OUCH!!!!!!!

I've just insured my bunnies and it's £41.90 a month,

What are peoples views on insurance, I was prompted to get insurance by the topic below about petplan, now I am thinking it maybe cheaper to put money aside, what are your views please?

I think its better to put money aside, if it is not used at end of year it can be put to use, insurance money is gone.

It depends if you could cover fees if there wasnt enough money in the pot.

Its worth it for one or two bunnies but not really more than that in my opinion.

In my view, it's one of those things where there's a load of pros and cons and it's basically down to which of those you think will affect you the most.

I'd say insurance is likely to be more expensive than your expected vet bills on average as otherwise insurers would go bust. So for me the most important comparison I think is whether I think the extra I'm paying is worth the peace of mind I get from knowing that if I'm one of the unlucky ones who gets higher than average costs, then it won't break the bank.

I see insurance as basically swapping uncertain costs (could be high, could be low) for certain 'reasonable' costs. And it's up to me to decide which is of most use to me.

At the moment I have a reasonable amount of spare cash so I'm not all that concerned at needing a certain cost. But as I'm new to bunnies and vets I decided that insurance was a good idea for me until I knew a bit more about what can go wrong, what vets charge etc etc, so I did take insurance out.

Just some of my random thoughts .

Russell

L McGreig said:

I think its better to put money aside, if it is not used at end of year it can be put to use, insurance money is gone.

It depends if you could cover fees if there wasnt enough money in the pot.

Its worth it for one or two bunnies but not really more than that in my opinion.

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I agree,

I have just spoke to my vet about this and thinking I am cancelling it, it's not that I begrudge spending money on my bunnies, but I do begrudge giving my money to money hungry insurance companies.

The vet said that really rabbit savvy vets do cost more if I choose to go for specialist care, although the main problems with rabbits are reoccurring abbesses which need surgery £100 +, dental problems which could lead to surgery £100 and broken bones which could cost up to £200.

Other then that stomach upsets which will cost in the region of £20 to £30 (not worth the excess).

I think it will be more financially viable to set up a DD to a savings account of say £50 a month earn the interest off it, that will give me £600 a year basic plus whatever interest I earn and it's like the vet said the chances of them all being ill at the same time is going to be rare.

RussAb said:

In my view, it's one of those things where there's a load of pros and cons and it's basically down to which of those you think will affect you the most.

I'd say insurance is likely to be more expensive than your expected vet bills on average as otherwise insurers would go bust. So for me the most important comparison I think is whether I think the extra I'm paying is worth the peace of mind I get from knowing that if I'm one of the unlucky ones who gets higher than average costs, then it won't break the bank.

I see insurance as basically swapping uncertain costs (could be high, could be low) for certain 'reasonable' costs. And it's up to me to decide which is of most use to me.

At the moment I have a reasonable amount of spare cash so I'm not all that concerned at needing a certain cost. But as I'm new to bunnies and vets I decided that insurance was a good idea for me until I knew a bit more about what can go wrong, what vets charge etc etc, so I did take insurance out.

Just some of my random thoughts .

Russell

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I agree too, but I have six buns, I am trying to think which would be more viable. Obviously if I have something happen which cost £1000's I will be gutted if I cancel, however if I don't I will be gutted if I don't.

Don't get me wrong I can afford the insurance, but I don't want to give my money away unless it is really needed.

Tree said:

I agree too, but I have six buns, I am trying to think which would be more viable. Obviously if I have something happen which cost £1000's I will be gutted if I cancel, however if I don't I will be gutted if I don't.

Don't get me wrong I can afford the insurance, but I don't want to give my money away unless it is really needed.

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Yeah absolutely. Looks like our circumstances are pretty different (I can only dream about having 6 bunnies :lol: ) so we won't necessarily conclude the same thing. I'd certainly say that it's a good idea to follow your example and have a proper think about what's best for them, like you clearly have.

I just have a horrible feelin I am going to do the wrong thing. I am going to thing about it for a bit, I've got 14 days to cancel. Thanks for your help.

Ooooh six bunnies...heaven!! Sigh...! Insurance is a tricky one. I feel happy having taken it out for just Darcy but then (touch wood several times) I haven't had to claim anything so no idea how good they are at actually paying out when an emergency arises.

You sound like you know what you're doing so I'd go with your gut instinct.

Sorry not more helpful!! xxx

I have six bunnies too, you may be unlucky and have something expensive come up but chances are you wont, if you could afford it if an expensive bill did come in then I'd go on odds of the cheaper things going wrong and put money aside.

In all the things that have gone wrong with mine I have never spent as much as insurance would have cost me.

It is a personal choice though.

Tree said:

I just have a horrible feelin I am going to do the wrong thing. I am going to thing about it for a bit, I've got 14 days to cancel. Thanks for your help.

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At one point I had decided against insurance on the grounds that if the absolute worst occurs, I've got a credit card with a high limit and an on-demand loan facility with my bank - so I'll always have some way of paying! Worst comes to the worst, you stick it on the credit card and pay it off as and when you can. The minimum payment's likely to be £15 or £20 a month, say, which is probably something that some people could find if they had to.

To be honest it isn't possible to know what to do for the best as we don't know whether our bunnies are gonna get ill. All I can say is that you've given it probably a lot more thought than most do, so it's as informed a decision as it can be. And it's very sensible to make full use of the 14 day cooling off period so you're not rushed into any decision.

One thought just occured to me....do your buns have a history of claims? It's just that if you do decide to not bother with insurance, but then reverse that decision down the line, will the insurer make exclusions if you re-insure again? This is what I'm grappling with at the moment with my insurer!

Or what about a middle-ground solution? Pick the 2 or 3 bunnies most likely to need care (the oldest 3, say, or those with a claims history whom you need to keep insured to maintain the 'cover for life' that most insurers offer), and insure those - sounds like that'll be about £20 per month. Then stick the other £30 per month in the bank. That way you've mitigated some risk, so you've at least limited the impact that high vet bills could have, but not lined the insurers' pockets too much .

Tree: we have 4 bunny's insured with petplan and only pay about half what you do. (main reason will be cheaper vets bills in this area)

When we had our 2nd bunny Suki we had to call the vet out as she had Mucoid enteritis. Our vets bill (well over £100) in that first 2 days of her ownership (we couldnt add her to our existing policy till monday morning).

As we all know if the worst does happen, the vet bills can get into silly numbers. I find that insurance even though it may never be needed gives the peace of mind that the bill will be payed no matter how high it is. I know that I can call out the vet at anytime of the day or night and our bunny's will get the care they need whatever the cost.

I just get annoyed that not all pet insuance companys do rabbit policy's, so the selection of companys are very limited. Strange as rabbits are the 3rd most popular pet in the UK.

A few years ago I had a £500 bill for my bun (fly strike whilst someone else was looking after the bun for me!) I wouldnt be without insurance again!!! I pay £20 a month with pet plan for 3 buns!

Personally I choose to put a bit away each month instead of giving it to insurers (where it disappears!). I have three buns and if anything major was to happen to them I have savings to fall back on, if the situation was that bad I would just take out a loan. There is always a way to find the money I'd rather pay out as and when I have to rather than every month. Touch wood, nothing too serious has happened, and the bills have only been in the past 10 months for Pippa who is 5 and a half. I've spent about £400-£500 on her, £300 actual big bills, the rest the small ones that don't even get past the excess!! The only other bill I've had is Amy - again no higher than the excess! So for me insurance isn't something I'd pay out for, but obviously it differs for people in different situations. I think it really depends on whether you could afford it if you did have a big bill. Always a tricky decision!!!

Nicola

Hiya I have decided to cancel and save the money instead. If I have a big bill come I will be able to come up with the money to pay for it, plus vets in the West Midlands are (I Think) a lot cheaper then vets else where in the country.

Thank you so much for your help.

Glad you have come to a decision That's what I would have done too, but obv insurance is brill for people who wouldn't be able to afford large vets bills.

Hi Tree (this is a bit late since you've cancelled)

we're similar to you - Ive said a lot of this before but we've two cats and(at the mo) three bunnies. Our monthly bill was £22 odd I think for one cat and two buns, so we decided not to insure the kitten. Now we've got Coco I havent insured her and I didnt pay Ella's premium (£75 for the year) just havent gotten around to cancelling the two DD's yet - and we're going to set up a seperate savings account. Like you not because we cant afford the payments its just galling when you see the premiums going up year on year by quite a hike proportionally when you havent claimed, and the multi-pet & DD discounts amount to virtually nothing. However saying that I know we're lucky in that we have savings if (huggin trees again) anything should go wrong.
I just find most vet bills are not claimable anyway - Mickey's snip was meant to be £40 and ended up being £150 because one of his "bits" hadn't descended and they had to go fishing for it !!!!

That was about a month ago, Coco had a vacc on Tuesday gets her spay next week, then Ill only have her VHD and another two myxis for March....... Where's that lottery ticket again ???