insurance!

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annaleaze

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Basically..
who's got it?
i want it!
is it worth it and
where do i get it lol
 
thanks xx>>>
i'm just looking to insure my dog at same time, all this vet talk recently is putting wooolies up me LOL

does anyone know if i need accident only? limited time or lifelong?

rubbish with this stuff
 
i've been quoted £20 a month for the two guineas.. but i dont get it. someone help pleeeeeeeeease
 
Exotic direct is the only one i know.
I've got two 4 weekers on the way, i got a quote for them being 8 weeks as that's the youngest and they want £200 a year for the pair with an excess of £50.
I personally don't think it's worth it unless your piggies are prone to illness or you breed, it's a lot of money with the chances of making a claim really small :)
 
I would advise putting £20 a month aside in a saving account - if you do encounter any problems you'll have a nice little amount out aside.

:)
 
Bobby&Frankie said:
Exotic direct is the only one i know.
I've got two 4 weekers on the way, i got a quote for them being 8 weeks as that's the youngest and they want £200 a year for the pair with an excess of £50.
I personally don't think it's worth it unless your piggies are prone to illness or you breed, it's a lot of money with the chances of making a claim really small :)
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i think thats same as mine £20 a month. you gonna do it? lol i need to read fine print dont i. so confusing isnt it!

trying to insure my husky too as she's 4 now but i just dunno! Need a grown up to sort it lol although i am 28 with 2 kids i still need a grown up haha
 
annaleaze said:
thanks xx>>>
i'm just looking to insure my dog at same time, all this vet talk recently is putting wooolies up me LOL

does anyone know if i need accident only? limited time or lifelong?

rubbish with this stuff
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As far as your dog is concerned, you ideally want lifelong cover (some cheaper ones stop at 8 years old - that's when the problems begin!), and go for X amount per condition (usually the higher level of cover) rather than X amount per year.

If your dog got diabetes for example, X amount per condition would pay that amount over the rest of your dogs life. X amount per year would only cover the diabetes treatment for 12 months.

Shop around, PetPlan are the gold standard in pet insurance. Avoid E&L and anyone underwritten by them like the plague. Ask friends/family for recommendations too.

Pet insurance is a must in my eyes, especially for cats and dogs!

The sooner you can get the dog insured, the better. They will never pay out for any pre-existing conditions i.e. anything she's had wrong before now.
 
I also agree with just setting up a bank account and putting however much you choose each month into that (: that way you don't have to worry about being able to pay a set amount each month etc.
 
annaleaze said:
i think thats same as mine £20 a month. you gonna do it? lol i need to read fine print dont i. so confusing isnt it!
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I haven't read the fine print either to be honest, i don't personally think it's worth it but i'm going to do what others do and set aside money monthly, that way it won't be 'wasted' as such on insurance i probably won't need, i know their parents too and they haven't had any problems so hopefully the boys won't :)
 
twiams said:
I also agree with just setting up a bank account and putting however much you choose each month into that (: that way you don't have to worry about being able to pay a set amount each month etc.
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A lot of people say this but I wonder if it's actually beneficial?

I pay £16 a month for insurance for 2 pigs. They're insured for £2000 worth of vets fees.

If I put £20 a month into a bank account, it'd take me over 8 YEARS to save up that £2000. One of my pigs racked up a £2000 vet bill in the space of a month rolleyes
 
Thanks amanda, i'll look into it all now you've explained. I've been lucky with maya as she's never had anything wrong! Hence thinking it's **** right time to sort it now. I was thinking of going with animal friendly for maya? I'm very lucky at moment as i'm with pdsa! but as of next oct i won't be so i'm thinking omg sort it quick!
 
Amanda1801 said:
A lot of people say this but I wonder if it's actually beneficial?

I pay £16 a month for insurance for 2 pigs. They're insured for £2000 worth of vets fees.

If I put £20 a month into a bank account, it'd take me over 8 YEARS to save up that £2000. One of my pigs racked up a £2000 vet bill in the space of a month rolleyes
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Who is it your insured with Amanda?
 
I too thought piggy insurance was a bit of a waste of time - untill one of mine got poorly and ran up £500 post op vet bills (that doesn't include the £200 op bill).....I sort of think now having the insurance is like putting £20 in a pot with a huge buffer just incase :) I could be throwing money away though....only time will tell. I sort of hope I am throwing money away - don't want any of my piggies to get poorly!xx
 
squeakysmallpaws said:
I too thought piggy insurance was a bit of a waste of time - untill one of mine got poorly and ran up £500 post op vet bills (that doesn't include the £200 op bill).....I sort of think now having the insurance is like putting £20 in a pot with a huge buffer just incase :) I could be throwing money away though....only time will tell. I sort of hope I am throwing money away - don't want any of my piggies to get poorly!xx
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The way I see it, I'm paying for peace of mind! I can't easily lay my hands on £2k right now!
 
Amanda1801 said:
A lot of people say this but I wonder if it's actually beneficial?

I pay £16 a month for insurance for 2 pigs. They're insured for £2000 worth of vets fees.

If I put £20 a month into a bank account, it'd take me over 8 YEARS to save up that £2000. One of my pigs racked up a £2000 vet bill in the space of a month rolleyes
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The problem is that with some covers it doesn't cover everything and they claim takes alot to go through,
I watched it on BBC Breakfast they were talking about it's better to set up a bank account then actually get insured with pet insurance, you can put as much money in as you'd like etc. so say one month you have a bit extra in your account, put £50 in, at christmas £100 in or something like that and you don't ever have to worry about getting into debt as it's not something you HAVE to pay, you can just put a £5 in one month, where as you could be paying £20 into a fund you're never going to use ? i know it's piece of mind but i'd much rather do the bank account.
 
twiams said:
The problem is that with some covers it doesn't cover everything and they claim takes alot to go through,
I watched it on BBC Breakfast they were talking about it's better to set up a bank account then actually get insured with pet insurance, you can put as much money in as you'd like etc. so say one month you have a bit extra in your account, put £50 in, at christmas £100 in or something like that and you don't ever have to worry about getting into debt as it's not something you HAVE to pay, you can just put a £5 in one month, where as you could be paying £20 into a fund you're never going to use ? i know it's piece of mind but i'd much rather do the bank account.
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For me, I've seen way too many animals PTS because owners can't afford treatment for huge vets bills, often the result of an accident or unexpected surgery like a foreign body or something. A lot of them are people who haven't taken out insurance because they've been in a well paid job but their circumstances have changed.

One day I may well be able to afford to put aside £100 a month, but right now that's half of my monthly income! :))
 
Amanda1801 said:
A lot of people say this but I wonder if it's actually beneficial?

I pay £16 a month for insurance for 2 pigs. They're insured for £2000 worth of vets fees.

If I put £20 a month into a bank account, it'd take me over 8 YEARS to save up that £2000. One of my pigs racked up a £2000 vet bill in the space of a month rolleyes
Click to expand...

squeakysmallpaws said:
I too thought piggy insurance was a bit of a waste of time - untill one of mine got poorly and ran up £500 post op vet bills (that doesn't include the £200 op bill).....I sort of think now having the insurance is like putting £20 in a pot with a huge buffer just incase :) I could be throwing money away though....only time will tell. I sort of hope I am throwing money away - don't want any of my piggies to get poorly!xx
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I believe both your problems started with 'elective' surgery - the surgery that was done was not due to a medical condition so I don't believe they would pay out for either of you.


It would be more worthwhile if it covered 'elective' surgery post operative complications.

My Patrick probably would have been covered but I do wonder how that would have worked as he was having routine Xray's/ultrasounds due to his medical condition of course his surgery bill would have been covered he's probably cost me £1000 in the last year but to be quite honest I do think he is the exception rather than the norm.

x
 
Oops hit reply, stupid phone :))

I think it's really bad advice from the BBC! My dog is insured For £7500 a year. A broken leg can easily cost over £1000, a foreign body removal £1500-£2000. I don't know many people who could afford to pay things like that without warning and time to come up with the £££s

Insurance covers most things really. They won't cover existing conditions and as far as dogs and cars are concerned they won't cover things related to pregnancy (ie c-sections) or things that are preventable (eg womb infections) as they're preventable by neutering.

My pigs insurance covers everything. It will cover 50% of the cost of any dental treatment, and for example if cameo got cystic ovaries, although technically its preventable by spaying, they accept that this isn't routinely done in pigs. If she were to get cystic ovaries they would pay for any treatment (eg hormone injections etc) and all the diagnosis costs, however if it is decided that she needed a spay, the cost of the actual spay operation wouldn't be covered
 
flintstones said:
I believe both your problems started with 'elective' surgery - the surgery that was done was not due to a medical condition so I don't believe they would pay out for either of you.


It would be more worthwhile if it covered 'elective' surgery post operative complications.

My Patrick probably would have been covered but I do wonder how that would have worked as he was having routine Xray's/ultrasounds due to his medical condition of course his surgery bill would have been covered he's probably cost me £1000 in the last year but to be quite honest I do think he is the exception rather than the norm.

x
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Yep, Cameo wasnt covered because it was elective. On the terms of my insurance, Patrick would have been covered if he was insured prior to his urinary problems starting.

More and more people are treating small animals as they would cats and dogs so treatment is advancing all the time, do maybe in the future insurance for pigs will become the norm? It's already not unusual for rabbits!
 
Amanda1801 said:
Yep, Cameo wasnt covered because it was elective. On the terms of my insurance, Patrick would have been covered if he was insured prior to his urinary problems starting.

More and more people are treating small animals as they would cats and dogs so treatment is advancing all the time, do maybe in the future insurance for pigs will become the norm? It's already not unusual for rabbits!
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And once that happens we have more companies to choose from! xx>>>
 
I don't have insurance for the guinea pigs - I would just use the credit card if I ever have to take them to the vets.

But my cats are insured and I cannot stress enough how important it is to get it for your cats and dogs. I've claimed more than £5000 for Harvey in vets bills as he has a heart murmur and suffers from chylothorax (and Harvey is only just coming up for 6 years old).

My cats are insured with PetPlan and I cannot fault them whatsoever, I have never had a problem with any claim. They give lifelong cover, which you must ensure that the company provides - Harvey's conditions are ongoing so I need to be able to claim for them every year.

Also, you need to think about the level of cover you take out! My cover allows me to claim for £4000 each year.........but last year if Harvey had had to have an operation (which he might need at some point), it was going to take me over the £4000. I can no longer upgrade his cover but so wish I had taken out their gold cover! On the other hand, not once (touch wood), have I ever had to make a claim for Ollie........but you just never know!
 
thanks everyone i'm going to insure the guineas for defo and sort maya (dog) out too. seems totally worth it from what i'm readying as i have zero savings and dont do credit cards etc so makes sense for sure :(|)
 
I looked into insurance but decided against it on cost grounds. I put £30 aside per month (I have seven piggies atm) and that has been fine so far. I ought to increase it a bit.

For dogs - I read the cover outline for the Tesco accident insurance, and thought that the only thing it would cover is IF the only thing that happened to the dog was an accident AND it lived, THEN it would pay out. But for nothing else. Not worth it. I would defo follow Amanda's advice re getting cover for long standing conditions, including things like diabetes.
 
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