On the 24th July 2023 Australia’s largest online pet marketplace, Gumtree entered the pet insurance space together with petinsurance.com.au, following Gumtree’s record category growth within the pets vertical.

With  1.5 million unique monthly users within the pets vertical and over 700,000 pet-related listings in 2022 alone, Gumtree is a go-to marketplace for both existing and prospective Australian pet owners.

Despite high rates of pet ownership in Australia with 69% of households having a companion animal,  , which means many Australians may not be financially prepared for pet healthcare costs if their pet is injured or falls ill unexpectedly.

Identifying an opportunity to diversify its pet vertical, and to help customers access pet insurance, Gumtree brings pet insurance to the platform via a partnership with petinsurance.com.au, a leading Australian pet insurance brand.

Customers can keep an eye out for the pet insurance launch offer which is now available on the Gumtree website and app.

product suite offers market-leading features with a high annual benefit limit of up to $30,000^. Customers can access value-add services including VetChat for easy access to Australian registered vets for online triage and vet advice* and GapOnly® which allows customers to simply pay the gap (the difference between the eligible vet invoice and the claim benefit)** while at the vet clinic.

Tommy Logtenberg, CEO of the Gumtree Group, says higher pet ownership has contributed to strong category performance within the marketplace.

“Higher pet ownership has driven record activity on the platform, with more people looking to buy and sell pet services. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gumtree has helped over half a million dogs and cats find their forever homes, with the pets vertical being the fastest growing category for the past two

“In response to this category growth, we wanted to provide users with a more complete pet offering, and to help them consider pet insurance as part of being a responsible pet parent. With PetSure’s distribution model, we saw a strategic opportunity to partner with petinsurance.com.au to bring this to life.

“We have a laser focus on growing the pets vertical, and we’re confident our petinsurance.com.au partnership will unlock growth in this space,” he said.

Natalie Carpenter, Head of Affinity Partnerships at petinsurance.com.au, says the partnership represents an exciting opportunity to reach new audiences.

“  year we’ve seen a growing trend of Australian businesses entering the pet market, or diversifying their existing pet offering, whether that’s within pet retail, online pharmacy or in Gumtree’s case – pet insurance.

“As Australia’s largest online pet marketplace and a household name, we’re delighted to expand our distribution network with Gumtree and to empower Gumtree users to access pet insurance through a brand they know and love.

“With strong audience and values alignment, we knew Gumtree would be a great partner fit and we can’t wait to help more Aussie pet parents manage pet healthcare costs for their fur baby next time they visit the vet clinic,” she said.