RECENT RESEARCH that a sick or injured pet has a significant impact on their owner’s wellbeing provides little surprise to Southern Cross Pet Insurance CEO Anthony McPhail.

“Our customer service team has to answer questions about cover and claims from very stressed people whose pets are gravely sick or injured or sadly have just died.

“These conversations can be emotional – to say the least – which is why I’m so proud of what our team does daily and that their work has been recognised with our ninth Reader’s Digest Quality Service Award,” he says.

With pet ownership in New Zealand dramatically increasing during the pandemic, Southern Cross Pet Insurance has seen a corresponding growth in demand for pet insurance. Today, the business provides accidental injury and illness cover, and accident only cover to over 65,000 pets – making it the country’s largest pet insurer.

“Our proposition revolves around providing easy-to-understand and easy-to-use pet insurance, so naturally great customer service is at the heart of what we do.

“Whether you’re buying pet insurance, trying to understand your cover, or making

a claim, pet insurance can be confusing, so we’ve emphasised the need to put everything in plain language, be that over the phone or in other communication.”

McPhail says this is why the business has recently focused on simplifying its online claiming process, and re-drafting policy documents so they’re easier to understand and Southern Cross Pet Insurance is easy to deal with.

“It’s so important to us to make sure we’re there for pet owners when they need us and we’re easy to deal with.”

Visit southerncrosspet.co.nz/pet-hub/real-stories for customer case stories.