Where can I buy insurance for my Cavy/Guinea Pig IN THE UK?

Question

I'm planning on adopting 2 Guinea Pigs, can anyone recommend a pet insurance company that offers cover for small mammals? Please don't tell me about brokers outside of the UK!

Answer 1

hi there dont listen to the first answer given gunieapigs can be treated if they have serious problems and they are a pet and deserve the best vet care when they become ill i am with www.petplan.co.uk and my 4 guniea pigs are insured one of mine broke its leg and it cost over a 1000 pounds which the insurance company covered except the first 50 pounds an animal ios for life and if a vet can fix it they will give petplan a go and see what they can offer you good luck

Answer 2

Guinea Pig Insurance Uk

Answer 3

Although I'm not in the UK, this is an excellent idea. I'm not sure how long the first answerer has had guinea pigs, but they do require some pretty expensive vet care, and are prone to a variety of problems. In the past year and a half, I've spent approximately $2000 on my herd just in medical bills alone. Every pig we take into the rescue costs us an average of $250 in medical bills.

Kudos for adopting and being a responsible owner!

Answer 4

I am going to give you what may seem perhaps a rather heartless answer. Let me therefore first say that I used to keep guinea pigs and that they are lovely, friendly animals.

I am not sure why you would want to insure a guinea pig. They are not likely to raise liabilities in relation to third parties, like say a dog causing a car accident. So you are probably thinking about their health. I am afraid that in this respect the answer is that if the guinea pig has a serious accident or medical problem of the sort that would be very expensive to treat in a larger animal, such as a horse or a cat, it is sadly best to have the guinea pig put down. This is not just the economic argument that it is not worth opening a lot of money on an animal that only has quite a short lifetime anyway. It is also that little animals like guinea pigs are not very amenable to intrusive treatments. I cannot imagine, for instance, putting a guinea pig's leg in plaster.

Fortunately, one of the attractions of guinea pigs is that in general they are very healthy animals. They get comparatively few medical problems if you treat them properly, until they die of old age.

Remember that on average you lose by buying insurance rather than paying the vet direct. As the bills for a cavy are pretty predictable, you do not need, as you would for instance for a horse, to guard against the chance of landing a huge bill you cannot afford. In financiers' jargon, you can therefore "carry the risk".

If you do want to investigate pet insurance, your local vet can almost certainly advise (but remember vets work commercially and probably get commission on selling insurance). One advantage of taking your local vet's insurance arrangements (you need to know of a good vet anyway) is that it should cover emergency callouts, and in such circumstances you will get a vet from the practice you know. Alternatively, look in yellow pages. There are insurance brokers in most UK towns of any size, in addition to ones working on-line.

Best wishes for your guinea pigs stay with you and for their good health.

Answer 5

You have to have insurance. For 2 reasons.. No. 1 - you got to have it in case you're in an accident No. 2 - without insurance the dealership you can't get a tax disc which you also need! It depends on the dealership you're buying from, when I bought a car from Evans Halshaw, they gave me a weeks free insurance so I could drive the car home through their own insurance company. I then sorted my own. Or alternatively, take someone with you who has car insurance that allows them to drive any car. That person would know if they could do that, generally they're over 25 and cover would be third party but it's enough to get you home.