Rabbit Insurance for Over 5 Year Olds

We seem to have just been able to insure Kenco (who is 7.5 years old) through Pets at Home insurance :shock:

In the last month we have incurred vet's fees of around £1,300 for poor Fay so we thought we would look into it again for Kenco in case anything had changed. We had always adopted Kenco knowing he couldn't be insured but something I looked at recently made me wonder if we could. We phoned Petplan first as their initial info on their website didnt say that over 5's were excluded, but sadly that still remains the case that he can't be insured with them. All our other buns are with Petplan. Petplan have paid the initial claims for Fay's costs, we are so grateful we had her insured.

But we have just applied for PAH insurance for Kenco and it went through ok. We have wrangled with our consciences because we have strong feelings about PAH selling baby rabbits, but we just wouldn't be able to afford another large vet bill if it came in so thought on balance that it was better to take the insurance if it meant we can always provide Kenco with what he needs.

The cover is not as comprehensive as Petplans and they would not pay out for death through injury or illness on a bun that's over 5 years old, but at least any big vet bills for stasis/bloat or any other condition needing intensive treatment would be paid for and that is some peace of mind for us. Thought others might like to know (even though I don't wish to advertise PAH in any way - if this could help more older buns though then that could be a good thing).

Just hope they don't ring us to cancel it! :lol:

ive been looking at getting this, but i wasnt sure if i should go for it or not

Shauna said:

ive been looking at getting this, but i wasnt sure if i should go for it or not

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I really dont want to recommend PAH for any reason other than that they seem to have allowed us to insure a 7 year old bunny, as I think Petplan's cover is more comprehensive, and also then you know you're not supporting Pets at Home with breeding/selling baby bunnies, but if its for an older bunny I don't think there is any other choice out there

helgalush said:

I really dont want to recommend PAH for any reason other than that they seem to have allowed us to insure a 7 year old bunny, as I think Petplan's cover is more comprehensive, and also then you know you're not supporting Pets at Home with breeding/selling baby bunnies, but if its for an older bunny I don't think there is any other choice out there

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I will probally have to then because my daisy is about 6 =/ i didnt want to use them for the same reason as you

petplan wonlt pay out for death through injury or illness of a rabbt of any age, or soo they told me after locksley died, not sure why they bother askign how much they cost us, when they wonlt pay out, not that it would of brought him back

Shauna said:

ive been looking at getting this, but i wasnt sure if i should go for it or not

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If you can't afford a 2k vet bill every year you should definately get insurance!

I'm not at all a fan of supporting PAH but my cats are both insured with PAH insurance and so is Mavis. It was about half the price of the next nearest competitor, again allowed older animals to be insured, and I figured that I probably stand at least as much chance of them paying out in vets bills more than I pay them in premiums :lol:

mini lop1 said:

petplan wonlt pay out for death through injury or illness of a rabbt of any age, or soo they told me after locksley died, not sure why they bother askign how much they cost us, when they wonlt pay out, not that it would of brought him back

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Don't quite understand this - do you mean they wouldn't pay out for vet treatment? I wouldn't expect them to pay out because one of my bunnies had died. Sorry if I'm being a bit thick.

Shauna said:

ive been looking at getting this, but i wasnt sure if i should go for it or not

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I would say go for it. I wasn't able to insure my 7yr old bun with PetPlan (they took on the other 2 younger ones) and, before he died, I had a bill of £800. I didn't realise that P at H would have insured him.

(ETA Today I've paid vet bill of £300 for one of my younger ones, which hopefully PetPlan will settle minus the first £50 or £60 - so I would definitely recommend insurance.

I insured Artie with P@H last year around ?April/May when he was 6.5 years old as MissySJ highlighted that over 5s could be insured.

In July I claimed £844 for his kidney stone surgery and the rest of the £1k allowance in August for Kidney removal.

Whilst I wish I'd taken the 'Life' insurance rather than accidentally buying the 'Annual', I'm so flipping glad we had the insurance. Artie has cost about £2.2K in the last year in vet bills, because I didn't insure him before his bladder op and various stasis episodes £1.2k came out of "real money". I would never have a rabbit not insured after the last 2 years experience.

Babsie said:

Don't quite understand this - do you mean they wouldn't pay out for vet treatment? I wouldn't expect them to pay out because one of my bunnies had died. Sorry if I'm being a bit thick.

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I would have expected all insurers to be similar but when I read the terms and conditions for P@H it says that they will pay what the pet cost (to replace it:? ) or what is the market value for the pet if you don't know what you paid. I can understand insurers not paying out for older/elderly animals with regards 'death' though as that would be an expected event. I woudn't actually want the 'replacement' value to be honest as it doesn't sit right but I suppose if you have a very expensive dog, I can see the logic to it.