Very confused about getting insurance... help?

Hi,

I've been looking at past threads and doing insurance quotes for Finx and Tango, but there are so many exclusions and I'm getting confused! What do they actually pay out for?

PetPlan says it doesn't pay for burring, trimming or rasping rabbit's teeth, and won't cover dental treatment unless they've had an annual examination. So is it things like abcesses that would be covered? And would a visual examination when they are in for vaccinations be enough? Or is there a more complicated examination?

It also says it won't cover hospitalisation or treatment outside of vet practice hours unless the vet confirms it is essential - but why else would they need it...?

There is such a long list of things that aren't covered, and little loop holes that require you to have done something in advance or you are not covered.

Any help or advice would be appreciated!

From the dental side of things - consider burring, trimming, rasping etc to be normal fairly expected, routine procedures, insurance won't cover it as it's basic stuff. The dental examination would count as the look at the teeth during a health check when they are vaccinated. So, things like abscesses would be covered as they are not normal occurrences.

Pretty much, like you say, they would only be hospitalised if the vet advises it so the vet is going to say that it was necessary treatment.

I've had loads (about 15 - 20) claims in with Pet Plan, mainly for stasis episodes but also one for blood tests/x-rays etc for weight loss - they've paid out on everything. About 5 of the claims were out of hours 11 pm - 7am ie £120 for consultation, a few have been out of hours £60 consultation - everything has been paid.

Also, often vets when seeing a rabbit with stasis will give a few jabs and send the rabbit home, my vet usually admits, takes x-rays etc so it's rarely less than £100, sometimes over £200, Pet Plan have paid every one I've claimed for - they've never said it's excessive - because the vet has said the treatment is warranted.

I'd thoroughly recommend insurance, I would have struggled this year without it.

It's definitely worth while.

The reason they say that about out of hours consultations is that some people are paranoid and might take the pet to the vet out of hours when there is nothing wrong with them. You should phone the vet and confirm whether they need to be seen or not first.

Definitely worth it. Minky has ec and has had 3 blood tests 5 consultations with a specialist, she now has glaucoma so needs monthly consults, eye pressure tests and her eye drop (which cost £40 per month) so far since October I have sent over £500 to pet plan and they have paid out all. Until her eye pressures stabilise I would be paying £70 a month if I didn't have insurance.
Earlier in the year my bridge bun Jack had impaction and they paid for that, also Patch had a prolapse rectum and they have paid almost £2000 for his treatment since January this year.

So is it the lifetime cover with pet plan that you have? They quoted me £17.73 a month, is that good?
I usually have about £150 a month left after bills, for me and the rabbits, I guess it's just the same as saving £20 for a 'just in case' fund...

Basically, with petplan - you need to have them fully vaccinated against vhd and myxi and have dental examinations once a year (and any work needed carried out)- you are required to do this to keep them in good health.

Routine dentals and any pre-existing conditions are not covered. They also wont cover food from the vet. Anything else, if the vet says it was necessary, they should cover.

There is a £50 excess and claims need to be made within a certain amount of time. The excess is per condition per year.

Hope this helps :wave:

nessar said:

Basically, with petplan - you need to have them fully vaccinated against vhd and myxi and have dental examinations once a year (and any work needed carried out)- you are required to do this to keep them in good health.

Routine dentals and any pre-existing conditions are not covered. They also wont cover food from the vet. Anything else, if the vet says it was necessary, they should cover.

There is a £50 excess and claims need to be made within a certain amount of time. The excess is per condition per year.

Hope this helps :wave:

Click to expand...

That's a lot clearer than the website :lol:
They are vaccinated anyway, and have had their teeth checked recently when I registered Tango with the vets. Would the vets keep a record of dental checks if I asked them to check when they're in for vaccinations do you think? I suppose there would have to be some evidence if I ever made a claim regarding teeth?

Sorry for all the questions!

They don't have any pre-existing conditions that I know of, and neither of them have needed any routine dental work so far, although obviously that could change.

UD: pet plan vs. p@h

I've done a quote with pets at home too and it's significantly cheaper, just with a £75 excess instead of £50. I can't see many other differences, has anyone got insurance with p@h?

Also, I'm having a slight moral dilemna as I've boycotted my local p@h due to seeing too many ill bunnies there. I'm sure the insurance part has nothing to do with the staff in my locl store but I would still be supporting the company as a whole... Although lots of people on here have had much better experiences with them than me.

P@H lifetime cover is pretty good. It's a bit more limited than PetPlan, you've mentioned the excess but the yearly cap is also a bit lower than PetPlan. I'm sticking with PetPlan but the P@H for live cover looks good too if you are on a tight budget.

sierra*323 said:

I've done a quote with pets at home too and it's significantly cheaper, just with a £75 excess instead of £50. I can't see many other differences, has anyone got insurance with p@h?
Also, I'm having a slight moral dilemna as I've boycotted my local p@h due to seeing too many ill bunnies there. I'm sure the insurance part has nothing to do with the staff in my locl store but I would still be supporting the company as a whole... Although lots of people on here have had much better experiences with them than me.

Click to expand...

I got Artie covered with P@H in May and in June and July I claimed for him having kidney stones removed then a kidney removed. As I only bought the annual policy I was only covered for £1,000 and the total bill was £1,400 - the paid the £1,000 which I was very pleased with as he had pre-existing bladder sludge so originally I didn't think the claim stood a chance. I'd definitely recommend them, though they were a bit slow paying the second part of the cliam. I'm also still covered up to £1k for any new condition if, god forbid, he developed anything else.

Thanks for all the advice - I've done it
Got p@h in the end, £6.19 a month for Tango and £6.58 for Finx - because Tango has a microchip I think. Here's hoping I don't need to use it!