Insurance questions

I know this will have been asked before however I really need to get this out of my system, as I'm struggling to make a decision in regards to insurance for my new bun Theodore. He is currently around 11 weeks old and petplan is offering me £10.40 odd a month for the first year. So my question, how many of you have insurance vs. a savings account? and how many of you are still in profit or nearly so? I'm thinking the likely hood of him getting to 10 without any illness is slim however having seen the other thread about how much it can go up, is it worth just saving? Bearing in mind we are also saving for a mortage deposit though.

I hope that makes sense, thank you! :wave:

If you had a savings account, how much would you put in it each month? Just one emergency vet visit can easily be £300. And if a bun develops something ongoing, your vet bills can easily reach £1000 a year or more. It's a no brainer for me, I just don't have that kind of money lying around. If you could afford to save maybe £200 a month I'd say then maybe do that. But I don't think many people could afford that! All 5 of my buns are insured with Petplan, at approx £12 each per month. I have never claimed for Daisy, but Digby has had approx £1000 paid by Petplan in 2 years. Barney has had about £1000 just in 6 months! Molly has had about £500 in a year. And Olly has had about £500 in three years. My bridge bunny Honey had £2000 paid out within a month!!! Like I said, there's no other way to do it unless you're loaded! :wave:

ripminnie said:

If you had a savings account, how much would you put in it each month? Just one emergency vet visit can easily be £300. And if a bun develops something ongoing, your vet bills can easily reach £1000 a year or more. It's a no brainer for me, I just don't have that kind of money lying around. If you could afford to save maybe £200 a month I'd say then maybe do that. But I don't think many people could afford that! All 5 of my buns are insured with Petplan, at approx £12 each per month. I have never claimed for Daisy, but Digby has had approx £1000 paid by Petplan in 2 years. Barney has had about £1000 just in 6 months! Molly has had about £500 in a year. And Olly has had about £500 in three years. My bridge bunny Honey had £2000 paid out within a month!!! Like I said, there's no other way to do it unless you're loaded! :wave:

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Wow, that certainly is a lot. It does seem like a no brainer. How long do they take to pay out? Thanks for your help.

Rosie-Lil said:

Wow, that certainly is a lot. It does seem like a no brainer. How long do they take to pay out? Thanks for your help.

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A lot of vets work with them so they pay the vet directly, you just pay the excess and they do the rest

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Rosie-Lil said:

Wow, that certainly is a lot. It does seem like a no brainer. How long do they take to pay out? Thanks for your help.

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They normally pay within 2 weeks :wave:

Yes, veterinary care is expensive but there are two ways to look at it. How many bunnies on RU almost never see the vet other than for routine vaccinations (which wouldn't be covered by insurance anyway)? I've had some buns who've never needed any emergency treatment and some who've had a few emergencies during their lifetime. I had an unexpected vet bill for Pea this week costing me £280. If I'd had insurance, I would have paid around £150 annual insurance premium plus an excess so the actual amount I'm 'down' probably isn't that much, asuming no other unexpected bills this year.

I have a savings account for my vet bills. In the first couple of years, I paid in more a month than I do now, in order to build up a nice pot of cash. Plus I always have a credit card for any huge bills.

It depends whether you would be able to come up with large sums at short notice. If you can, then maybe you would be better off with a savings account, as he may turn out to be fairly healthy, but you never know. It is impossible to know what they will or won't get when they are older, unfortunately, and if you are going to get insurance then it is best to get it young before you get any exclusions on the policy.

I've had Barney insured for 3 years and I've probably claimed over £2000. I had Annabella insured for 2 years and she was never ill. I decided not to renew a year ago, and in the last couple of months she has cost me about £150 for a runny eye/blocked tear duct, but that is still less than I would have paid for a year's insurance. Whether or not this will be an ongoing issue though, I don't know.

As with all insurance, it's a gamble and it's about peace of mind. There have to be more people not claiming as much as they pay for their premiums than people claiming more than their premiums, or the insurance wouldn't be a viable business - they have to make profit. However, if you happen to have one of the rabbits that does get ill, you'll be glad for the insurance.

I have a similar situation with the pony we loan for my daughter. I was advised not to get her insured as vet's bills generally are low. So I didn't; I opened a savings account instead.

I pay in £30 per month and have done for the last 10 months as I now have £300 in the account.

She was poorly last week. The vet had to come out and I'm expecting a bill of about £200+. She had a chest infection and needed antibiotics and a "breathe-easy" powder (the latter alone is £68 a tub :shock.

So it's taken me almost a year to save it and only one vet bill to spend it. Good job she only had a cough ...

My friend's horse has also needed the vet as he got kicked in the face and suffered a very bad eye injury. Her vet bill will be closer to £500 I reckon (that's more than I've got saved), if not more.

Personally I'd get insurance for your rabbit. I'm so glad I have my girls insured as I'd be stone flat broke by now.

Who did you get your quote from as £10+ per month for a baby bunny is a lot; I only paid £8 each for my 2 when they were that age, they're with Pet Plan. Get quotes online too as you may be given a discount purely for buying online.

(oh, and I'm seriously considering getting the pony insured too, though as she's a "veteran" at 18 years old it will be for "injury only" and not illness, so her chest infection wouldn't have been covered. However, she's in a different field with different horses and has a fresh cut every day. If she gets her face kicked in like Tommy above, I wouldn't be able to afford the vet bill.)

I have insurance for my two. Definitely been worth my while for Ashley as she is a well known name at my vets now, Petplan have paid out £600+ since last August. :shock: Bailey on the other hand has never been but we've only had him since September.

Just bear in mind that insurers are a business and they make most of their money off the healthy pets that rarely claim. Therefore if you have one of these you will not "make a profit" as you put it. However I don't look at Bailey's policy like that anymore than I look at my buildings insurance policy :lol:

However last time I claimed for Ashley they took a lot longer than usual and asked for her entire history blah blah which they already had, it was quite strange. And they just increased her excess to £90 whilst Bailey's is £55.

Insurers generally don't pay out for routine dentals/burring of teeth but they have paid for other things that are related (anorexia, dental abscess removal, etc).

Oh, and I pay £15.87 for Ashley and £11.27 for Bailey, per month.

I pay just over 20 a month for both of mine. Its more for peace of mind. They may never have health problems, but i dont want to be caught short if they have an emergency.
If car insurance was optional, would you choose not to have it?

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I also pay just over £10 a month for each of mine. (Around £20 a month) with PetPlan. So far I've not had to use it but I like having it there as a safety net.

Thank you for the replies. I've always been erring on the side of getting it and think I'm convinced. I've only had him a couple of days so I'll be sure not to let the grass grow.

Angie B - The insurer who gave me the quote is pet plan. He would have a £50 excess fee too. Is this the norm or should I shop around?

I would be happy with that, my excesses have never been less than 55 :wave:

Brilliant, thank you. I'll order that and then he's off to the vets for his jab tomorrow. Lucky bun. :lol:

Rosie-Lil said:

Thank you for the replies. I've always been erring on the side of getting it and think I'm convinced. I've only had him a couple of days so I'll be sure not to let the grass grow.

Angie B - The insurer who gave me the quote is pet plan. He would have a £50 excess fee too. Is this the norm or should I shop around?

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Just bear in mind they will increase the excess as the bunny ages.

I put £10 per month per rabbit into a savings account - the balance currently stands at just under £3000 but I have been doing it for a more than 6 years and have had very healthy rabbits in that time with only a few minor payouts (less than £200). I don't use it for routine neutering or vaccinations either.

I was also in the fortunate position of being able to rely on a credit card if required

I ran up a bill of around £500 in 3 weeks with my 2 when they had myxi for what seemed very little medication and vet time. The bills can get very large very quickly so needs some serious thought into insurance or self insurance. I would guess self insurance best pays for itself if you have several rabbits, not just 1 or 2. I'm going to have to consider this myself having just got 2 new buns today!!!!

Dave

Daedalus said:

I ran up a bill of around £500 in 3 weeks with my 2 when they had myxi for what seemed very little medication and vet time. The bills can get very large very quickly so needs some serious thought into insurance or self insurance. I would guess self insurance best pays for itself if you have several rabbits, not just 1 or 2. I'm going to have to consider this myself having just got 2 new buns today!!!!

Dave

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Knowledge about rabbit health has increased in recent years (although you wouldn't always know it) generally amongst vets and technology has improved so that pets can be treated for more things now rather than just being "written off". I'm not putting this very eloquently but what I'm trying to say is bills are often really expensive now. I wonder if that's where the myth of rabbits being cheap children's pets has come from.

Forgot to say that if anyone wants to take out a Petplan policy I have a code which gives you 2 months free (plus I get vouchers :lol so feel free to PM me..

Hi
Just looking at quotes for my 2 bunnys for pet insurance.
I have looked at pet plan and they are quoting me 11.38 for woody
or helpucover is 6.05?

Thats just for Woody

If i then add Buzz on it is;
Petplan - 10.48 per rabbit or 20.97 per month?
And help u cover you just have to buy seperately. Is this reasonable?

Thanks.

toystory said:

Hi
Just looking at quotes for my 2 bunnys for pet insurance.
I have looked at pet plan and they are quoting me 11.38 for woody
or helpucover is 6.05?

Thats just for Woody

If i then add Buzz on it is;
Petplan - 10.48 per rabbit or 20.97 per month?
And help u cover you just have to buy seperately. Is this reasonable?

Thanks.

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Personally I prefer petplan even if they aren't the cheapest. They often work with vets (though not all) and will pay the vets directly rather than having you fork out the money and then claim it back. I like that!