Pets at Home chases ‘at least’ 10% market share after entering insurance

Pets at Home is targeting “at least 10% market share” in the pet insurance sector within five years, according to managing director of its new insurance proposition, Matt Poll.

The retailer entered the insurance market on 19 August 2026 with Pet Insurance, which is exclusively on Compare the Market. It will become available via the firm’s website and app in September this year.

Speaking to Insurance Times, Poll noted that “insurance was the missing piece” in Pets at Home’s ambition to create a one-stop-shop for its customers, with it now looking to build an integrated pet-care “ecosystem” encompassing its insurance, veterinary and retail services.

While Pets at Home does not have claims data to help with pricing, he explained that it does have the equivalent of over “15 million exposure years” in vet treatment data, in addition to the data collected from pet owners using the Pets at Home app.

He added the retailer’s understanding of pets and their owners, combined with the scale of data available through its distribution chain of retail and veterinary operations, grants the firm a “competitive advantage” in the market.

“The one thing that Pets at Home does well is it understands pets and their owners, which I’d argue some insurers don’t and that’s not a criticism of insurers – it’s just because they are insurers,” he continued.

“We’ve got access to data sources that most mainstream insurers don’t have and would dream of having and we can reward conscientious pet owners accordingly.”

‘Major player’

With ambitions to be a “major player” in the pet insurance sector, Poll noted that the firm also seeks to be the “number one in customer satisfaction and vet satisfaction”.

He added that both measures are “critical” if the retailer is “going to change the perception of what pet insurance is all about”.

“Customer expectations when it comes to insurance, pet insurance generally, are reasonably quite low or there’s a lack of understanding,” Poll said.

“So, the challenge for us [is] we want to be judged on our own results and customer feedback.

“Pets at Home, because it’s the most trusted pet care brand and because our vets are the most trusted, we’ve got to really make this work and deliver. Otherwise, the risk is we erode some of that trust that’s already built up.

“We’ll measure ourselves on customer feedback, as well as vet feedback because they’re a massive part of the whole insurance chain in this field.”