had seen the need when as students of the Wharton School of the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
they could not get coverage for their own sick pet. Along with Alex Krooglik and Laura Bennett, they submitted a plan for a pet insurance company, then called PAWS, to the annual Wharton Business Plan Competition, winning the contest's $20,000 grand prize. For several years, the company struggled with debt, as the Ashtons were unable to secure bank loans.
In 2006, Chris Ashton approached the Wharton Entrepreneurial Program for advice on a national marketing plan and was directed to visiting lecturer Alan Abrahams, who assigned Petplan USA as a data-mining test case to his students. The students' work helped determine marketing strategies for the company, providing information on potential areas of interest. The main benefit of the data mining likely was the media coverage attracted, because according to the peer-reviewed article published by Abrahams, the data mining was merely to find demographic features of zipcodes containing at least one vet.
In April 2008, the company, which had nine employees in Spring of 2007 and 11 in February 2008, appointed Vernon Hill
Vernon Hill
Vernon W. Hill II is the founder and former chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Commerce Bancorp and Commerce Bank of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
II, the founder and former president and CEO of Commerce Bancorp
Commerce Bancorp
TD Bank, N.A., is a national banking institution in the United States which offers banking, insurance, brokerage, and investment banking services in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,...
Inc., as chairman of the board.