Insurance

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Mudpuppy

Mudpuppy

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Apologies if this has been discussed recently, but what are the pros and cons of insurance?

I didn't have insurance when I had my previous piggies (RIP) and spent quite a lot, (not that I minded of course, as I just wanted my sweeties to get better) but I was considering pet insurance for my next pigs. I've just run a rough quote through exotic direct and found that the excess is £65... this sounds like a lot?

Any advice appreciated :)

Thank you
 
Exotic upped their excess from £50 to £65 last year - I have had about £8000 (yep I didn't put an extra 0 on - eight thousand ! ) pounds worth of bills over the last 3 years for 3 of my pigs - Bumble alone over £5000 - cancer - bladder stones 3 times - Bumblefoot twice - Nuggets chiropractor treatment as he had a genetic condition that gave him a crumbling spine - dental abcess with Noodles - fatty lump removals on 3 of them - I manage to find £14.50 a month for each pig (which is why I only have 4 now and not 7 ) but I don't smoke or drink or go out so that's my "thing"
 
Awwww sorry to hear of their illnesses... :( :(

I presume £65 is the excess for a particular illness/issue/case.. i.e. if they have a bladder stone, you pay the first £65 of whatever the subsequent costs are.. even if it takes 6 appointments? Do they also cover the cost of the actual appointment too? (I have scanned through the policy documents but find some bits a bit vague/confusing!)

I'm the same, don't smoke, hardly drink, so my piggies could be my 'thing' too, and it's definitely been worth it for your piggies hasn't it :)
 
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I put some money away every month in a vet fund.

I am thinking of looking at pet insurance but I hear so much about human health insurance that I am dubious
 
With two dogs, four rabbits, five hamsters and soon to be two guinea pigs I too have a vet fund.
 
Please please please DO get pet insurance for them ! It's 28 quid a month but that's 2 grand per pig per claim ! Which I think is amazing ! And tbh that's like a takeaway for me and my other half and for peace of mind it's an easy decision :)! Do it ! It's taken a huge weight of my mind
 
Its £65 excess per condition - so if your piggy gets conjunctivitis that will probably cost £18 - £22 for the appointment ( some vets charge more - but a lot of the vets around here charge the £20 mark for a small furry ) then about £10 - £12 for the eye drops your bill is about £40 - so not covered by the insurance until your bill comes to over £65 - then they pay anything above that up to £2000 per year - so if your pig had a bladder stone and you spent £20 on the appointment £60 on x-rays and £140 on the operation that would be £220 and exotic would pay £155 of it - if you piggy then made another bladder stone within 90 days and needed another examination x -ray and operation, this would be treated as a continuation of an existing condition (you would just pt it down as on going bladder condition ) and you wouldn't have to pay another £65 excess
 
Thank you all. To be honest, I spent a considerable amout on repeat visits to my vets for my previous two who were separate lone piggies (as recommended by the rescue centres I got them from at the time) and it was mainly the appointments that cost the most, and x rays. I was just 'paying as I was going' basically, but with owning two at the same time now, it could quickly get really expensive, so I''m thinking of going for it... mainly for peace of mind. Especially as both my previous pigs ended up with those pesky bladder stones :(
 
From an objective viewpoint (because insurance is not an option here, but was when I lived in the UK)I would say if you feel you can afford the monthly premium, then go for it.
You might not use it, but in the worst case scenario you need to find 65 pounds.
Considering some illnesses can run into hundreds and then thousands, it means you are going to be less worried about the cost if the worst does happen.
If you have more then a couple of piggies and the monthly premiums are going to be super high, then a vet fund might be a better option (assuming not all of them will have serious illnesses).
 
Oh... just another quick question..... does it also cover emergency appts? The last one I had was around £80 just for the appt...... so with meds and treatment etc it was around £200...... hopefully it's still just pay the excess?
 
Mudpuppy said:
Oh... just another quick question..... does it also cover emergency appts? The last one I had was around £80 just for the appt...... so with meds and treatment etc it was around £200...... hopefully it's still just pay the excess?
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I have just got insurance and I asked this and they said that they do pay towards emergency appointments if the vet has deemed it as an emergency. I was only able to insure one of my pigs, as my other one has had vet treatment in the last 3 months (early in December). I have to wait until March to insure her, if she hasn't had any more treatment within that time. When you register with them, they also give you 10% off the quote. I was also told that the insurance goes up in January by about £2. I'm not sure if this is an extra £2 a month, or for 10 months.
 
I think the insurance premium tax is going up, (another government stealth tax ) so probably just £2 on top of the annual policy - I have had to take my pigs to out of hours emergency vets at least 6 times over the past 2 years ( with 4 different pigs ) and exotic have always paid out all of the £100 out of hours fee no problem - one had large amount of blood coming from his bladder on a Sunday afternoon (Bumble with Bladder stones ) - Noodles was rushed in at 11 o clock the previous night - (fluid on the lungs ) - died the next day - and Nuggets was rushed in the night before Noodles with bloat (things really do come in threes with me - so I had two pigs die within 2 days and nearly lost Bumble as he had hour long bladder surgery as an emergency with a fresh out of vet school vet - as my specialist was away on holiday.
 
Definitely insure if you can. I've already spent about £500 on one of mine with a heart condition since the end of last year, one of the meds alone is £40 a bottle so I get all the consults & meds on it now, which can soon add up after a few weeks. When they pay out they deduct the excess & the rest of the subs until the end of the year you are paying in, so I won't pay any more subs for her now until after April.
 
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