A cautionary tale regarding insurance

When I got Gloria, my gorgeous lionhead, I insured her as I already had insurance out for her partner. Boy am I glad I did!

Last week, she appeared unwell and a trip to the vet diagnosed a respiratory infection, this morphed into something more sinister as they realised she had lost a lot of weight. The problem showed the next day .... she had a tumour behind her eye. She was then operated on the next day.

The eye was removed and behind it was a lot of pus and debris and it wasn't clear whether it was an abscess or a growth. The eye is being biopsied and cultures taken in case more targetted ABX is needed in future.

All in all, the bill so far has been:

3 x jabs for respiratory infection £95
Operation to remove eye, biopsy etc £450
3 x jabs for pain relief £95
Trip to have stitches removed £?????

As you can easily see, it is going to be very expensive. I will have to pay the first £50 of the claim but hopefully, will get a full refund of her treatment.

So if anyone is questioning whether it is worth insuring their bunny, maybe the tale above is food for thought. I pay about £15 for my two buns and can certainly say it has given me great relief.

I agree! this is the reason ive insured my 4! its great peace of mind!

Yep, we found out the hard way with Benji, as he wasn't insured. We had fully intended to have him and Paddy insured when we got them, but Benji started showing symptoms just a few weeks after they arrived, before we had arranged the insurance.

At the hospital in Edinburgh, he had blood tests, x-rays of skull, abdomen, and of hips, legs and feet, faecal tests, blood pressure, and ultrasound of his heart.

Then he had keyhole surgery and biopsies of liver, kidney and spleen, and associated tissue and culture tests. And drugs, anaesthetics, etc.

I'm not even going to admit how much that lot cost. :shock:

And Rosie had a lot of investigations too, last November at the Animal Hospital too. She wasn't insured either, but that was our choice. We knew that we could afford the vets bills and took our chances. So it's been an expensive year!

But we have now insured Paddy (actually the day after Benji was put to sleep) and it's nice to have peace of mind. It was a lesson we learned the hard way.

I've debated it and i did used to have Fiver insured until things happened and i got behind on payments.

I just think its as good putting away a tenner a week (or more) and then all that money is there. I think you would end up giving the insurance more money than you claim back. Plus you have to pay excess and then have the problem of not being able to claim on certain things or on previous health issues.

Vegan_Bunny said:

I've debated it and i did used to have Fiver insured until things happened and i got behind on payments.

I just think its as good putting away a tenner a week (or more) and then all that money is there. I think you would end up giving the insurance more money than you claim back. Plus you have to pay excess and then have the problem of not being able to claim on certain things or on previous health issues.

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Definitely not the case with the 2 bunnies of mine within the last year!

Both of their vets bills ran into 4 figures, so even if we'd been paying insurance premiums for years, we'd have got far more back from the insurance company than we'd paid out.

Rosie Rabbit said:

Definitely not the case with the 2 bunnies of mine within the last year!

Both of their vets bills ran into 4 figures, so even if we'd been paying insurance premiums for years, we'd have got far more back from the insurance company than we'd paid out.

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Wow :shock: I can't imagine having to pay that much. I mean my vets are pretty cheap and certainly know about bunnies so i think im lucky. If i didnt have my vets then i think i'd probably get insurance for them.

I mean it cost me £30 at my vets for a neuter of a bunny. Everywhere else quoted me £66 :shock:

Me too, I have been paying £8 for Gloria for a couple of years and will get back £650.

I have a third rabbit who has a tooth problem so I haven't insured him and save the money every month, but I think I am going to re-evaluate this now and insure him as well due to this experience.

I know his teeth problems will be excluded because they are pre-existing but this has scared me deeply. The £20 I have been saving since I got him 18 months ago, would in no way have covered this. But obviously, it comes down to personal preference and circumstances but I think it is £8 well spent.

Vegan_Bunny said:

Wow :shock: I can't imagine having to pay that much. I mean my vets are pretty cheap and certainly know about bunnies so i think im lucky. If i didnt have my vets then i think i'd probably get insurance for them.

I mean it cost me £30 at my vets for a neuter of a bunny. Everywhere else quoted me £66 :shock:

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Sounds like you have good vets.

It's a gamble - if all your bunny ever needs is routine vaccinations or the odd dental, then you may pay out more in the long run if you take out insurance. The trouble comes when you are referred to specialists for second opinions and end up having to pay for expensive procedures (or indeed have those things done by your own vet). These things can't be foreseen, and having insurance in that situation is a godsend.

Personally, I'd always want to be able to afford either the insurance premiums, or to be able to pay for expensive procedures if my buns needed them. That's partly the reason I wouldn't get more than 2 buns. (Though I really admire people who help large numbers of rabbits; it's just down to personal choice).

I suppose it's like any insurance - if you need to claim, you're relieved that you have it; if you don't need to claim, you see it as money wasted! :lol:

haha yes exactly. I wouldnt get more than 2 buns. Not on the money i bring in atm anyway. I know what you mean, my parents forked out alot for the "family" bunny when i was younger and he had to be pts in the end

I don't get paid into my bank and also don't even have a bank nea me which is obviously really awkward if i want to have any direct debits. It's a waste of time me having to bus it to town just to put money in my bank that i'd have to withdraw to spend anyway haha. Easier to put it in my giant coke bottle money box lmao.

Thats my insurance

I agree with the last statement that Rosie Rabbit said You're either releaved or gutted. I'm still deciding personally