What the PEIA learnt at NAPHIA Exchange 2026

In May, PEIA travelled to Charleston, South Carolina, to attend NAPHIA Engage 2026, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association’s biannual conference.

For PEIA, the visit was an important opportunity to look beyond the UK market and better understand how the North American pet health insurance sector is approaching many of the same issues we are now facing here: affordability, access to care, veterinary inflation, consumer understanding, trust, product design, claims experience and the role insurance plays in supporting the human-animal bond.

What stood out most was not that the North American market has all the answers. No market does. What stood out was the value of bringing people together with a shared purpose and a aligned common objective combined with a stronger evidence base.

NAPHIA has built a mature association model around collaboration, market data and common understanding. Its annual market reporting, supported by independently collated member data, gives the sector a clearer view of market size, growth, penetration, claims, product trends and emerging challenges. Structured and aligned insight creates a more informed conversation. It allows the market to see where it is heading, not just where it has been.

Whilst this alignment is evidenced in how NAPHIA members coalesce around market data, it also epitomises a market that tackles industry-wide challenges collectively, resulting in far better outcomes for the policyholders it serves.

For PEIA, this method of collaboration is hugely relevant.

One of the questions we continue to ask in the UK is: what becomes possible when a market is prepared to share data in a trusted and structured way? The NAPHIA model shows that shared insight does not have to mean losing commercial independence. Done properly, it can support better decisions, stronger strategy, more informed regulation and a more sustainable market overall.

The conference also reinforced something that sits at the heart of PEIA’s work: pet insurance is not just a financial product. It exists within a wider ecosystem of owners, animals, vets, insurers, brokers, service providers, charities and regulators. Every conversation about claims, premiums or product design ultimately comes back to whether owners can access care when their animals need it.

There was a strong focus throughout the conference on the human-animal bond and the emotional reality of pet ownership. That is something the UK market must keep front and centre. Behind every policy is a pet parent trying to make the best decision for an animal they love, often at a moment of stress, worry or financial pressure.

There were also clear parallels with the work PEIA is now undertaking through its manifesto programme. The need for education, clearer communication, better consumer understanding and more joined-up thinking came through strongly. Increasing penetration is not simply about selling more policies. It is about building trust, improving understanding and ensuring that insurance continues to have a meaningful role in helping owners say yes to care.

The visit also provided a valuable opportunity to learn from those who have already built and sustained an association in this specialist area. As a young association, PEIA is still developing its structure, membership model, working groups and long-term priorities. Seeing the strength of the NAPHIA community, and the way it brings competitors and partners together around shared challenges, was both encouraging and motivating.

The UK market has its own dynamics and cannot simply copy the North American approach. Our regulatory environment, veterinary market, consumer pressures and product structures are different. But there is still a great deal we can learn from the way NAPHIA has created a platform for evidence-led discussion and sector-wide collaboration.

For PEIA, the key takeaway was clear: sustainable insurance will not be achieved by one part of the market acting alone. It requires trust, data, dialogue and a willingness to work across the full value chain.

That is exactly what PEIA was created to support.

As we move into the next stage of our manifesto work, the lessons from NAPHIA will help shape our thinking. We want to build a UK platform that is practical, credible and grounded in real market insight, while keeping animal welfare, access to care and consumer outcomes at the heart of the conversation.

Charleston reminded us that this is not just a UK challenge. It is a global one. And it also reminded us that when a sector comes together with purpose, progress becomes possible.