01Frequency
Insured portfolios and academic studies
5.8m+insured pet years
2.8m+insurance claims
Sets how often pets claim, how claims spread, and how risk moves with species, breed and age.
ITALIAN PET INSURANCE MGA
Your specialist
partner in
pet insurance.
We bring carriers profitable growth in Italian pet insurance, through disciplined underwriting and specialist distribution. Every partnership is built for the long term, on trust and full transparency.
WHAT WE DELIVER
What carriers get from NovaPet.
Returns on capital
3Aligned, long-term partnershipVariable remuneration, earned when the book performs. Full transparency, with real-time access to programme data down to each policy. No surprises.1 · UNDERWRITING: PRICING
The most rigorous pricing in European pet insurance.
Best data, best process. Three independent evidence bases feed one engine that prices every pet on its own risk, with discipline at every step, and it gets sharper every day as new data comes in.
39m+data points behind our tariff
- 30mcompetitor quotes
- 5.8m+insured pet years
- 2.8m+insurance claims
- 6,400+Italian vet prices
02Severity
Italian veterinary costs
6,400+vet prices
50Italian sources
Anchors what each claim costs, and its trend, in Italian veterinary prices.
03Market check
Market prices
30mcompetitor quotes
246plans benchmarked
Tests every relativity against the market, on the same pets and comparable cover.
The NovaPet engine
400,000priced quotes
Stress-tested
Frequency and severity modelled separately and trended for veterinary inflation; every plan tested against shocks to claims, costs, inflation, anti-selection and mix, including a reverse stress test.
Explainable
Every quote traces to its factors (species, breed, age, sex, city and plan) and to its tariff version.
Fully transparent
Carriers see the book 24/7, down to each policy: frequency, severity, mix and loss ratio, with every assumption open to their actuaries.
Risk selection, built in from day one.
Insured before the need
Pet owners join through our partners before a claim, not after a diagnosis.
Wording built for performance
Waiting periods, pre-existing conditions and referrals, set in a policy wording designed for underwriting performance.
Data from the first policy
Complete, structured data on every policy from inception.
1 · UNDERWRITING: TECHNOLOGY
Our pricing engine runs 24/7.
Claims, app engagement and partner data are analysed as they arrive and actioned as needed, so pricing is refined in real time and the book stays within agreed performance levels.
Data in, around the clock
- Claims
- App engagement
- Partner data
- Market prices
NovaPet pricing engine
24/7- Tracks loss ratio against agreed levels
- Refines pricing in real time
- Acts before the book drifts
Pricing decisions
Made in real time, within corridors the carrier approves
Carrier dashboard, 24/7Live
Actual against expected, every segment, live
Loss ratio forecast
Mix against plan
Rate adequacy
Authority within limitsBordereau synced
Gamified prevention, designed to lower claim frequency and severity.
Pet owners earn NovaCoins, NovaPet’s reward points, for walks, check-ups and healthy habits, and spend them on policy discounts and at partner stores. Prevention keeps claims down, the rewards keep pet owners engaged and loyal, and every interaction adds data from every pet, every day.
01Engage
Daily habits, rewarded.
02Care
Help when it matters.
03Protect
Cover in a few taps.
Healthier pets, fewer claims, more loyal pet owners, and pricing that sharpens as engagement grows.
01Lower-cost acquisitionPartners bring pet owners in early
02Daily usePrevention, rewards, teleconsultation
03Richer dataOn every pet, from day one
04Healthier petsPrevention and early care keep problems small
05Sharper pricingClaims and app engagement data feed every tariff review
06Renewals and referralsEngagement builds loyalty and referrals
A stronger portfolio
and more value for pet owners
2 · DISTRIBUTION
We reach pet owners before they need insurance.
Italian pet cover waits for pet owners to go looking, usually after the first big vet bill. We get there first, at the moments when care decisions are made and pet owners think about their pet’s future.
NovaPet enrols pet owners where care decisions are made
- Employers
Workplace benefits
- Breeders, shelters and clinics
Adoption and microchipping
- Vet clinics
A check-up
- Pet retail and food brands
Everyday shopping
- NovaPet app and digital journeys
Everyday care
The first big vet bill
- Agents and brokers, banks, post offices, online
The pet owner looks for cover
Where pet cover is sold today
Vets want their clients insured, yet few practices offer cover: NovaPet brings it into the clinic.
83%
of Italian vets want pet insurance to grow, so clients can afford care
16%
of Italian vet practices offer it today: an open channel
3 · PARTNERSHIP
Built on full alignment of interest.
Our economics are tied to underwriting performance: a significant share of our remuneration is variable and earned only when the book performs.
Our pricing engine works around the clock to protect profitability, and carriers see everything we see, down to each policy. No surprises at year end.
- 01
Long-term alignment
Variable fees that reflect our underwriting performance.
- 02
Underwriting that protects carrier capital
Rigorous pricing within corridors the carrier approves, steered every day by live data.
- 03
Transparency from day one
Real-time granular reporting, 24/7 access to programme data, monthly bordereaux and audit rights.
- 04
Differentiated distribution
Partners and digital channels enrol pet owners before they need cover, at lower cost and with less anti‑selection.
ROOM TO GROW
Pet cover take‑up in Italy has grown 8x since 2021, despite weak products, distribution and service.
A rare opportunity: high and growing demand, a weak offer from incumbents, and distribution still open through employers, vets and other partners. Growth so far has come from rising vet costs and pets becoming family, not from the products on offer.
96%
of Italian pet owners see their pet as family
77%
would cut their own spending before their pet’s care
€1.8bn
spent each year by Italian families on vet care
4m
pet owners postponed vet care for financial reasons in 2025
Veterinary costs are pricing Italians out of care, and that drives demand for cover: in Italy, spending on veterinary care has almost doubled since 2016, while wages rose only 14%.
Index, 2016 = 100
Italian veterinary spending has grown 6.6 times faster than wages
A market that barely existed in 2021 has grown eightfold, and is still a fraction of mature markets.
Pet insurance penetration in Italy
Headroom vs mature markets
THE PRODUCT
International best practice, built for Italy.
Four plans, from surgery cover to comprehensive care, designed on international best practice, with everyday support for pet owners through the NovaPet app.
| Cover | Surgery | Silver | Gold | Platinum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surgery and accidents | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Vet visits, tests and medicines | Not included | Included | Included | Included |
| Prevention allowance | Not included | Included | Included | Included |
| Level of cover | level 1 of 4 | level 2 of 4 | level 3 of 4 | level 4 of 4 |
Plus third-party liability, on its own or alongside any plan.
- No maximum entry age; every pet priced on breed, age, sex and location, refined with claims data and engagement data from the NovaPet app
- No excess on health cover; 80% of eligible costs reimbursed
- Direct payment to vets
- Vet teleconsultation
WHY NOVAPET
Built for how Italians buy and use pet cover.
Cover
Typical Italian pet policy: Surgery-led, to about age 10
NovaPet: Four plans, no maximum entry age; every pet priced on breed, age, sex and location, refined with claims data and engagement data from the NovaPet app
Distribution
Typical Italian pet policy: Sold as add-ons to other cover (72% of products); foreign players online
NovaPet: Partners and digital combined, reaching pet owners before the need
Claims
Typical Italian pet policy: The pet owner pays first, then waits
NovaPet: Decided within 48 hours of complete documents; vets paid directly
Relationship
Typical Italian pet policy: Only at claim time
NovaPet: Every day, through value-added app services that build engagement and loyalty
For the carrier
Typical Italian pet policy: Weak underwriting on thin data and old technology, little portfolio visibility
NovaPet: Rigorous pricing on one of the most comprehensive pet databases in the world, real-time risk management, full portfolio visibility
THE TEAM
Senior operators with deep insurance and pet sector experience.
Deep knowledge of insurance markets and pets, and a track record of scaling profitable, sustainable underwriting and building deep distribution networks.
Daniele Caliò
Chief Executive Officer
13 years at the intersection of insurance, private equity and the pet sector, in London and Milan.
- Structured more than €2 billion of insurance-backed securities.
- Senior adviser to insurers, financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies at AlixPartners, as Senior Vice President, and at Bain & Company, building and restructuring businesses.
- Led strategy, M&A and restructuring work for some of Europe’s largest insurers, from business plans and operating models to distribution and product portfolios, and launched new products and new markets.
- Responsible for over €650 million invested, including in Europe’s largest veterinary groups (nearly 3,000 clinics between them), pet food and pet supplements.
- Built an investment firm’s European business from zero to €2.5 billion of assets under management in 12 months.
- MSc in Management, London Business School.
Marcello Ottaviani
Chief Underwriting Officer
Over 25 years as an actuary and insurance entrepreneur.
- Designed and scaled some of the most successful insurance products in Italy for the country’s largest insurers, and contributed to several of Italy’s biggest MGA success stories.
- Sits, and has sat, on the product and risk committees of some of Italy’s largest insurers.
- Fourth-generation actuary: partner of the Milan practice G. Ottaviani & Partners and former Senior Manager at EY, across pricing, internal models and Solvency II.
- Chairman of SaluberMD Italia, a digital health company providing telemedicine to companies and insurers.
Get in touch
Let’s build the leading pet programme in Italy together.
Carriers, reinsurers and brokers looking to grow in Italian pet insurance: we would welcome a conversation. Write to us and we will come back to you promptly.
- Carriers and hybrid frontsDelegated underwriting authority
- ReinsurersReinsurance partnerships
- BrokersCapacity placement and distribution
Get in touch
info@novapet.it