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Rabbit insurance advice

ImoT

Mama Doe
I was just wondering how many people have insurance for their rabbit? What companies would you recommend going with and how much does it cost per month? I'm unsure as to whether to get insurance in the first place, I'm unsure as to what they would include in the plan etc so not sure if it's worth it. I do have savings to pay for any medical issues but it could be cheaper in the long run to get pet insurance?

Also, the vet i'm planning on going with does a pet care plan which costs £4.50 a month and includes annual vaccinations, 2 health checks a year and 2 lots of claw clipping a year (done at the health checks)….does this seem like something that would be worth it?

For those of you who don't know, I am fairly new to the forum and getting my first rabbit on Friday evening, he is called Winston :D
 
OMG I absolutely love his name. What is he, colour, age etc? You will have to post pics. Will he live indoors or out?

I have 5 house bunnies, 4 of which are 'special needs'. My buns are all insured with Petplan, and for me personally, they are the best company to insure your rabbit with. You will probably pay just under £10 per month with a £50 excess. I really couldn't keep my rabbits without insurance. Last year one of my buns ran up bills of £1600 over a 5 week period, and then Dipsy split his head open running into the lounge wall whilst having a mad binky. Because it happened on a bank holiday though and he had to be taken to the emergency out of hours vet, and he needed a anaesethic and skull x-rays, his bill was just under £700.

Unless Winston has any pre-existing conditions you are aware of, then there would be no exclusions placed on the policy.
 
Welcome to the wonderful, truly amazing world of being a bunny slave. You will be totally amazed by Winston, and how his character and personality develops.
 
I can't recommend PetPlan enough; most vets deal with directly so you don't have to pay anything other than the Access (?) fee. I would never be without pet insurance; when your animal gets ill or something happens it is complete peace of mind - vet bills wouldn't be long in approaching four figures especially in an emergency and having insurance has saved me selling my car on many an occasion [emoji6]


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I can't recommend PetPlan enough; most vets deal with directly so you don't have to pay anything other than the Access (?) fee. I would never be without pet insurance; when your animal gets ill or something happens it is complete peace of mind - vet bills wouldn't be long in approaching four figures especially in an emergency and having insurance has saved me selling my car on many an occasion [emoji6]


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OMG I absolutely love his name. What is he, colour, age etc? You will have to post pics. Will he live indoors or out?

I have 5 house bunnies, 4 of which are 'special needs'. My buns are all insured with Petplan, and for me personally, they are the best company to insure your rabbit with. You will probably pay just under £10 per month with a £50 excess. I really couldn't keep my rabbits without insurance. Last year one of my buns ran up bills of £1600 over a 5 week period, and then Dipsy split his head open running into the lounge wall whilst having a mad binky. Because it happened on a bank holiday though and he had to be taken to the emergency out of hours vet, and he needed a anaesethic and skull x-rays, his bill was just under £700.

Unless Winston has any pre-existing conditions you are aware of, then there would be no exclusions placed on the policy.

Thank you for all your responses! Winston is a Dutch Blue (I think) and is about 8 months old. A colleague at work needed to rehome him because her circumstances have changed and i've been planning to get a bunny for quite a long time now so it was perfect timing! My colleague and I took him to the vets for a general health check and claw clipping yesterday and he doesn't seem to have any health issues, so i'm guessing there wouldn't be any exclusions! He is going to be an indoor bunny, at first he will be kept in his cage and run until he is reliably litter trained and then he will have access to the kitchen and eventually the whole downstairs once we have finished bunny proofing and getting to know him and things.

Does petplan cover everything (within reason)? I know some insurances for other animals may not cover common issues in certain animals because it wouldn't be financially beneficial for them, but does petplan tend to cover common issues with rabbits e.g. dental, gut issues, flystrike? I know it wouldn't cover routine things like neutering or vaccinations but I just want to ensure it covers all unexpected things! RogerRabbit999 I really hope Dipsy is okay after his wall incident :( Dipsy sounds like a name that suits him though…! :p

Would you recommend paying the £4.50 a month with the vets to get all his vaccinations and some health checks and things included? I would also get 10% off all other treatments so was thinking of doing it at least for the first year so I get his neutering discounted!

I will make a thread with pictures once he arrives on Friday. I'm ridiculously excited, it's like Christmas and birthday all rolled into one!
 
As far as I'm aware; yes Petplan does cover everything like that but the guys are really good on the phone so you could ask them just to beI think spreading the payments is a good idea too but again it depends what it covers; just a couple of checkups could take you over £50 anyway!


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And yes, it is super exciting!!! That wee bunny will turn your life upside down in the best possible way; I couldn't be without a wee rabbit or two running around my house now!! Can't wait to see him :)


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Hello!!! Welcome :) Personally I am with Pets at Home insurance, it is £6.20 a month per rabbit (that includes a discount for insuring 2). I had this insurance with my previous bunnies and had to make a claim and I found them really helpful and quick at re-imbursing monies. This is why I went with them again... Double check the T&C's though about what is covered, no matter which company you go with! The policies usually have about 50 pages of what is NOT covered, and nothing about what actually is covered!! xxx
 
I have 6 insurance policies with Petplan and 10 with Pets at Home. It depends on circumstances s to wich you want to go for but the 10 are my most recent policies and I've gone with them as they are MUCH cheaper - only downside is getting just £1500 cover instead of £2000, which is just a small gamble in my mind.

Bear in mind whichever firm you choose that it's not easy to swap once you commit because as soon as your bunny has any issues if you were to swap then they wouldn't be covered. One thing that I didn't take into account with my Petplan policies is how much the premiums and excess would rise. These costs might look good for a <1 year old rabbit but when they get to 7 it gets very steep. My 7 year old bunnies' premiums are £180 per year plus £100 excess (per condition) plus 20% of the bill. I would have swapped these rabbits to P@H had I known how steep these costs rise. (Can't swap as over 5 plus pre-existing conditions makes it not worth doing). By comparison my 7 year old covered with P@H has a premium of £90, £75 excess (per condition) + 10% of the bill. So, Petplan might be cheaper now but not in 3-4 years time.
 
We are insured with PetPlan in our house, and I was so grateful when Meg went through her mystery illness. The only thing they didn't seem to cover was her Septrin but at like £6.50 a pop for 4 weeks vs the incredible cost of tests and stuff I figured it was a fairly good deal! Pay about £20 a month.
 
Yeah Petplan can be pricey but it's worth it in my case as the vet deals directly with them so I don't have to pay anything out to the vet and wait for the claim to be processed - just the access fee. Another important thing to look out for is ensuring the policy is lifetime cover!


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Yes I'm with Petplan for 3 of my bunnies and it's been invaluable recently with Blueberry being poorly and us needing to run loads of tests to try and identify what it is before we can even think of treating him. Depending on what it is, he may need to be on medication for the rest of his life - he's 18 months old and could live another 8 years. He's covered for life so I'll never have to worry. He'd have had the same things done regardless of insurance as I love him and want him to be better, but after a very expensive year last year I have no savings left and already about 1k into my credit card. If he wasn't insured, I'd be having to sell my kidney on the black market or something :lol:

Also, bunnies can get ill very suddenly and go down hill very quickly. You only need a couple of illnesses occurring in a short period to kiss your savings goodbye. A stasis/dental episode costs me anything between £300-£500 each time depending on the bunny and how they respond to treatment. Since July I've had 4 occurrences of this..... It soon mounts up!
 
Thank you everyone for your advice. You have definitely convinced me that getting insurance is a no brainer! I have been comparing the prices between petplan and pets@home and there is a vast price difference. Petplan want to charge me £175.80 and Pets@home is £89.50!!! Both offer lifetime cover, £750 complementary treatment (not entirely sure what this means?!) and various other bits and pieces. Only difference is the annual vet fees cover, petplan is £2000, pets@home is £1500, but p@h has a separate £350 cover for dental which petplan doesn't have….so assume it's included in the £2000?

All in all….I am more convinced by p@h! I know petplan is good, I used them when I had my horse, although thankfully never had to claim, but it cannot be worth paying twice the price surely?!!

I think I will wait until after I have had him neutered, because I have to tell the insurance company if he is neutered and I don't want it to affect my premium, and then go with p@h!
 
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