Insurance or save money?

Just interested as to whether you have insurance for your buns, or whether you just make sure you have a buffer so can deal with vet bills as they arise.

Personally I couldn't find an appropriate insurance plan for bunnies in Aus - insurance was mainly for dogs and cats. I just make sure I have $x set aside for each animal I have, in case of emergency.

I will add a quick poll.

I voted neither.
Never had any for my dog, either. I just pay the vet fees as and when.

SkegMag said:

I voted neither.
Never had any for my dog, either. I just pay the vet fees as and when.

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Similar to what I do - except I just make sure I have enough money saved away. I would hate to have an animal fall ill, only to find out I didn't have the money to get them the veterinary care they need - that would absolutely kill me.

I don't trust pet insurance policies, they have too many exclusions so I'd rather save the money in a bank account to cover the costs.

We save & have a credit care for absolute emergencies, but never needed to use it yet :wave:, always had enough money put by for any emergencies we've had

It would be ridiculous to insure 16 bunnies and cost more to do that than just paying for treatment. I don't save as such, but don't actively spend any money other than what is necessary, so the rest goes to the bunnnies. Thankfully if I'm struggling my parents will help.

Insurance, definately. Unless you could cover £2k per year, every year, you need insurance.

i voted other! we have a credit card that is just for emergancies. this includes the pets. the limit is high enough to cover even the worst out comes. for routine stuff like check ups and vacs i just budget them into that months outgoings!

Insurance for the peace of mind. Credit card for the rare occasion anything that isn't covered (only once so far).

Have only just managed to get Basil insured because he had EC. SO glad I did though because he's such a livewire, would hate him to break a bone or something and not be able to afford the vet fees. I have always had insurance for my dogs as well.

I have enough in savings to cover anything.
I did consider insurance when I just had two but it's £30 a month for three which is quite a bit considering you may never need it, it doesn't cover common things like dentals and you still pay an excess.

I think I'm going to go with saving money each month. With four bunnies I think it will be quite expensive and since common things like dentals aren't covered it seems a bit of a waste.

Luckily I have the security net of being able to ask my parents for help (put it on their credit card if required) which is exactly what they did with the Leo disaster. I'm one of the lucky ones really

I have insurance for my dog - she's a lab, so it's definitely a must! I also now have insurance for my 2 older cats, who turned 10 this year. They are house cats, and therefore unlikely to get any bad injuries, I'm more worried about them developing a long term, ongoing illness, like diabetes or something.

The only other animals I could insure but don't is one other cat, who is only 3, although she does go outside, and the 2 buns.

Perhaps if my previous rabbits had suffered from something that insurance would have covered, I'd be more inclined to get them insured, but I have credit cards in case of emergencies. Unless it's something like an operation, I tend to just pay for it straight away, whether it's routine vaccinations or an unexpected accident, then I just try to be careful for the rest of the month. Having said that, I've got a graduate account, with a £2000 interest free overdraft, so I have a bit more flexibility with my account that some people. I hate being in my overdraft, but would do it for the little furry things:roll: .

xxx

I have insurance, but I'm not too happy with it. It costs me £26 a month for the two, which has gone up £7 a month since the first year and the excess is £60 (gone up £10).

For instance last week I had to take each bun to the vets as they were ill and it cost me £100, but as each bun's appointment cost around £50 each the insurance doesn't cover it.

I'm going to continue for now, but when I've paid my credit card off I might choose to save money each month and use the card for anything the savings don't cover.

I have a special D&D bunny account! So far its been wiped out twice with Daisys stay in hospital and the Dudsters week long epic BUT as far as I know both problems would not have been covered by insurance! I might be tempting fate here but the account is looking quite healthy again now

dupe post

I put save. I have an account called Rabbit Insurance, I also have one called emergency vet fees.

I'm saving over £100 a month by not doing the insurance, but i spend far more than this on dentals, antibiotics, routine treatment, eye drops etc.

I.e I've just spent 377.40 this month and that's with my vets being friendly with me. I.e not having to pay some consultation fees. You could add some extra on if my vets were not so good with me. I'm very lucky in this respect. That's just vet bills i have to hand for September. I possibly have others laying about that i haven't factored in.

I spend over 2k easy per annum on the buns vet bills.

I think insurance does exclude alot though i'm not sure if it works out better saving overall.

I'd probably say if you could insure every healthy rabbit- you would work out better on insurance over the buns lifetime. Although if your rabbits are poorly already with pre-existing conditions- they wouldn't be covered- so most rescues and sanctuary's can't benefit from insurance anyway.

I feel rather lucky that i have several thousand available to me should anything unforeseen happen. I think that having a lump sum is important if you don't have insurance or c/c's or overdraft etc. As a bill could run into thousands within a day or two with bunnies.

xx

I must say I am suprised that so far most have a savings account. I was expecting that most here would have insurance, as that was the general vibe I got.

Sky-O said:

It would be ridiculous to insure 16 bunnies and cost more to do that than just paying for treatment. I don't save as such, but don't actively spend any money other than what is necessary, so the rest goes to the bunnnies. Thankfully if I'm struggling my parents will help.

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I have insured all 19 of mine after having some huge vet bills for a run of problems (a few into the thousands).

It has subsequently proved well worth it.

I have had dentals paid always unless the rabbit was diagnosed as dental problem before I insured. I am not sure why there seems to be an issue with other peoples dental bills.

Just this month the insurance has saved me about £650 so far (Parsleys ear infection and Hawthorn's myxI)

parsnipbun said:

I have insured all 19 of mine after having some huge vet bills for a run of problems (a few into the thousands).

It has subsequently proved well worth it.

I have had dentals paid always unless the rabbit was diagnosed as dental problem before I insured. I am not sure why there seems to be an issue with other peoples dental bills.

Just this month the insurance has saved me about £650 so far (Parsleys ear infection and Hawthorn's myxI)

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I'm tempted to say insurance would be better for animals without pre-existing. The insurance only covers dentals i believe, if the animals have had a checkup a year prior.

Who are you with if you don't mind me asking- pet plan or exotic direct? I was very tempted the other day to get it for my buns that are in good health atleast. xx