Insurance for piggies - Do or Don't?

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Squeaky_Ewok

Squeaky_Ewok

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I am a constant worrier about my pig. He has now had a £45 vet visit yesterday but I was wondering if it would be worth having insurance on him? As I THINK this would stop me worrying quite so much :( Any advice?
Thanks!
 
If you can afford the monthly fee and it'd put your mind and rest go ahead with it IMHO :-) generally insurance wont cover anything previously wrong with an animal though, so if they have dodgy hips their insurance wont cover their hips for example.
 
After spending a huge fortune on my little P, I got all mine insured unfortunately Fred has previous conditions so none of them are covered and when Fred became very poorly last year I still had to pay the bill. It was a horrible reminder I should have insured them earlier. Now I have everyone insured, at least this way if anyone has anymore surprises I don't have to worry.

I've spent a huge amount on vetbills over the last 4 years - I've now decided everyone's getting insured from purchase!
 
Yeah that's what I'm worried about nothing major as of yet touch wood, but there is always that worry haha If it's not rude could you tell me how much roughly I'd have to insure him for per month or so based on your experience? I only have the one at the minute looking for new friend for him but I am seriously thinking of getting him and any new piggies insured :) thanks!
 
I have mine insured on two policies - Fred, Wilma and Pebbles are insured for 2000 per year, Milo and Esme are also insured for 2000 per year. The only company that'll insure them is https://www.exoticdirect.co.uk/ .

My premium is £50 a month over 10 months - so £500 per year for 5 piggies.

Fred was poorly last Xmas and cost me over £1000, he's now got loads of exclusions :(. It was however my fault as when I insured him he had previously health complaints so wasn't covered.

Wilma on the other hand cost me £300 at the start of the year and they paid out within 5 days :)!
 
Is that cover with any vet you go to? So say if I went with insurance with them and went to my own vet would it still cover? And it says I can't get cover on weather perils? but I can have a twelve month policy and annual premium of 129.60? Which I have no idea what that is :L Bit confused is that the monthly fee? :|or is it this interest fee and direct debit thing that says 12.99 a month for over 10 months? D: Ahh so confused :L sorry And oh that's good then at least you dont have to worry as much that's what I'm hoping I will stop doing haha
 
You pay the vet initially and then claim it back, they take 5 days to pay out. There is no interest for paying by Direct Debit well there wasn't when I set up the policy. You do however pay a 12 month policy over 10 months. £129.90 I imagine would be the annual cost.

The excess is £50 and normally deducted from your claim.
 
So is that 129 a month or yearly you think? hmmm because this how it is set out (sorry if I'm bothering you)
it has a green tick next to 12 month policy
then says this in the next box
Interest Fee
0% APR Direct Debit Option
Yes
Just £12.99 a month over 10 months.
Equivilant to 36p per day.

then the annual premium is 129.90 so is that the yearly expense or is monthly?
Ahhhhh pets xD
 
Squeaky_Ewok said:
So is that 129 a month or yearly you think? hmmm because this how it is set out (sorry if I'm bothering you)
it has a green tick next to 12 month policy
then says this in the next box
Interest Fee
0% APR Direct Debit Option
Yes
Just £12.99 a month over 10 months.
Equivilant to 36p per day.

then the annual premium is 129.90 so is that the yearly expense or is monthly?
Ahhhhh pets xD
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129.90 is for the year - 12.99 is if you want to pay it monthly by DD. I pay mine monthly as it's 0% interest so doesn't work out anymore expensive.
 
Ahh thank you! That's not too bad then, thanks for that xD Will be sure to insure him I think, peace of mind! :)
 
My guinea pigs are not insured, nor is the rabbit but the dog and horse are. I pay in to a monthly account for the small furries instead as a form of "self insurance". Scary how bills rack up though isnt it, I have been lucky so far with the piggies. x
 
Yeah they do :( and self insurance sounds good, I also found out orchard vets do this health scheme which is different from insurance as it doesn't go up or down with age or illness. seems good but is £100 excess for specialist referrals and out of hours (only cover up to 500, 1000 for specialist.) There's no excess on anything else if they can do it withing their surgery I THINK, must phone them up tomorrow :O so I'm stuck between exoticdirect and those :( Anyone heard of those?
 
My pigs are insured with exotic direct - £5,000 for 3 pigs over 12 months makes me grateful I did - one of my pigs had nearly £4,000 worth of vets bills in a 12 month period.
 
:| £4000?! Now THAT is shocking, must have been something I can't even imagine :O And aww my insurance would only be up to 2000 :S but 3000 on orchard vets which is also local just gotta check if they actually do insure guinea pigs, fingers crossed! :) Was that an ongoing thing if you don't mind me asking, as I read the policy on exotic direct and it says ongoing things aren't covered past a certain point so I'm still stuck on which is best.
 
Squeaky_Ewok said:
:| £4000?! Now THAT is shocking, must have been something I can't even imagine :O And aww my insurance would only be up to 2000 :S but 3000 on orchard vets which is also local just gotta check if they actually do insure guinea pigs, fingers crossed! :) Was that an ongoing thing if you don't mind me asking, as I read the policy on exotic direct and it says ongoing things aren't covered past a certain point so I'm still stuck on which is best.
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They don't cover pre existing conditions (things they've had wrong with them before you take out the policy - no insurance company does!) and there is a £2,000 limit per policy year - my pigs illness spanned two policy years in the 12 months she was being treated luckily!

She had a mystery breathing problem and each time they thought they found the cause and treated it, it came back, and then they found something different! She's had abscesses in the back of her throat, a huge (450g) ovarian tumour removed, masses removed from her neck...and to find these problems, she had numerous CT scans and tests and things.... But she is now absolutely fine, and a very happy little pig...I'd never have been able to afford her treatment without insurance!

I had another pig with a straight forward (not ongoing) prolapse and that came to about £8-900 by the time you took into consideration a vet trip on a Sunday night, surgery, a couple of nights stay, medication etc.

I also had a boar with an abscess that was surgically removed, that was around £500 with medication and follow up trips on top.
 
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wow...that was one unlucky pig :| I am glad she is better now and the others! Do respiratory infections count? Seeing as they are so common with guinea pigs, I'm not sure on that. I have called orchard vets today and they do insure guinea pigs! :D So once his treatment is done already, then it's a health check and hopefully he will be insured! Thanks for the advice!
 
I use Exotic Direct as well. They have been brilliant and have always paid out promptly no quibbling (so far!) I think I am still in profit (running over 7 years). Unfortunately I cannot afford to insure all 6 piggies, I have left the youngest two uninsured so far and guess which one has been sick recently...yep you guessed it, the uninsured one!
Exitic Direct are very helpful and very sympathetic when you ring them up in tears asking for a claim form :o
 
Guinea Slave said:
I use Exotic Direct as well. They have been brilliant and have always paid out promptly no quibbling (so far!)


I am with exotic and they have been good - but at the moment I am having a bit of a ding dong with them - they do not pay out for general spaying or neutering,as this is excluded in the small print under exclusions - wording says they will not cover, and I quote , "The cost of any vaccinations,routine spaying or castration (this does not exclude spaying or castration that is recommended by the attending veterinary surgeon as part of an overall medical condition) - so they paid out back in May £177 for Noodles who had ovarian cysts and was spayed to get rid of them, then one of my other pigs Poppet was spayed about 6 weeks ago - again ovarian cysts - and they write back and tell me that they do nor cover ANY spay costs,and that my previous claim for Noodles was dealt with by an "inexperienced" claims handler,who has now been told of her error! Now I read that to say they pay out if its done to treat a medical condition,and so do others who have read it - but some people arnt so sure - the wording is poor - its the word exclude! - (still costing me £600 to insure all 6 this year - was £350 last year,but they have paid out over £1000 for various things this year - that's why my premiums have leapt)
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TAN said:
Guinea Slave said:
I use Exotic Direct as well. They have been brilliant and have always paid out promptly no quibbling (so far!)


I am with exotic and they have been good - but at the moment I am having a bit of a ding dong with them - they do not pay out for general spaying or neutering,as this is excluded in the small print under exclusions - wording says they will not cover, and I quote , "The cost of any vaccinations,routine spaying or castration (this does not exclude spaying or castration that is recommended by the attending veterinary surgeon as part of an overall medical condition) - so they paid out back in May £177 for Noodles who had ovarian cysts and was spayed to get rid of them, then one of my other pigs Poppet was spayed about 6 weeks ago - again ovarian cysts - and they write back and tell me that they do nor cover ANY spay costs,and that my previous claim for Noodles was dealt with by an "inexperienced" claims handler,who has now been told of her error! Now I read that to say they pay out if its done to treat a medical condition,and so do others who have read it - but some people arnt so sure - the wording is poor - its the word exclude! - (still costing me £600 to insure all 6 this year - was £350 last year,but they have paid out over £1000 for various things this year - that's why my premiums have leapt)
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Seriously, I always thought that was covered. That's quite a shock - let us know how you get on. I hope it's resolved quickly.
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I want to and have considered insuring my pigs it's finding somewhere which actually insure them.
Only Maple has been the main source of vet bills but her condition can come back. Touch wood it doesn't. But I will definitely look into the insurance that has been mentioned!
 
TAN said:
Guinea Slave said:
I use Exotic Direct as well. They have been brilliant and have always paid out promptly no quibbling (so far!)


I am with exotic and they have been good - but at the moment I am having a bit of a ding dong with them - they do not pay out for general spaying or neutering,as this is excluded in the small print under exclusions - wording says they will not cover, and I quote , "The cost of any vaccinations,routine spaying or castration (this does not exclude spaying or castration that is recommended by the attending veterinary surgeon as part of an overall medical condition) - so they paid out back in May £177 for Noodles who had ovarian cysts and was spayed to get rid of them, then one of my other pigs Poppet was spayed about 6 weeks ago - again ovarian cysts - and they write back and tell me that they do nor cover ANY spay costs,and that my previous claim for Noodles was dealt with by an "inexperienced" claims handler,who has now been told of her error! Now I read that to say they pay out if its done to treat a medical condition,and so do others who have read it - but some people arnt so sure - the wording is poor - its the word exclude! - (still costing me £600 to insure all 6 this year - was £350 last year,but they have paid out over £1000 for various things this year - that's why my premiums have leapt)
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Phone them and speak to them. I have a new policy booklet somewhere I can dig out if necessary (sent about 2 weeks ago) but when I initially took out my policies, I specifically asked about spaying for medical needs and they said it was covered. I think the second clams assessor may be wrong and I'd call back and speak to someone else!

They paid out for Maggie who was spayed because of tumours and cysts.
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I have my 3 boys insured with Exotic direct too.It costs me £28 per month for 10 months.I feel a bit happier knowing I'm covered for anything major.:)
 
Amanda1801 said:
TAN said:
Phone them and speak to them. I have a new policy booklet somewhere I can dig out if necessary (sent about 2 weeks ago) but when I initially took out my policies, I specifically asked about spaying for medical needs and they said it was covered. I think the second clams assessor may be wrong and I'd call back and speak to someone else!

They paid out for Maggie who was spayed because of tumours and cysts.
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I did try to speak to them on the phone before the letter went out saying that they would not pay out - they tried to avoid telling me over the phone they wouldn't be paying - have written back highlighting the bit in the exclusions that says (this does not exclude spaying or castration that is recommended by the attending veterinary surgeon as part of an overall medical condition) - and told them to please now pay my vet ,as I will not hesitate to contact the financial ombudsman with my complaint,and to respond to my letter within 5 days, as laid out in their complaints procedure in their policy booklet - got a letter back from the head of claims dept. confirming they had received my letter and I should hear from them again within 4 weeks or so.
Would be interested to see what the wording is on your new policy booklet and if it is the same as mine - I think mine is fairly new as my insurance was only renewed about 2 months ago.
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I am going with my local orchard vets, they cover my pig for 3000 instead of 2000 on exotic direct and I have to pay for the vet filling out a claims form if I went with ED. Consultations and stuff are free. Only medicines are needED to be paid for but at 20 or 30 percent depending which cover you have :) If anyone has an orchard vets around them I'd go check out their pet health scheme it's 4.95 a month! I am gonna go over the exotic direct policies and write up a list of what is good and bad just to be sure but from what I read they exclude a lot. But I'm not very good with reading policies and stuff like that as I over worry and get things wrong xD
 
TAN said:
Amanda1801 said:
I did try to speak to them on the phone before the letter went out saying that they would not pay out - they tried to avoid telling me over the phone they wouldn't be paying - have written back highlighting the bit in the exclusions that says (this does not exclude spaying or castration that is recommended by the attending veterinary surgeon as part of an overall medical condition) - and told them to please now pay my vet ,as I will not hesitate to contact the financial ombudsman with my complaint,and to respond to my letter within 5 days, as laid out in their complaints procedure in their policy booklet - got a letter back from the head of claims dept. confirming they had received my letter and I should hear from them again within 4 weeks or so.
Would be interested to see what the wording is on your new policy booklet and if it is the same as mine - I think mine is fairly new as my insurance was only renewed about 2 months ago.
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Tan, my booklet which is the updated policy says;

What insurers will not pay,

9. The cost of any vaccinations, routine spaying or castration (this does not exclude spaying or castration that is recommended by the attending vetinary surgeon as part of an overall medical condition)
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flintstones said:
TAN said:
Tan, my booklet which is the updated policy says;

What insurers will not pay,

9. The cost of any vaccinations, routine spaying or castration (this does not exclude spaying or castration that is recommended by the attending vetinary surgeon as part of an overall medical condition)
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That's what mine says, which reads to me as they will pay if its medically necessary. If they're still questioning it ask your vet to call/write to them stating it wasn't an elective (ie through choice) procedure
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Thanks guys - my vet has said she will be happy to write to them stating that she had polycystic ovaries if necessary,so I will do this if they come back again to me saying they will not pay out- but telling me they do not cover a spay under ANY circumstances and that previous pay out for Noodles spay was an error made by a junior assessor, who has now been made aware of her error, is not on.
 
Squeaky_Ewok said:
I am going with my local orchard vets, they cover my pig for 3000 instead of 2000 on exotic direct and I have to pay for the vet filling out a claims form if I went with ED. Consultations and stuff are free. Only medicines are needED to be paid for but at 20 or 30 percent depending which cover you have :) If anyone has an orchard vets around them I'd go check out their pet health scheme it's 4.95 a month! I am gonna go over the exotic direct policies and write up a list of what is good and bad just to be sure but from what I read they exclude a lot. But I'm not very good with reading policies and stuff like that as I over worry and get things wrong xD
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I was wondering whether you managed to get insurance with Orchard Vets for your piggies? I live in London and the nearest one is in Brentwood, Essex but on their site they do not list a Healthy Paws plan for piggies..perhaps it is up to the branch to decide. I have emailed them for confirmation as I have 4 piggies and at £4.95 for £3k cover (each?) it would be a steal!

I wanted to ask in general, if you know someone on benefits so you can access the RSPCA branch/hospital vet services, how much do you have to pay for treatment/do you have to at all aside from the initial consultation fee?
 
I wish I'd had insurance for Minky as she has cost about £800 in vets fees since last May & half of that was one one problem so I would have got £350 back off that alone. I have 7 piggies & I now put £40 a month into a savings account. Then small vets fees are just paid for from my pocket but if there's something big I'll draw from the savings account. If I get over £600 in the account I'll use that for a special treat, holidays, days out etc. Unfortunately have got that far yet but I know there'll be times when I can have a relatively trouble free year. I can remember when my wife Sue kept 2 guinea pigs about 10 years ago. They never saw the vet at all & they were both in an outdoor hutch. Mine are all indoor piggies
 
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