Insurance

Me and my long term boyfriend had been planning on rescuing a dog before this rabbit fiasco happened. We will be getting one in the next few weeks. I am also weighing up the costs of keeping 2 of the rabbits I have saved.

My boyfriend is incredibly against insurance. He just sees it as throwing away money that might never need to used. He thinks we should set aside the money we would be spending on insurance in a savings account solely to be used on vet bills when any pet is ill. If they hopefully stay healthy then we still have the money that otherwise would have disappeared to insurance.

What are your opinions on this? Thanks x

Bellatrix15 said:

Me and my long term boyfriend had been planning on rescuing a dog before this rabbit fiasco happened. We will be getting one in the next few weeks. I am also weighing up the costs of keeping 2 of the rabbits I have saved.

My boyfriend is incredibly against insurance. He just sees it as throwing away money that might never need to used. He thinks we should set aside the money we would be spending on insurance in a savings account solely to be used on vet bills when any pet is ill. If they hopefully stay healthy then we still have the money that otherwise would have disappeared to insurance.

What are your opinions on this? Thanks x

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I'm on the fence about bunny insurance myself, we have savings and tbh if anyone of my animals gets ill I'd pay whatever and lose money meant for my house renovation, so I'm unsure about it... I will say though you have to definitely have the funds there incase if you go that route.

Dog tho... I'd get insurance and will be in the future. My last dog had to have an mri.. And a million other things, and had to be pts.. And the insurance covered everything. It would've been about 10 grand.. 2-4 I could justify for a bun.. But 10 potentially for a dog... I'd rather just pay for insurance I think..

Just my thoughts though

It's a tricky one with insurance. Personally I have it and am so glad that I did. Last year one rabbit managed to get through £2,000 in vet bills, including around £800 on a scan. I've more than recovered my premium back.
I can understand why some people think it's a waste though as you may never make a claim. I don't ever want to be in a position where I can't afford a vet bill and my rabbit's health is compromised as a result, so for me I'll always take out insurance.

I would not be with out my insurance. When an out of hours vets cost me £178 just for the consultation with meds on top and possible ongoing treatment.

If you saved say £2000 befor any of them got sick and say all 3 rabbits came down with some thing that needed ongoing treatment ie EC that £2000 would go rather quickly and your left with nothing and possibly in debt. At least with insurance the amount you can claim is renewed each year.

I have 2 rabbits. One fully insured and the other is not insured for any thing to do with the stomach and digestive system as she had a bout of stasis winin her first week with me. I’m finding that its going to get expensive quickly. If she gets an obstruction it’s well over £1000 alone.

Just want to also add, we are considering bunny insurance, we were going to originally, but when we got out first two buns one got really sick really quickly and ended up having surgery etc so it was all a little too late [emoji38] which is why we've just used savings, but we are still considering it but for a dog it'll be the first thing I do when I get one [emoji38]

I would always recommend it for dogs. As long as you chose a lifetime policy, with vet fees limit of a minimum £4,000 per year. That means all conditions will dip into that pot of money and it replenishes each year, meaning you can claim for ongoing conditions. And watch out for policy's that have limits, ie only cover so much for blood tests/hospitalisation. My problem with putting money aside each month is something as common as gastroenteritis could affect your dog, and easily cost over £1,000 at vets round here for tests, hosp and fluids and that could wipe out all the money you've said each month and then you'll spend months further building it back up,early while something else could happen landing you with another high vet bill. Whereas insurance you're unlikely to reach your limit if it's a high one, and if you do it replenishes after a year. My dog has bladder stones, a gallbladder problem and a liver problem. Spent about £6,000 over 2 years. Couldn't have saved that much personally!

I'm a big advocate of insurance, I wouldn't be without it now unless I had thousands of pounds in the bank that I wouldn't miss.

Last year I took on Gilbert (Thrianta) and his sister Alma. I insured with Helpucover at £94 each. Only about 10 days after insurance had become active Gilbert needed surgery for a blockage 2.00 am! The bill came to about £1,150. He's also needed his incisors removed (not covered) which cost about £150 (I think). Alma has had stasis and I've claimed in the region of £250 for her. I can't explain the relief when he needed the surgery that all it would cost was £50!

Flip side of the coin: Esme, nearly nine years old, been insured most of her life but premiums high and the excess was also high and I decided to cancel as I would have needed to claim £400 each year to break even and she's not really ailed of anything much. She needed a hernia repair only about a month after I cancelled insurance and *bingo* it cost approximately £400!! She then managed over a year without anything else and had a few stasis episodes - then the biggie - a surgical blockage - a few months short of 11 years old and about to cost c £1k, it's an agonising decision whether to spend that much at that age but I knew it would be hard for me to come to terms with not doing so she had blockage surgery and in total cost £900... and died only ten days later. It's easier just making the decision re treatment based on their best interests and not have to worry about cost as well.

It's a very personal thing and I do keep weighing up with the older ones if it's value for money but it actually would have been for Esme... despite premiums of £220 a year and excess of £100 + 20%

I'm with the insurance vote. Whilst it is a pain having to pay for something you hope you never use (life insurance for hoomans being one of them!), our little furry friends do get sick and to have that piece of mind that you have that protectionin place for things like MRI scans, x-rays and so on, then it means you don't end up in a situation of not being able to treat your pet properly due to costs.
A friend of ours had a beautiful chocolate lab many years ago. But one day, out of the blue, he just took off at the end of a road and was run over by a car. He was treated quite a distance from where they lived and without insurance, they would never have been able to cover the vet bills for his care.

I would always recommend insurance after the past year. We never had it with our first rabbit, and he managed 5 and a half years without needing anything major so we never even really considered it. Luckily I decided to take it out with our current two. Phillip, during the first year of his life, maxed out his £2000 limit last year and I am so thankful that we had the insurance. Without it, we wouldn't have been able to afford the investigations that he had and he probably wouldn't be doing as well as he is now. Like Craig says, it was so nice to be able to pretty much agree to anything the vet said he needed to have, without having to worry about how we would afford it. Ours costs £29 a month for two rabbits. It's a minor amount in the grand scheme of things, I feel!

For the past 16 years (Jess is a dog aged 16) we have put the price of our insurance into a savings account. Whilst the dog was young we hardly touched it - now she has had to have a few proceedures and I am glad I have the savings account. When the bunnies came I googled the amount they would cost and popped the DD up to cover accordingly. It is a pain having it in a savings account but we have transferred some into an ISA as it was building nicely. I am not sure what we would do if we had a massive vets bill in the tens of thousands but at 16 years old I think we would quietly let Jess go rather than put her through something huge.

Personally I think Insurance is an essential these days. Unless one is in the position to save at least £500 a month for unforeseen Emergencies or can afford to cover a four figure Vet Bill in one go.

My friend's Dog has just been diagnosed with a heart condition. The Bill for Specialist care, diagnostics, hospitalisation and drugs came to almost £8000. The monthly cost of medication is over £100.00 for the rest of the Dog's life.

Rabbit Vet Bills can also mount up very quickly. Out of hours consultations can be well over £100.00 just to walk through the door. Then add any hospitalisation/ diagnostics/drugs and a bill of over £500 could be easily achieved.

Paying £10 / month into a savings account is hardly going to add up to much.

An out of hours consult costs at least £250.

The maths of "self insuring" don't add up.

If you want afford to spend £2000 every year on every one of your pets, year after year, then you need insurance

Stator said:

Paying £10 / month into a savings account is hardly going to add up to much.

An out of hours consult costs at least £250.

The maths of "self insuring" don't add up.

If you want afford to spend £2000 every year on every one of your pets, year after year, then you need insurance

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Yea £10 a month isn't really anything [emoji38]

I don't put money away, unless I decide to add to my savings.. I just have some sat there incase