Naked launches pet insurance in South Africa and says its AI approves eligible claims automatically

Naked, a South African digital insurance broker, has added cover for cats and dogs to its app and says artificial intelligence handles much of the claims process. Co-founder Sumarie Greybe told ITWeb that straightforward claims can be settled automatically, while claims that need more information or judgement go to Naked's own experts. "Our AI helps us to approve eligible claims automatically," she said in launch material published by TechFinancials, adding that this also works outside office hours.

Customers photograph the vet invoice in the app and answer a few questions. According to Naked, automated checks then match the treatment on the invoice to the incident the customer reported and confirm bank details before payment. The company's early claims data gives a median of 1.3 days from submission to payment, with about 60% of claims paid within 48 hours and roughly 29% within an hour of approval; the fastest payment so far took 12 minutes. These are Naked's own figures for all claims together. It has not said how many claims they cover or what share the AI approved without staff involvement.

The launch is also Naked's first customer-facing use of a large language model, Coverager reported: instead of completing a form, customers describe their pet's medical history in a conversation.

The product has three levels: accident-only, accident and illness, and a comprehensive plan that adds physiotherapy and routine care. Accident-only cover starts at R40 a month for cats and R55 for dogs. Customers choose an annual limit between R15,000 and R120,000 and set their own excess, and treatment is paid within the annual and per-claim limits without separate caps by treatment type. Illness cover is available only for pets that join before the age of nine. Hollard Specialist Insurance underwrites the policies, and Naked acts as the authorised distributor.

Greybe estimates that South Africa has about 10 million pets, of which only a small share is insured. ITWeb names Dotsure, Oneplan, MediPet and OUTsurance as the main providers Naked now competes with.