In this post, I compare the five main insurers for pet rabbits in the UK, so you can make a better informed choice, and see what is the best pet rabbit insurance for you.
If our bunny is poorly, we want to make sure they get the best veterinary help. But medical costs can be high – hundreds or thousands of pounds. That’s why pet insurance is a good idea.
But when I looked into pet insurance for our rabbits, I was surprised.
I wanted to know how much pet rabbit insurance costs, but the comparison websites didn’t give any choice or comparisons. They just directed you to one company. I had to dig around to find what options and what differences there were between the providers.
You can see here the five main UK pet rabbit insurers: what they offer, how much they cost, and which to get quotes from. It should make your search for rabbit insurance easier.
But here’s my quick summary:
Best budget option for pet rabbit insurance:
Agriapets.co.uk – Get a quote here
Best all-round option for pet rabbit insurance:
4Paws.co.uk – Get a quote here
What the article covers:
- Comparison of pet rabbit insurance providers
- Agria – best budget choice
- 4Paws – best all-round choice
- Petplan
- Exotic Direct
- Helpucover
- What is covered in pet insurance
- What isn’t covered?
- Do I need to insure my rabbit?
- Other posts
- Boring legal stuff
Comparison of pet rabbit insurance providers
| Provider | Sample quote 1 yr old Cost per month | Sample quote 4 yr old | Vet cover | Excess | Multipet discount? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agria (Lifetime with 10% excess) | £11.72 | £11.72 | £1,500 | £75 + 10% of claim | 5% discount |
| Agria (Lifetime no 10% excess) | £14.24 | £14.24 | £1,500 | £75 | 5% |
| Agria (Lifetime Plus with 10%) | £17.62 | £17.62 | £2,500 | £75 + 10% of claim | 5% |
| Agria (Lifetime Plus no 10% excess) | £21.35 | £21.35 | £2,500 | £75 | 5% |
| 4Paws (NCI & Insureandgo) | £11.05 | £17.32 | £2,000 | £60 | ? |
| Petplan | £17.02 | £25.99 | £2,000 | £55 (20% of claim once rabbit over 7 yrs old) | £12 pa per extra pet |
| Exotic Direct | £12.80 | £12.80 | £2,000 | £65 | Yes |
| Helpucover | £15.42 | £19.59 | 2000 | £50 (25% of claim once rabbit over 5 yrs old) | One month’s premium pa |
How I carried out the comparison
I carried out the searches on 29th January 2022, asking for cover from 28th February 2022 for a 1 year old mini-lop, a 4 year old mini-lop, and a 7 year old mini-lop, for a Manchester (M14) postcode. If asked, the rabbit was described as neutered, black and white, and not having any pre-existing conditions, and having cost £40.
I also checked whether a different breed would give a different quote. None of the insurers gave different premiums for the different breeds I checked (mini-lop, Netherland Dwarf, mixed, Angora), but if you have an uncommon one, that may make a difference.
Some insurers vary the quote slightly depending upon postcode, but the differences are marginal.
No insurer would give an online quote for a rabbit over 5 years old.
In the individual reviews, all sample quotes are for a 1 year old female, mini-lop rabbit based on an M14 postcode.
Agria – best budget choice
Agria are my best budget choice. But they offer a range of cover options.
They are also the company that we chose to insure our rabbits.
Agria are an award-winning specialist pet insurance company that are Swedish in origin. They have been operating in the UK since 2009, and have a UK based team.
All their insurance is offered on a lifetime basis – if your pet develops a condition, the insurer will continue to pay out each year for treatment so long as you keep paying the premiums.
They have two different options: lifetime; and lifetime plus.
Lifetime
| Sample quote | £11.72 per month (includes 10% excess) |
| Vet fee cover | £1,500 per annum |
| Excess | £75 |
Lifetime Plus
| Sample quote | £18.19 per month |
| Vet fee cover | £2,500 per annum |
| Excess | £75 |
| Advertising | £250 |
| Travel or accommodation | £300 |
| Death from illness/injury | £40 |
| Boarding fees | £250 |
Agria are also the only insurance company to offer a variable excess. You can choose to pay a fixed amount (£75), or this fixed amount plus 10% of what you claim (eg vet fees) for that year.
So if your rabbit has an operation which costs £800, you would pay £155 excess (£75 + £80).
Choosing this variable excess means lower premiums, but potentially higher bills.
Agria’s quotes didn’t change either with age of rabbit (under five years).
Agria also offer a discount for insuring more than one rabbit at a time.
Agria’s website was easy to use and navigate.
Overall, Agria has an easy to use website, choice about what cover to take, and some of the cheapest quotes. Recommended.
Click here for a quote from Agriapets.co.uk
4Paws – best all-round choice (also NCI online, and Insureandgo)
4Paws and Insureandgo are different brands of NCI, so all offer the same insurance package. I used the 4Paws website, as that is tailored for pet owners.
4Paws are a good, solid choice for reasonable premiums and good cover. But Agria are cheaper for older rabbits.
| Sample quote | £11.05 per month |
| Vet fee cover | £2,000 per annum |
| Excess | £60 |
| Advertising | £250 |
| Boarding fees | £250 |
Their website is easy to use. They use a ‘chat’ service to take you through all the required answers. It was straightforward and felt friendly.
If you stay with them, once your pet reaches the age of 7, there would be an additional excess of 15% of the vet fees.
Overall, 4Paws is a good all-round choice. Recommended.
Click here for a quote from 4Paws.co.uk
Petplan
Petplan is a popular insurance option, and recommended by Pets At Home. It is a solid, safe choice, but more expensive than some other options.
| Sample quote | £17.02 per month |
| Vet fee cover | £2,000 per annum |
| Excess | £55 |
| Advertising | £250 |
| Boarding fees | £250 |
| Complementary treatment | £750 per annum |
Once your bunny reaches the age of 7 years, the excess typically increases to 20% of the vet fees.
Petplan’s premiums were amongst the highest.
Their website is easy to use and navigate.
Overall, Petplan is a safe choice, but you are paying more than some alternatives.
Click here for a quote from Petplan.co.uk
Exotic Direct
Exotic Direct offer good value insurance, similar in price and cover to 4Paws.
| Sample quote | £12.80 per month |
| Vet fee cover | £2,000 per annum |
| Excess | £65 |
Exotic Direct premiums did not vary with age. Exotic Direct also offer a separate deal where you can insure up to 3 rabbits either by sharing the total vet fee cover over all three (which can lower individual monthly cost to below £10) or by keeping £2,000 per animal, but still with slightly lower costs.
The website was the hardest to use. It requires you to register with them to get a quote (which the other insurers don’t require), and if you need to go back to change any information you have to start over again from scratch.
Their payment plan is actually spread over 10 monthly payments, not 12, but I have adjusted the cost to make the comparison fair (ie divided their yearly cost by 12).
Overall, a good choice, but with a difficult to use website. Check them out if you are insuring more than one rabbit.
Click here for a quote from Exoticdirect.co.uk
Helpucover
Helpucover are the pet insurance brand of Pinnacle Insurance. They have the lowest excess of any insurer, but high premiums.
| Sample quote | £15.42 per month |
| Vet fee cover | £2,000 per annum |
| Excess | £50 |
| Advertising | £250 |
| Boarding fees | £250 |
| Involuntary unemployment or loss of income | Up to 6 months of premiums waived |
Their premiums vary with the age of your rabbit.
Once your rabbit reaches 5 years, the excess becomes the higher of £50 or 25% of the vet fees.
They are the only provider who offers any protection against losing your job, through offering a premium waiver for up to six months.
They have a straightforward website, which seemed easy to navigate.
Overall, Helpucover is an option if you want the lowest excess.
Click here to get a quote from helpucover.co.uk
What is covered in pet insurance
All the rabbit insurance above is offered on a lifetime basis – if your rabbit develops a condition which needs treatment year after year, you are still covered so long as you continue to pay your premiums.
Vet fees
The amount paid towards veterinary fees each year.
Excess
The amount you will have to pay towards any vet fees for treating a condition.
Complementary therapy
Acupuncture, aromatherapy etc (only if recommended by vet).
Advertising
Help towards finding a lost or stolen rabbit, including advertising and reward cost.
Travel & accommodation
Travel and accommodation expenses if a vet refers your bunny for treatment to a different vet.
Death from illness or injury
Covers the purchase price of your rabbit if it dies or has to be put to sleep as a result of illness or injury.
Boarding fees
Covers boarding fees for your rabbit if you or a close family member unexpectedly needs to go into hospital.
What isn’t covered?
Always check with the provider. But generally, vaccinations, neutering and spraying, and pre-existing conditions aren’t covered.
Do I need to insure my rabbit?
You aren’t required by law to have insurance, and many people don’t. But vet fees can be large. Investigating weight loss might rack up over £500 in vet fees. And if your rabbit develops an ongoing condition, you might be looking at substantial amounts each year.
Here’s an example. One of our rabbits suddenly stopped eating, and wouldn’t move much. We needed to take him to the emergency vet that night to be checked over – this cost nearly £200. If he had needed to stay the night, that would have pushed the cost close to £1,000.
Fortunately, we could take our bunny home, and he recovered rapidly.
But it shows how rabbit insurance could end up saving you from shelling out a large amount of money at once.
The alternative is putting aside some money each month, and hoping that that will cover any costs. But this won’t be enough if you and your bunny are unfortunate enough to land a large vet bill.
Getting insurance while your rabbit is young and healthy may save you from expensive surprises later on.
Other posts
If you are looking into the cost of buying a rabbit, take a look at our post at how much it all adds up to.
Wondering what happens if you get your rabbit spayed? This post gives our experience from the owner’s perspective.
Trying to keep your bunny entertained? Here’s an article on the toys we found worked best.
Boring legal stuff
I’m not an insurance specialist, and this shouldn’t be considered legal advice. I’m just trying to give helpful information. Always check details and quotes with a provider directly – terms and conditions can change.
This comparison page is free to use. Getting a quote from links on this page helps to support this site.
