US pet insurance policies in force

Between 2010 and 2022, the UK price of a pint of lager climbed and the US pet insurance policy count climbed, and the two have risen together (r = 0.957) in one of those pairings that says something about the quiet expansion of expensive consolations on both sides of the Atlantic. The Londoner pays more for comfort; the American insures comfort against a vet bill. Both are paying, modestly, to keep things going.

The UK average pint of lager rose from about £3.00 in 2010 to over £4.80 by 2023, with a particular post-Brexit and energy-cost surge in 2022; US pet insurance policies in force grew from about 700,000 in 2010 to over 5 million by 2022, as major insurers (Nationwide, Trupanion, Lemonade) entered the market and as vet bills grew past the point where Americans could comfortably absorb them out of pocket. Both are expressions of the same middle-class squeeze: small indulgences cost more, so their delivery channels get more structured. The British pub and the US vet are, in very different ways, both now places where a credit card is expected.

The pint is poured. The premium is auto-debited. Both quiet costs of keeping the evening manageable.