Insurance

[Tessie]

 I know there have been a few discussions on the merits of pet insurance on couple of threads on here. Overall I think pet insurance would be worth it for me  I’m not very good at saving money, and the chances of Albus being ill at somepoint is obviously high. 

I’m in the UK so there are more options (from what I understand in the US there is only one provider for Rabbits). I’ve been looking at different policies and reviews and I’m just not sure what to think! 

Pet plan is £26 a month, which just seems like a huge amount to me!  (What does everyone else think?) But then the cover seems pretty comprehensive and all their reviews are good. They’re the best known pet insurer which always says something for quality I suppose. The excess is £80 and they cover up to £2000 a year.

Pets at home is the other one I’ve looked at. Reviews are OK but not great. I’ve also heard they’re not the most ethical company?  But the insurance is only £10 a month for pretty similar coverage. The excess is £75 plus 10% of any vet bills and they cover up to £1500 a year.

Both are lifetime cover so if he develops something he’s covered. It seems pretty clear that petplan is the better insurer but it is significantly more expensive.  I was prepared for Albus to be an expensive pet but £26 a month on top of food etc is more than I expected, and I am a student so I probably could afford it but I’m not rolling in cash, haha! 

So what does everyone think? Anyone have petplan or pets at home insurance? 
Is £26 a month a normal amount?
General thoughts from all you lovely people would be great! 
 

[Beka27]

I looked up a currency converter… I think your taking about “pounds”, right? If so, 10 pounds is equivalent to just over $15 US… And 26 pounds is equivalent to just over $41 US (yikes!)

Insurance here, last I checked is $12 per month. I don’t think there is a deductible, but you have topaythe cost up front and then send the paperwork in for reimbursement. They will reimburse up to 90%. So if your vet bill is $1000, you have to pay the $1000, but you’ll get a check for $900 back.

There are a lot of restrictions, and pre-existing conditions are not covered.

I’m not familiar with those companies, but I’m interested to hear what others experiences have been.

When you say “excess”, is that like our deductible, money you have to pay up front before they cover anything? And then you still have to pay 10% of all services?

I guess you really just need to weigh out the options. And figure out how reimbursement works. I think the vast majority of us just save money to cover vet costs, but some members do carry VPI (the US pet insurance).

[mia]

Posted By Beka27 on 09/14/2013 07:58 PM
There are a lot of restrictions, and pre-existing conditions are not covered.

Yup, make sure to read these. For me, after reading the restrictions and what they’d consider pre-existing conditions, I found pet insurance not for me. That said, I’m on top of my finances so you have to evaluate for yourself.

[Tessie]

Yes, it is 26 pounds… So you guys think that’s a lot too? 

Excess is the amount you have to pay towards any treatment. So for instance, with petplan I’d pay £80 of a £300 bill, but with pets at home I’d pay £75 plus an extra 10% so £105.  

 

It just seems very expensive to do petplan, but pets at home clearly isn’t as good. I’m still hoping someone who has insurance with one of these companies will comment? 

 

I’ve read the terms and conditions and it seems alright to me. Given that Albus is a baby, he’s not going to have any pre-existing conditions so once the policy starts we’re good. They will cover most things except tooth grinding (I can’t remember the term but you probably know what I mean). 

They both give you money to advertise if bun gets lost and pets at home will reimburse you if he dies (Anyone else think that’s a bit weird? )

 

Anyway, keep the thoughts/advice coming please, I still don’t know what to think! 

[CheriB603]

Maybe instead of buying insurance which you may or may not need, you could put, maybe, £15 or £20 a month into an interest bearing savings account and don’t touch it in case of bunny emergency. Odds are Albus is a nice, healthy bunny and you may never have to touch it. Insurance doesn’t usually cover simple things like well bunny checks or neutering (at least here in the US they don’t), so you’d have to come up with that cash seperately anyway, (correct me if I’m wrong). So why not just send yourself a “bill” each month, pay it into a savings account diligently, and only touch it in case of emergency? Just a thought

[Tessie]

I did think about that but then if something happened to him that cost thousands I’d be a bit stuck. Im also not great at saving money.
Hmmmm. I’m really torn!
I thought I read somewhere that the odds of a bun getting ill and needing expensive treatment at some point is high, do you guys agree with that?

[LittlePuffyTail]

I agree with that, Tessie, but only because I have Bindi. He is pretty high-maintenance vet wise. I’d say if you have a bunny 10+ years, they will def need some sort of treatment at some point. And pretty much anything at the vet is costly enough.

I’ve never looked into insurance because I know there is no way they would cover Bindi now. If I were to get another rabbit, as a baby, I would def look into it.

[CheriB603]

I guess my thought was that baby bunnies have few problems (generally) and saving every month (don’t tell yourself you’re “saving”, treat it like a monthly bill you MUST pay), will be cheaper than insurance, give you a nice nest egg in 10 or 12 years if you don’t need it – where all money paid to an insurance company is gone – and if your bun needs treatment for something when he’s older, the money will be there and you won’t have to suddenly come up with the excess deductable.
Here on the forum, I think we hear from a lot of people seeking advice for their sick buns, so it seems like a majority of buns have severe problems at some point, but a lot more buns live long, happy, healthy lives !
Of course, I have totally just cursed myself! :-/
If you are a student who may have trouble coming up with money in a pinch, then insurance might be your answer. Just my 2 cents!

[Tessie]

 Little update:

So it turns out that pets at home won’t cover giant breeds anyway (despite givi me a quote saying they will)  They will pay for compensation if he dies or is lost but they won’t pay for vet bills so that’s entirely pointless really. 

So now I’m back to trying to decide if the other pet insurance is worth it! 

[Beka27]

Do you work and get a paycheck that is direct deposited into a checking or savings account?

My husband’s check is direct deposited and you can have a certain amount deposited into different accounts.

If yours is like that, can you open a special savings account and have maybe 15 pounds put into that each month (or 8 pounds every two weeks or however you get paid)? And then give the account book or card to a parent to hold onto so you do not have access to it, until you really need it? Just a thought… I know how hard it can be to save money.

[Author]

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