Digital insurer Naked has launched pet insurance for cats and dogs that uses AI and automation to assess claims and pay out — in its fastest case so far, 12 minutes from submission to payment.
Accident-only cover starts at R40 a month for cats and R55 for dogs.
How the claims work
Customers submit claims through the Naked app by uploading a vet invoice and answering a few questions. The system uses AI to match treatments to reported incidents, verify bank details and check claim information against the invoice. Straightforward claims are processed automatically; others go to human review.
Early data shows a median of 1.3 days from submission to payment, with about 60% of claims paid within 48 hours and roughly 29% paid within an hour of approval, co-founder Sumarie Greybe told ITWeb.
“When a pet needs emergency treatment, you’re already worried about what might be wrong and whether they’ll recover,” she said. “The last thing you want to worry about is how you’ll pay the vet bill, or how long you’ll have to wait to get your money back.”
Onboarding is also conversational: customers describe their pet’s medical history in a chat rather than filling in a form. Greybe said human help remains available. “We do not want to make it difficult for customers to speak to a person.”
The cover
There are three tiers: accident-only; accident and illness; and comprehensive cover that adds physiotherapy and routine care such as vaccinations and check-ups. Annual limits range from R15,000 to R120,000, with a choice of excess.
Accident cover is available at any age; illness cover requires pets to join before turning nine. Policyholders can use any registered vet in South Africa, and there are no treatment-specific sub-limits — blood tests, scans, surgery, hospital stays and medication are covered up to the chosen annual and per-claim limits.
“People need to understand and control what their cover will pay for before they’re faced with a vet bill,” Greybe said.
A largely uninsured market
Greybe estimates South Africa has about 10 million pets, of which only a small share are insured. Naked competes with Dotsure, Oneplan, MediPet and OUTsurance.
Pet cover joins Naked’s car, home, contents and single-item products. It is limited to cats and dogs for now, and no formal partnerships have been announced.
