Pet Insurance Questions

I am really hoping to get a rescue rabbit to live as a houserabbit.

What is the norm re: pet insurance?

do you have it? would you recommend it? which plans should i look at? what type of excess is normal? on average what should i be looking to pay (for one rabbit)

would i be better putting some money aside each month to cover any bills?

Many thanks

I think I would err on the side of caution and get a rescued bun insured. I know you can't generalize, but there's a possiblility that the reason they're in rescues is that people were not that bothered with them. So they could have all sorts of health issues arising from wrong food and conditions etc. Having said that, rabbit insurance is expensive and after having my 2 insured for 2 years, I've decided not to renew it this year but to, gulp, take a chance. I can see it now, after shelling out over £100.00 each year for the past 2 years........
Insurance companies want to know all sorts of info such as age, breed, any medical conditions etc. and will not insure an unvaccinated bun.
Anyway, putting a bit away sounds a really good idea - wish I was that organised.

I don't know if we can name companies on the forum - a google search will throw up loads of choices.

Jill

Personally I dont insure my Rabbits.

I find its more worth while having a Rabbit bank account/saving's account where you put in what you would be pay insurance wise each month etc.

I am told Petplan is by far the best for small pets.

Louise

ellepotter said:

Personally I dont insure my Rabbits.

I find its more worth while having a Rabbit bank account/saving's account where you put in what you would be pay insurance wise each month etc.

I am told Petplan is by far the best for small pets.

Louise

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*nods *

I have all mine insured. For my area it works out at £9 a month with Petplan and I think it's less with Pinnacle. Andi has the Pinnacle plans so I'm not too sure of the details. We split the insurance between us to three bunnies each so it wouldn't be too painful.

The excess with Petplan is £50. It doesn't cover problems with teeth which is a bit of a pain as they're one of the most common and expensive things to go wrong. I have the lifetime plan for them all, I think the yearly plan is £6.75 a month for my area. They work out your premium based on your postcode, which seems a bit stupid for housebunnies. It would be nice if they could have a more sensible way of working it out. Also, as we're thinking of getting a British Giant, I checked the premiums for larger bunnies, and they're all the same.

If you're going for the lifetime plan your bunny will be covered for any new illness for the rest of its life. But you have to notify them of any existing conditions which won't be covered.

Only made one claim so far with Petplan and we had no problems. Just a matter of filling in your details and then handing it over to the vet to complete. They fill it out and send it off and you get the cheque in the post. We paid the vet and then the insurance company paid us. If it's a very expensive claim that you can't cover (which is essentially the whole point of having insurance in the first place) you need to arrange with your vet to have the insurance company pay them direct. It's worth checking with your vet if they deal with particular companies on a regular basis as they'll be happier to defer payments with companies they trust.

If you set up your insurance online with Petplan you get the first month free. And I think it's about 14 days until the cover kicks in.

I would definitely go with pet plan, they pay out no problems, and don't put your premium up even if you claim which other companies do.
Pet Plan will sometimes cover dental problems eg if they are causing ill health - their small print says they won't cover the cost of routine teeth trimming. Wallys were paid for when they caused him to have diarrhoea, depends on how your vet words it on the claim!
I think insurance is the best way to go, a bank account is fine as long as you have built up a reserve in there, oherwise you may have only had your bunny for a month or two and have an expensive bill, its also whether you can trust yourself not to delve into it for other things!

all my rabbits now leave with 6 weeks free insurance by petplan, i have always had them with the dogs and my own rabbits, they have always paid up no problem

Hiya!

Take my post with a pinch of salt. I have 9 rabbits and many I took on when they were already poorly

I have been quoted £980.00 per year for my buns from Petplan.

They do not cover ...

Vaccinations @£15.00/£18.00 each - You need 2 of these at least once a year.

Spaying/Neutering - £50.00/£90.00 per animal

Convalescence Food - No cover

Cremation - No cover

Also the excess is £50.00

If I go to my vet for a consultation which costs £24.00, I cannot be re-imbursed.

I have 9 rabbits. This year I have had to pay (outside of what is not covered) for an abcess removal £100.00, a fibrous tissue removal £100.00, an x-ray £70.00 and 2 laboratory swabs @ £70.00 each.

£400.00 pounds in total I could claim for my 9 rabbit premium of £980.00

Not worth it for me really. James and I prefer to keep a bunny emergency fund. I would rather put my £80.00 per month in a safe place for emergencies rather than pay the insurance company who may, or may not have my buns best interests at heart.

You need to decide how the figures stack up for you in conjunction with your vets fees.

Good Luck! Best wishes to your buns.

KR
Andrea

hhmmmm you have a point andrea, i think with most 1 or 2 bunny owners this may be worth it but with more an emergency bunny fund probably would be the more wise.

I've got four Rabbit's.

The emergency Rabbit account works best for me. (touch wood I haven't had to use it yet!)

Louise

Evo's Pet Plan insurance works out at about £6 a month for me, and the excess is £35. His treatment for his recent bloat cost £45, so I don't know if I can be bothered to fill in the form to claim £10. What do you lot think?

Rallybunny said:

Evo's Pet Plan insurance works out at about £6 a month for me, and the excess is £35. His treatment for his recent bloat cost £45, so I don't know if I can be bothered to fill in the form to claim £10. What do you lot think?

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I would, then donate the £10.00 to Animal Rescue if I wasn't tight for money.

Louise

The trouble is most vet trips cost under £30, you might go lots of times but its not that common to get big bills all at once so it doesn't pass the excess. You might get a big only a couple of times in a buns life unless your unlucky. In which case then over the whole life you don't save any money.

It does however mean in a cisis you can say to a vet whatever it costs without having to worry where you'll get the money from at that moment in time. Things like xrays and blood tests can add up.

Tam

I looked into this last week and thought on balance it was worth the punt having a rabbit fund rather than getting insurance, primarily (as already pointed out) as you're unlikely to get over the excess limit for routine stuff. But that was purely a financial decision on the grounds that in an emergency I would be able to find the cash if necessary.

At least insurance does provide peace of mind that you're ok in an emergency. That said I didn't inspect the fine print of the policies in great detail to see if there are certain emergencies they wouldn't pay out for.

Although the range of providers isn't brilliant, I looked at http://www.find.co.uk/insurance/Pet_Insurance/ and http://www.find.co.uk/insurance/Pet_Insurance_Page_2/ for possible providers. It does seem to boil down to PetPlan and Pinnacle.

I will take out insurance for any future buns I have.

Rob isn't insured, as I had thought that the excess would mean that it would be unlikely I could have claimed for much treatment for a bunny - after all how expensive can bunnies be ?? :wink: You live and learn - you could say that Rob has had his fair share of vet trips this year. August bill alone was over £1000, and Septembers will be a couple of hundred.

He's my wee boy, and I would pay whatever I had too, but I have joked with him that if he tops the August bill, we'll be selling his toys to pay it :wink:

As a Rabbit Sanctuary we have found it is difficult to Insure many of our Bunnies who arrive with pre existing medical conditions.
We have opted for a rabbit Vet Fund into which we pay x amount each month by direct debit, and this way Vets Bills, and vaccination costs are covered without having to find a lot of money, suddenly in one go.

Before we had the Sanctuary, I opted not to Insure bunnies , as I found their were too many clauses that prevented payouts when you most needed the help.
Insurance is good, if your rabbit is fit and healthy prior to getting Insurance but with so many rabbits being rehomed from Rescues more may have ongoing teeth/. health problems, so Insurance will not provide good cover in these cases.
I think it is equally sensible to opt to insure your rabbit, or to choose not to be Insured just as long as you do have a Vet fund that you pay into regularly and you are not tempted to dip into yourself for other things...like a luxury Cruise, just because your rabbit has been fit and well for 2 years :shock: :lol: ..you never know what is around the corner, so it is prudent to plan as far ahead as possible.

I would not be with out it so glad i got it they have paid out £850 for kidney stones happen the day after it started £120 for mites and this is still ongoing have another £50 to claim

Thanks

Thanks to all those who have posted their experiences and recommendations on my pet insurance question.

Having read all your posts I think the best situation for me to

a) ask about the bun's health history (some rescuers do health checks and include x weeks of pet insurance)
and b) to insure for the first year and review after that. Should cost about £60 with £45 excess.

Julie

Just thought I'd add a comment to this post - based on our experience with Jaro.

The insurance (Pet-plan) has more than payed for itself - costs in the last 6 months are close to £1000 for his treatment alone.

One thing it is worth mentioning to your vets, is whether they are willing to 'hold' the costs of treamtent until its over, rather than a series of smaller charges that either dont exceed the excess - or only just do - add them together in one big bill.

our last bill was £480, built up over about 4 weeks, and about 6 visits, but thanks to our vet, we only had the (then) £40 excess to pay (I think this has now gone up again).

The vet also managed to get some specialist food included on the claim.

The other thing I've noticed - is that once the vet knows Jaro is insured, their attitude to the treatment options changes, they are obviously more willing to consider more costly approaches to treratment.

That sounds like a very negative comment about them, but is probably more due to their experience in mainly dealing with farm animals (we live in a very rural area) where unfortunately treatments always have to be considered as 'value for money' decisions.

We have made 3 separate claims on Petplan - and they have paid out on each one.

So far with 2 bunnies, we have claimed more than we have paid - perhaps over the whole lifetime of our 2 buns, that will adjust itself and end up with us having paid more - as with most insurance cover - it's a peace of mind thing.

Martin

hi

Oh that's a really good idea adding all the little visits and bit and bobs up into one bill for treatment - Must speak nicely to my vet!


Edana and the cheeky boys