Bunny insurance & Dentals ???????????????

Hi,
Just sorting out insurance for my 2 buns - looking through this forum seems to be P@H life & Petplan are the ones to look at.

So, got my quotes but am I reading the levels of cover right? P@H say dental is an annual limit of £350 per year, Petplan incude it in their overall £2000 vet fees per year. Is this right?? My last bun had ongoing dental, he wasn't insured and just one treatment from the vet cost £400!! So £350 does not seem very high.:?

The reason I am focussing on the dental so much is that my new buns, from the RSPCA, have had their front teeth removed because they were growing crooked. They told me this is to prevent any future problems. My question is will the insurers see it like that or will they deem it a previous condition and therefore exclude it. The reality is the "problem" ie the teeth have been removed so theoretically there should be no problems.:?

Any advice would be very welcome.

It's definitely worth asking them but from past experience I think they will say it is an exclusion.

Rudy had one dental (molar spurs) over 3 years ago, age 1 and they have him as excluded for dental, eyes and facial abscesses. I questioned it on renewal this year and the response was quite stroppy:?

If your insurer was to take advice from a rabbit savvy vet hopefully they would not put it as an exclusion, but I wouldn't hold your breath ....

Having said all that, I have insurance with both companies and would be happy to recommend them as both had paid out well for all the claims I've put in.

I'm no expert but from my two and a half years in car insurance I would presume that an underwriter (regardless of the fact there isn't actually any teeth) would class having no teeth as an existing illness. At the end of the day the area has been interfered with and isn't as "god intended" so they probably wouldn't want too get involved.

Like I said, I'm just guessing there but if a company can get away with not insuring any area on technicalities, generally speaking, they won't.

Probably best to phone up and ask, get the name of the person you spoke to, any agreements made put in writing etc.

Anything to do with the teeth or gums would not be covered since they have had them removed.

It would be a preexisting condition, but if they have been removed they should have problems with those teeth anyway, unless one grows back (rarely this happens).

However neither policy covers routine 'burring or rasping' of the teeth, so your average dental. I dont think any insurance will cover it for rabbits.

my toothless bun has all dental and related conditions excluded

Thank you everyone for your comments! You have all confirmed what I suspected (but hoped I was wrong).

I will give the insurers a call tomorrow - and hope by some miracle they don't exclude dental but am definately going ahead with some insurance even if it does.

:wave:

Dental buring counts as routine dental treatment, under P@H and I believe PetPlan aswell, this is excluded. If something happen to the rabbit and he needed dental treatment to sort it then that would be covered, molar spurs would not be :wave:

youthnovels said:

I'm no expert but from my two and a half years in car insurance I would presume that an underwriter (regardless of the fact there isn't actually any teeth) would class having no teeth as an existing illness. At the end of the day the area has been interfered with and isn't as "god intended" so they probably wouldn't want too get involved.

Like I said, I'm just guessing there but if a company can get away with not insuring any area on technicalities, generally speaking, they won't.

Probably best to phone up and ask, get the name of the person you spoke to, any agreements made put in writing etc.

Click to expand...

I would say the same - and in fact peg teeth can often regrow after the incisors have been remove unfortunately.

But if teeth already removed would be classed as pre existing conditions

Agree with everyone else, it would probably be classed as pre-existing. When I took it out for a bunny who had recovered from a blockage and tummy issues were not covered for the first year, then she was covered.

I don't bother with insurance now and just put money aside in savings for treatment. I have a dental bunny who needs his teeth doing under GA every 8-10 weeks and it costs approx £85 ((£350-£400 on 1 routine type treatment seems excessive even with x-rays). Excess on insurance is about £50-£60 now anyway on top of premiums.

Well, I have spoken to P@H & Petplan and told them everything I know as far as the bunnies health is concerned (which is only what the RSPCA have told me) - I was amazed when both companies confirmed they would accept them as perfectly healthy bunnies and would impose no exclusions or increased excesses for them!! :shock: So, I have gone ahead with P@H. The person there said they insure lots of rescue bunnies and, basically, if the RSPCA say they are healthy thats OK! I do understand that all policies exclude the majority of dental problems anyway, but just want to be "on the safe side" as far as possible.

Thanks to all for your comments, they have been very helpful. :thumb:

BTW - could I just ask what are "peg teeth". Do they often re-grow when the incisors are removed??

:wave: