Pet Insurance - How Much Do You Pay? Is It Worth It?

[4pigs&counting]

Having had a rather large bill for my cat's broken leg to be operated on this week I started thinking about pet insurance. I have always thought that it was a bit of a waste of money, and instead put a little aside with the thought that the money I saved on the monthly insurance would build up and could be used as and when needed. I still think that this is what I will continue to do but would be interested to know if you pay for insurance for your piggies, who are you insured with, how much do you pay each month and what does it cover...do you think it is worth it? Thanks for your thoughts

 

[Veggies Galore]

my guineas are insured. there is only one place I know of where you can get guineas insured - at least you can shop around for cats and dogs.

 

[eileen]

I have insurance for my cat,lifetime cover,just because i do not want to face big vet bills when she is older.i have too many piggies to insure,which ones do you insure,who is going to get ill is a lottery.i have a vet fund for the piggies put aside 150 pounds a month.it is good to have insurance if you have a small number of piggies.

 

[CarnivalPiggy]

I think it is worth it, pigs can get very expensive and go downhill incredibly quickly, so unless you've money set aside you can be taken off guard. Only place I know of you can get guineapig insurance in the UK is ExoticDirect. Had a live chat with them recently asking questions and they roughly cover fifty percent of dental, fourteen of something days before you can claim insurance unless it's something like a fall I think, which is covered right away, though you may want to check more thoroughly if you're interested.

They seem good, expensive though as don't really have any competition. If you have 2+ pigs, there are two plans - essential; shares £2000 insurance between all pigs or premium; £2000 for each pig. For three pigs the essential was 300 something a year, 400 something for the premium. Reciting from memory though so worth looking into. The person I had a live chat with was friendly and helpful x

 

[Bella123]

I have insurance too with Exotic Direct, there is no one else that I know of in the UK that does insurance for piggys, which is a shame really.

I only got it for short term as I'm looking to currently save up for any really expensive vets bills. When I have the money saved I'll stop the insurance. It's just a safety net at the moment. Otherwise if you can save the money and have already got the money I feel insurance is a waste of time.
I think it's worth it for short term if you haven't got the money, then you can concentrate on saving some money for a piggy vet fund with a little peace of mind that you might be covered if something occurs.

I currently pay £23.79 per month for both Fifi and Flash for a shared £2000 cover per year.

The excess is £65 per condition per piggy as I rightly remember. You pay the first £65 towards a condition for example, consultation fees and treament, and the insurance will cover anything higher then then the first £65.

If the condition is ongoing, insurance is covered for those consultation fees so you don't have to keep paying out your own money everytime you go back to the vets for the same condition.

They don't cover for preconditions and conditions occuring within the first 14 days of your insurance starting.

They won't cover for preventative care, but will for an underlying condition that leads to illness.

They cover 50% of dental care which is good as most insurance companies won't do dental for rabbits so I think 50 % is quite good.

They will cover emergency only if the vet agrees to it being necessary at the time, I think anything after 48 hours of waiting to go for a emergency exotics direct wouldn't pay out.

Downside is that I think it depends on the vets but most like the funds upfront some are more vets are more easy going and will wait for payment from the insurance company.

You have to have your forms ready for the vets before you go, which is a nuiscence, as you don't know whether the condition will come to over £65. Which you can download from exotic direct or receive by post. But you have to state whats wrong with the piggy in order to download the forms.

I feel it's a nuiscence to get the forms ready for the vets in advance, it could be an emergency and the vets could be quite far away. So organising the forms sometimes you don't have the time for. Plus I think if you don't have the forms on you need to go back to the vets to get them stamped filled out in order to send them off.

Overall do I think insurance is worth it may not for anything under £65 pounds as it is per condition per piggy, insurance is paid out, but something seriously expensive it could prove worth it if you don't have the funds available at the time. Most vets expect payment straight away or a rare few who will wait, so i guess it defeats the object in a way but there is the option of getting your money back, though payment direct to you rather then to the vets.

Hope that's been of some help to you and others, as these were some of the questions I wished I had answered before I got insurance.

 

[4pigs&counting]

Thanks all, very interesting!
I have had two cats for 9 years...my current thinking was that if I had spent £20 per cat per month on insurance I would have spent £4300+ on insurance and, based on what I have had to spend on vet bills in that time (excluding things that wouldn't be covered e.g. vaccinations etc.), I still haven't reached that amount - YET! Could see that this could all change as they are getting older etc. I also have four piggies and one rabbit so could see that vet bills could rocket should one or two of them have any significant problems at the same time...it's a bit of a gamble isn't it?!
Thanks for the info about Exotic Direct - I will contact them for a quote and then reassess....in the meantime I think I had better be squirrelling a little more away each month just in case!

 

[rome_italy]

Here in Italy the insurance for exotic pets doesn't exist and I don't know even anybody paying insurance for dogs and cats... I think our insurances are not that good...
Anyway, as a company always earns money offering a contract, I wonder: how much does actually a pig cost in his life? and how much have you paid as a premium during his life, especially when you have many piggies? if the cost is 50£ a month each pig, it seems to be convenient, but it means that at the end of the year you have spent 50x12= 600£, that is 1800£ in three years... Is it really this one the cost of a disease which can kill him or which can make you choice euthanasia after few weeks of bactrim? And I am talking of ONE pig...
Of course there are owners whose insurances have saved themselves from big financial troubles ... But for the majority insurance means only a waste of money and maybe a little help for paying "half bill"... without considering all the years paid during the healthy part of the pigge's life.
I think it is better to adopt a pet (and have a child) when it is the right moment and some money is already put aside; when a bill can be paid with just some anger (for the huge amount) and when we can afford an adoption.

 

[rome_italy]

practical example: here in my building there live 3 (ex) stray cats who now are quite old (7- 12 years old). One cat has an ill eye and was taken to the vet sometimes; another cat fell down and broke his leg and the lady who looks after him had to pay 600€; the third cat never had problem. 12 years of insurance for 3 cats would have meant a huge sum wasted...
A neighbour has a dog, he had some minor issue till last month when he had two big surgeries (1800€), but the dog is 11 years old...

 

[4pigs&counting]

I agree @rome_italy Saw an example on local facebook page recently of someone asking if anyone knew of any vets who could take a look at their cat for free as they couldn't afford to pay for it?! Needless to say they got a few responses which were less than sympathetic (it takes 5+ years to qualify as a vet for good reason!); I think some people just do not think about the possibility of high vets costs (or even ongoing routine costs like flea treatment etc.) before taking on an animal.

 

[Apollo86]

I have lifetime insurance for my 2 dogs (who are now 5 years old) it costs £45 a month for both. I did have to make a claim when 1 was 9 months old and that was for £3900! Luckily the specialist clinic I had to take him to only required me to pay the £100 excess and would get the rest from insurance. However i know my local vets require payment straight away then you have to claim afterwards.
I do not have indurance for my 2 piggies, but i do have money saved for vet bills just in case.

 

[rome_italy]

I have lifetime insurance for my 2 dogs (who are now 5 years old) it costs £45 a month for both. I did have to make a claim when 1 was 9 months old and that was for £3900! Luckily the specialist clinic I had to take him to only required me to pay the £100 excess and would get the rest from insurance. However i know my local vets require payment straight away then you have to claim afterwards.
I do not have indurance for my 2 piggies, but i do have money saved for vet bills just in case.

I see you got a good benefit from your insurance, but only because you had luck and only one dog fell ill, and only one time in 5 years. If I am not wrong you pay 540£ a year; 540x5years= 2700£; +100£you were asked to pay= 2800£. I think you had luck, because with only ONE illness more, you wouldn't have seen convenience any longer...
Honestly I had thought in UK insurances were better, but I see... it's the same the world over.

 

[Cavy Kung-Fu]

To be honest I've never had insurance for my animals. I know a lot of people think it irresponsible especially as I'm not the wealthiest of people. However I've put aside £100 a month for the last few years to cover it and have only paid roughly £300 in vet fees so far (I think?) but most of those were small things and consultations which are covered by insurance anyway by the sounds of it. Only a handful of times I've paid £80 in one vet fee.

The thing that worries me the most is all the small print, my fear is that when I really needed it the most they would find a way to get out of covering it. I know someone who had a £3,500 vet bill for her dog and the insurance company pointed to some loop hole and didn't pay it. After 10 years of her paying into this insurance company.

At least I know if I were to put money aside it's there when I need it!

 

[rome_italy]

My husband's Boss at the office is quite rich and had a health insurance (a silly thing here in Italy where our system covers everything to everybody). He had a stroke and taking advantage of the long past years when he paid a big sum to the company, he chose to have a surgery in a private elegant vatican clinic (the same surgeon works for free at the main public vatican hospital; but this man wanted the private room... available also in the public hospital if you pay). he had a great and fast treatment. Then he needed a second major surgery and then a physioterapy. Once at home he received a letter from the insurance: the contract was over. He wasn't a convenient client.
Might it happen also with pets?

 

[flowerfairy]

I don't insure any of my animals but do have some money put aside just in case.