F11 — Insurance Economics
The Fastest-Growing Pool in the Pet Economy
This page answersWhat is a pet insurance referral actually worth?
PawPals does not underwrite, hold risk, or take a share of claims. It refers qualified pet owners and earns a commission on bound policies.
Assumptions are shared across every financial page — change one, all outputs recalculate.
118 — Verified pool
U.S. pet insurance as reported
Gross written premium (2024 source year)
North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) · FY2024 · accessed 2026-08-12Year-on-year premium growth
North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) · FY2024 · accessed 2026-08-12Insured pets
North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) · FY2024 · accessed 2026-08-12Approximate insured penetration of U.S. pets
Low penetration is the opportunity
Average annual accident & illness premium — dogs
North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) · FY2024 · accessed 2026-08-12Average annual premium — cats
North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) · FY2024 · accessed 2026-08-12Dog share of insured pets
North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) · FY2024 · accessed 2026-08-12Blended average premium
Weighted by species mix
120 — Referral model
Quote-to-commission economics
Assumptions
ASSUMPTIONModel output
119 — Geography
Where insurance premium concentrates
| State | Share of national premium | Estimated insured pets | Modelled commission pool at current rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 18.30% | 1,171,200 | US$130.1M |
| Texas | 5.50% | 352,000 | US$39.1M |
| Florida | 6.30% | 403,200 | US$44.8M |
| New York | 7.20% | 460,800 | US$51.2M |
| Illinois | 3.48% | 222,979 | US$24.8M |
| Pennsylvania | 3.53% | 226,204 | US$25.1M |
| Ohio | 3.16% | 202,336 | US$22.5M |
| Georgia | 3.05% | 195,288 | US$21.7M |
| North Carolina | 2.99% | 191,058 | US$21.2M |
| New Jersey | 2.77% | 177,230 | US$19.7M |
California, New York, Florida and Texas shares are VERIFIED reported figures. All other state shares are MODELLED ESTIMATES proxied on population and income intensity, and are labelled as such wherever used.
Sensitivity
Bind rate × commission rate
| 8% | 12% | 15% | 20% | 25% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | US$158K | US$237K | US$296K | US$394K | US$493K |
| 10% | US$315K | US$473K | US$592K | US$789K | US$986K |
| 18% | US$568K | US$852K | US$1.1M | US$1.4M | US$1.8M |
| 25% | US$789K | US$1.2M | US$1.5M | US$2.0M | US$2.5M |
| 35% | US$1.1M | US$1.7M | US$2.1M | US$2.8M | US$3.5M |
Insurance referral revenue requires appropriate producer licensing in each state. Licensing cost and timeline are treated as an operating cost in the cost base, not as a modelling assumption, and no revenue is modelled for states before licensing is assumed to be in place.
Investor implication
With roughly 7% of U.S. pets insured and premium compounding above 20%, the referral pool grows even if PawPals' share of it does not. This is the one stream where the market is doing the work.