Insurance

We have 2 rabbits. One male, one female. The female we have had only 3 weeks. Our male is covered by Pet Plan Insurance and our new female is on a one month free trial policy. We cannot afford 2 insurance policies. We were thinking of cancelling and just saving say £10 a month hoping that this would cover any potential vet bills. Is this enough? What are the options? Both rabbits are in good health and have had recent vet checks and full vax. They are both Rex's and are 8-9 months old.

some people on this forum appear to insure their rabbits. personally i havent taken out insurance however i do save some money each month. The only risk is if something major happened that they needed a large amount of expensive treatment for that you could have a large bill, less than what you have saved but that is the risk that you take. My sister did the same thing with her dog.. the first year he had 2 vet visits for treatments which cost quite a bit but since then nothing.. fingers crossed. Im afraid it is a personal choice tho

I had 10 buns (now 11 oops!), & insurance for the 10 is £75 per month. I'm taking advantage of the 2 free months (while I'm bonding ) then cancelling & setting up a £50/mth direct debit into a savings account. If I have no rabbit emergencies, I can use it to buy shoes

I have 4 bunnies, all with PetPlan insurance. I don't mean to be funny here but can you really not afford £18 or so a month for the insurance? I'm just thinking if you have that little money what then happens when one needs expensive vet treatment? It could run into the hundreds or even thousands, which if it happened (heaven forbid) next month or even next year you wouldn't have saved enough money for the treatment.

I'm not criticising, I hope you haven't taken it that way. I'm just trying to present you with options so you're aware of everything that could happen.

AMETHYST

I'm havnig the same debate with myself now, especially as planning on getting a friend for Bob I couldn't afford to pay big vets bills for 2 buns, though my budget is really tight as it is.

I came across this site http://www.healthy-pets.co.uk/pet-cover.htm which seems to be cheaper than petplan (works out to be about £6.75 per month per bun) and I was wondering if anyone had heard of them./used them before? I haven't compared the covers fully for an initial scan seemed favourable, particually as the excess is more for petplan.

I've not heard of them but it looks like it's underwritten by AXA so could be ok. Most non-pet plan things do stop paying out after 12 months whereas pet plan cover conditions for life, so do check the smallprint and make a decision based on what you find. Also check what it says about dental work - one of the most common rabbit complaints. I think with petplan you are only covered for dental work if a vet has done a dental examination within so many months of taking out cover...not sure what constitutes a "dental examination" for that purpose - whether a wiggly bun with one of those things to peer into the mouth is ok, or whether they would insist upon x-ray/proper exam under anaesthetic etc.

I don't have mine insured, in this postcode it's £9 a month each with a £60 excess, so I've gone with the risk and the savings account (mortgage offset account so at least it's being useful!)

Yuh I have done the same for my one, shes with petplan ... 10 pound a month and 60 poundexcess.... ok shee may never get ill but I would rather be safe than very sorry

Dan_K said:

I'm havnig the same debate with myself now, especially as planning on getting a friend for Bob I couldn't afford to pay big vets bills for 2 buns, though my budget is really tight as it is.

I came across this site http://www.healthy-pets.co.uk/pet-cover.htm which seems to be cheaper than petplan (works out to be about £6.75 per month per bun) and I was wondering if anyone had heard of them./used them before? I haven't compared the covers fully for an initial scan seemed favourable, particually as the excess is more for petplan.

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We are with that one - it's actually Exotic Direct or something like that. We debated over insurance as my boyf is mega careful and I am a little more prepared to take a chance. Anyway, I gave into my O/H and we bought that pet insurance.

Just 2 weeks later (on the day that the insurance policy took affect (they give you 2 weeks incubation period where you can't claim)) we had to take Albert to the vets as he was weeing everywhere and had lost a lot of weight. The vet was very worried and totally baffled as to what was wrong with him as he seemed so well in himself. However she then did £1000 worth of test on him (x-rays, ultra sounds, blood cultures, urine cultures, blood tests and urine tests). Whether she would have done all the tests if he hadn't been insured, who knows. But I thanked my lucky stars that we had bought insurance. It turns out that it was E.Cuniculi.

The other side to that story is that 2 weeks after we claimed for Albert's treatment we got a letter back saying that as it was behavioural they will not pay up. We of course went mad and called the vets. The vet laughed and said that he would sort it - I think it must be quite common to have trouble with insurers. We havent heard back from Exotic direct for 3 weeks now since our claim was reopened so hopefully that's a sign... :?

Anyway, at least with insurance there is hope of getting the money back. If we had just been saving £10 - £20 a month we would have only saved £30-£60 which is nothing when you are faced with a bill of £1000. So my advise would be to get insurance...hopefully it will be wasted money and you wont have to use it but if you do, then it does give you a bit of financial relief. Will keep everyone posted as to whether we do actually get the money back!!!! :roll:

I would recommend you find a way to pay for insurance - i am talking from experience.

I have not taken insurance out yet but will be doing this week because Leon had to have an operation on Sunday night which cost £300. That's 2 and a half years of saving if you're only saving £10 a month!!!

I would say get insurance to take the worry out of finding the money for vets bills as they can be very expensive. I couldn't insure my bunny as I took him to the vets when I'd only had him two days as he had a weepy eye and then when I applied for insurance, Petplan put so many exclusions on the policy that the vet said he was excluded from almost everything he was likely to get so it wasn't worthwhile. I have spent probably about £2,000 on vets bills in 5 and a half years, this month it was £190 and the dearest month was £260 and it does put a strain on the finances when you're not expecting it! Also it seems to be that some problems such as teeth don't start happening until the bunny is a bit older, mine was fine until about 2 years old. I would definitely insure any future pets for peace of mind.

We have both Kizzi and Casper insured on seperate policies with Petplan.

Kizzi is on one month free at the moment then will be £8.50 per month while Casper is £7.80 per month.

The difference in monthly price is because Kizzi's policy kicks in after 01/04/06 and the rate went up.

I would rather pay that and be insured under a "for life" policy than risk either of them not being insured should they get ill or have an accident. It covers a lot of stuff and the amount you can claim is reset every year. So ongoing treatment is fully covered for the life of the bun.

I would def say get insurance, we had free insurance for 6 wks form the blue cross, and then we decided to carry on after that, it is only £13 a month and that covers both!

It has already paid for itself as Fern has an ongoing eye problem and they have paid for 6 courses of drops, 2 tear duct flushes inc GA and after the vet suggested an xray as he thought it might be linked to her teeth they even said that they would pay for that and would go on paying for her eye treatment even if it was dental related, which is something they don't usually, the only thing they won't pay for is dental work itself.

The insurance gives a real piece of mind - I know it is an added cost but that is all part and parcel of having pets, if you are going to put money away, as lots of peeps on here do, then I think £10 a month is far too little vet bills quickly mount up and that would only be £120 a year, it may only cover one illness and probably won't even go that far.

Phew! Sorry to go on! Just something I feel is important

I'd recommend insurance too, it only cost me £60 per year with Petplan for Princess (I did get discount though as work for the Blue Cross!) but even so it isn't bad when you think how much things could cost, especially if you are on a budget!! I'm gonna get Amy insured with Petplan too. My old bunny Pippa cost me loadsa money in the last 2 years of her life - I'd never not pay it but it would have been good if she had been insured, as she had X-Rays and bloods in Dec + Jan, also her vet treatment which cost me in excess of £200 overall.

I still save £20 a month into a savings account for vaccinations etc and dental work as that is only thing Petplan won't cover.

Hope that helps!!

Nicola

I have them both covered now. Together it's nearly as much as my fully comp car insurance per month! Willow's is more (£8.50), but with a month free. I think it costs nearly as much per week to keep the rabbits as the car, especially now that they are eating good quality hay aswell :lol: They have a nice big box mind, so hopefully it should last as while. The things we do for rabbits!

What worries me most is all the 'get out clauses'. I'd hate to find I'd paid out loads for insurance, then had to pay all the vets bills too. I'm someone who would pay whatever it took, and I have money in savings, but would consider insurance if it was going to be worthwhile.

Well I would like to get insurance but my budget is so tight I'm lucky if I save anything each month as it is, though I am getting a pay rise from 1st April, it's not much at all, but enough to cover the insurance each month so I thikn I might open a separate account as a bunny fund for both the insurance and extra savings for treats etc.

Is it possible to put 2 buns on one policy with Petplan or does it have to be 2 separate ones. I'm sure I saw somewhere a question asking how many there were but it might have been a different site I was on at the time.

I think they all have separate policies, but you can get multiple animal discounts - it's not a lot though and I don't recall there being a discount for 2 when I looked into it :?

Just insured Leon but wish I had done it on friday because I would have been £300 better off :evil:

Never mind, he's worth it!!

You have to have 2 policies for 2 rabbits with Petplan. No discount unless you have three, then I have been told is is only 50p off!

Rex Rabbity said:

You have to have 2 policies for 2 rabbits with Petplan. No discount unless you have three, then I have been told is is only 50p off!

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:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: 50p!!!!!!!!!! :roll: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: