Pet Insurance UK

[ZephyrFly]

I'm looking into vets and insurance in my local area.
No avian vets as far as I can find, though found a few general vets that have dealt with parrots and small birds.
Note: I don't have a bird yet, but looking into a small conure. Thought about a green cheek but in my area I have found 1 breeder and their birds are maroon bellies but I'm not too concerned on specific subspecies. Greens and maroons seem to be very similar in their profiles.

To the point. Are there any uk bird owners that insure their birds? If so, who do you recommend or say to avoid?
The breeder I talked to only insures their breeding birds and not their own pets, so I am hoping to get further insight.

 

[hacatta]

hi,i have asked myself this question recent too,since this year we can get insurance in our country for parrots,but decided not to.
Beside the fact it would cost me a small fortune every month,i looked closely to what they cover and found it really lacking, for anything major i would still be left with the whole bill and they would only cover about 30% orso for the small stuff.

The first tip to you would be too really look closely what they cover.

 

[Jayyj]

I use Exotics Direct - www.exoticsdirect.co.uk or 0800 626012. It costs me £19 a month over 10 months (god knows why they always split it over 10 not 12, it's tougher maths for me but you'd think people who deal with money for a living would be able to handle dividing by 12 as easily as 10).

Regarding vets, you should be able to find an avian vet within an hour's drive in the UK, and it's better to find one now than when you have an emergency on your hands. If you can't find an avian vet locally try looking for a local falconry centre or club and ask them if they can recommend someone, or try looking through Dogs & Puppies - Cats & Kittens - Pets for Sale at Pets4Homes UK to find a parrot breeder local to you who might be able to help. If you're in the North West, there's an avian vet in Manchester and one based out of a falconry centre in Knutsford.

For reference, this is my vet: Exotics - Ashleigh Veterinary Centre if all else fails they might be able to point you in the direction of a database of UK Avian vets.

 

[weco]

I've had a maroon belly...he lived to a ripe old age of 28years.....although each bird is an individual, they are fun birds and are a relatively quiet specie.....

 

[SennieSlave]

Exotic Direct for me.
Costs me about £9 a month (just for one bird). Paid out promptly too, when I had tests done a few months ago which added up to nearly £700.

 

[ZephyrFly]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

The options I see are exotic direct and e&l (equestrian and livestock). E&l sadly has a bad reputation for most pet owners but I could get a cover with them that covers accidental death, theft, replace of bird and any attachmented equipment like cages, and vets bills for £4-£7 a month ($10 about).
Exotic direct though I could get a similarly priced cover for just the accidental death, theft, lose/escape but no vet cover; or spend £14-£17 a month ($25 about) to cover all of the about with varying degrees of vet cover. The exotic direct cover is £500 more on the vets bill cover than e&l ($800 about).

In my reading I have found the USA to have more options with pet insurance so I've included rough estimated conversions in case anyone wants to compare or give any insight on what insurance like across the pond. If I find I've been very inaccurate, I will edit this later.

At this point my boyfriend wants to be safe and insure the bird when we get it which I agree with but I'm feeling very wary on this at the moment. So I am leaning on making a bird fund, put in £100 ($160 about) to start then we both add £5 a month ($8). I think this would be a good compromise?

 

[ZephyrFly]

Exotic Direct for me.
Costs me about £9 a month (just for one bird). Paid out promptly too, when I had tests done a few months ago which added up to nearly £700.

Wow! Only £9? Is that for one of the complete covers?

 

[Jayyj]

When I got my cat I never bothered insure her - she's an indoor cat, never seemed to get sick and I kind of inherited her so I never really thought about it. Then she developed a problem with her eye, and two vets later I was looking at £1500 for an operation: I had to borrow money to pay for it and it made me realise the value of insurance when it comes to pets. I appreciate the idea of setting money aside, but bear in mind if fate deals you a really rotten hand having a few hundred in an emergency fund might not be enough.

My Exotic Direct policy gives me death, theft, fire, weather peril and vets bills up to £2500. They offered insurance for £11 without the vet bill cover, but honestly the only bit I care about is the vet cover - if the worst happened and I lost her i don't think a cheque from the insurance company would even register. That's on a cockatoo with a notional value of significantly higher than a green cheek so hopefully your bill will be smaller.

 

[SennieSlave]

Exotic Direct for me.
Costs me about £9 a month (just for one bird). Paid out promptly too, when I had tests done a few months ago which added up to nearly £700.

Wow! Only £9? Is that for one of the complete covers?

Just dug out my policy - can't see whether it's complete cover. I would think it is (says I'm covered for sections 1, 2 and 3) - but can't remember, as I've had it for years and it just renews annually.

It says they'll pay out up to £2500 in a year in vet fees, fire, theft, weather etc (same as Jayyi above). I have to pay an excess of £35.

It also says they'd pay how much he cost me, if he died (not that I'd bother to claim for that).

I think I just didn't insure for "pet housing and/or enclosure cover" - as wouldn't be bothered about that.

 

[Jayyj]

Exotic Direct for me.
Costs me about £9 a month (just for one bird). Paid out promptly too, when I had tests done a few months ago which added up to nearly £700.

Wow! Only £9? Is that for one of the complete covers?

Just dug out my policy - can't see whether it's complete cover. I would think it is (says I'm covered for sections 1, 2 and 3) - but can't remember, as I've had it for years and it just renews annually.

It says they'll pay out up to £2500 in a year in vet fees, fire, theft, weather etc (same as Jayyi above). I have to pay an excess of £35.

It also says they'd pay how much he cost me, if he died (not that I'd bother to claim for that).

I think I just didn't insure for "pet housing and/or enclosure cover" - as wouldn't be bothered about that.

That's a great price for vet cover! Might be worth the OP phoning Exotics Direct rather than using the online quote generator and mentioning they were recommended by someone with an existing policy - that way if they come back with something higher and you know the price someone else is paying there might be haggling room. Er, better not mention my £19 a month bill!

 

[ParrotsAhoy]

Here in New Zealand, we've only just caught on to pet insurance, there are 4 companies that I emailed and asked about insuring birds and they all said sorry no, they dont do birds. Only one said they are going to be looking at doing birds too in the next few years, I hope they do as I think its a brilliant idea.

 

[SennieSlave]

Wow! Only £9? Is that for one of the complete covers?

Just dug out my policy - can't see whether it's complete cover. I would think it is (says I'm covered for sections 1, 2 and 3) - but can't remember, as I've had it for years and it just renews annually.

It says they'll pay out up to £2500 in a year in vet fees, fire, theft, weather etc (same as Jayyi above). I have to pay an excess of £35.

It also says they'd pay how much he cost me, if he died (not that I'd bother to claim for that).

I think I just didn't insure for "pet housing and/or enclosure cover" - as wouldn't be bothered about that.

That's a great price for vet cover! Might be worth the OP phoning Exotics Direct rather than using the online quote generator and mentioning they were recommended by someone with an existing policy - that way if they come back with something higher and you know the price someone else is paying there might be haggling room. Er, better not mention my £19 a month bill!

Yeah, I think so too.

Mine started at about £6/£7 something, when he was a baby (about 12/13 years ago) - so it hasn't really increased much yearly since then. My dog insurance (Tesco), now she's getting old, is a different story though. :/

 

[ZephyrFly]

Wow! Only £9? Is that for one of the complete covers?

Just dug out my policy - can't see whether it's complete cover. I would think it is (says I'm covered for sections 1, 2 and 3) - but can't remember, as I've had it for years and it just renews annually.

It says they'll pay out up to £2500 in a year in vet fees, fire, theft, weather etc (same as Jayyi above). I have to pay an excess of £35.

It also says they'd pay how much he cost me, if he died (not that I'd bother to claim for that).

I think I just didn't insure for "pet housing and/or enclosure cover" - as wouldn't be bothered about that.

That's a great price for vet cover! Might be worth the OP phoning Exotics Direct rather than using the online quote generator and mentioning they were recommended by someone with an existing policy - that way if they come back with something higher and you know the price someone else is paying there might be haggling room. Er, better not mention my £19 a month bill!

That is a brilliant idea! Thank you so much everyone for your inputs. Car insurance is the only experience I have and I've never haggled but having info like this will help!