15months treatment then no payout on death

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rizzlebag100

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what a con from a major insurance co.be aware
a quick run down. ---
we have a pony who has had lami 15 months ago it was quite bad and we have been treating pedal bone rotation etc.with remedial trimming/x-rays regular vets visits.although he is and has always been insured for vets bills and death we were just paying as we went, , a bill here and there seemed ok rather than claim,now crunch time is nearly here as he is relapsing,so a phone call to the insurance co.revealed we can claim only 12 months from first diagnosis of the problem,so as good people trying our best we get nothing for the death of the pony,as first diagnosis was 15 months previous,
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so make sure your horse dies before 12 months is up or you get nothing, shame on that plan!!!!
 
Or make sure you keep your insurance company abreast of what is going on from the moment the incident first occurs........
 
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Or make sure you keep your insurance company abreast of what is going on from the moment the incident first occurs........

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I agree!!
 
and as soon as you do, thats the end of cover for that problem again, if we thought it would come to this we probably would have, but even so after 12 months no pay-out
so the out come is the same even if they knew from the start.
 
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and as soon as you do, thats the end of cover for that problem again

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So? Logically anything that is likely to cost you a lot of money is something that you are going to want to claim for from the vets. And the end result is - yes, it will be exluded most likely from your policy in future. However, that is the nature of insurance. You can't hedge your bets.

Also, read your small print. You are supposed to tell them - end of.

Sorry about the pony though. You must be very upset.
 
yes tell them if you want to claim but we wern't bothered about the rolling costs but when it comes to the death and he is insured for it ,you expect a little bit, if his death or the cause of was not related to the treatment yipee we would get paid--
 
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if his death or the cause of was not related to the treatment yipee we would get paid--

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Unfortunately the fact is that if you had told your insurane company about the laminitis as soon as it reared it's ugly head - regardless of whether or not you claimed any vet fees - they would probably now be paying out on the distruction of the horse on humane grounds.

Sorry, you're in a loose, loose situation..
 
You really ought to have advised them that your pony was receiving treatment - it's a material condition of your contract with them and as you breached it by not telling them then they have every right to not pay out. Unfortunately insurance companies will use every trick in the book to avoid paying out any money.

Really sorry to hear about your pony though.
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Had you have told them at the start, you would have been covered for the following 12 months for vets fees........ if it went over the 12 months then you would still not be paid for death as its over the period allowed.

Its a shame, but I am in the same boat re death of horse..... Merlin has been treated for arthritis for the last 2 years... he is sound at the moment, but when he goes crock, if its related, then I will get Jack ****!!!!
 
well AMYMAY sorry but you are wrong this is my point,after 12 months of the same illness your on your own and if it doe,nt die or get euthanised within that period you get nothing.
 
Had you informed your insurance company at the onset of the problem then in all likelihood you would have been paid out for both vets fees and death. Although most policies will cover only 12 months of treatment many companies will offer a without prejudice extension on a condition that is still under treatment (this is done done on a case by case basis and usually involves the insurance veterinary adviser liaising with your veterinary surgeon). By hiding the condition from your insurance company- presumably you paid a policy renewal at some time in the previous 15 months- you have not only purchased a policy fraudulently and invalidated the whole (including 3rd party cover) of your policy you have pushed everyone else's premium up ( insurance companies use attempted fraud to adjust their premiums). In no way can this be described as a con or trick to get out of paying. You cannot have your cake and eat it.
 
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well AMYMAY sorry but you are wrong this is my point,after 12 months of the same illness your on your own and if it doe,nt die or get euthanised within that period you get nothing.

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Sorry lovely, we're gonna have to agree to disagree. I know of at least two cases of insurance companies paying out after 12 months for ongoing problems, for which the horse(s) were eventually euthenised.
 
so as soon as your horse gets sick you jump on the phone to tell them all about it ahh/ dont think so.
now if tommorow it breaks a leg and has to be destroyed they pay out lovely, if its insured for death if it dies -pay out
 
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so as soon as your horse gets sick you jump on the phone to tell them all about it ahh/ dont think so

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No, in many cases you don't. However, if you horse does become injured or sick and it looks as if it could be an expensive problem the vet will often ask if you are insured? This is for a number of reasons; but essentially to prepare you for what could be costly treatment and to find out if you have the resources to pay for the treatment. At this stage it is prudent to phone the insurance company.

We also have the advantage of being able to ask questions of our vets. I.e, does this look like an insurance claim to you????

Also, it's not rocket science in many instances to know that what you could be looking at is an insurance claim. So whilst you didn't feel you wanted to claim off your insurance initially - I suggest that once you got past a couple of hundred quid on vet's fees and specialist farrier treatment it would have started to dawn on you that you were in for the long hawl - an expensive one, and one with a possibly poor prognosis.

I have only twice phoned my insurance company at the onset of a problem - both times horse came in from the field chronically lame - with obvious signs of a tendon problem. Didn't cost anything to pre-warn them of a potential claim - and claim I did, over £4k. However, if no treatment had been necessary - no harm done.

You are clearly upset at the thought of loosing the pony - but with regards to the insurance company, sorry there is no one to blame but yourself.

It's a bitter pill to swallow, but a mistake you won't make again I'm sure.
 
Perhaps not "as soon as" but I'm afraid that 15 months of undeclared treatment and then expecting a pay-out is living in fairy land. I am sorry your pony has to be euthanased but you can't say its a "con".
 
Actually, I did, I have an ongoing suspensory ligament problem and insurance company have given extension of 1 year on the problem to see if it resolves.

I appreciate that you're mightily hacked off about your company not paying out but ultimately you brought it on yourself. Equally coming on here, moaning about it and expecting sympathy is a bit daft.
 
i'm not really moaning if you read the first post, i am just trying to advise/warn folks you have 12 months to get the job sorted otherwise forget insurance, though thats what a forum was for. while i,m on just to clarify at the start of the problem it was just 'lami'get him in box rest then was sorted , the main intensive treatment has been in the last 3 months but it started 15 months ago on the vets books,
so we aint trying to 'fraud' anyone thank-you.mr stranger1612
 
Given your opening statement of insurance being a con then it came across as moaning.

I still think that you should have informed your insurance company, I appreciate that not everyone reads the small print of their policy but your I'm at a loss as to how you managed to renew your policy without declaring the ongoing treatment.

An expensive lesson learnt really.
 
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i am just trying to advise/warn folks you have 12 months to get the job sorted otherwise forget insurance

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And I think you'll find that most have posted that this is not the case.
 
If you re-read your initial post you'll see you start by suggesting that you have been the subject of a "con" by a major insurance company and you end your post by pouring "shame" on their plan, it sounds like a moan to me. As far as warning/advising people that you have 12 months to "sort" the job, as you will read in previous posts this is not always the case.
 
the con is the death policy,not worried about the treatment costs at all ,simply if you have a dead horse and your insured for such,no matter how long the illness has been then no payment thats the con ,how can people forsee the outcome and time scale of on going treatment
 
If you had told them about the problem in the first place you would have had (automatically) an ongoing dialogue with your insurance company - and it wouldn't have come to this.

Doesn't matter how you dress it up - your insurance company have simply not done anything wrong.
 
The only "con" is the one you pulled when you fraudulently renewed your policy. Show some contrition and you might elicit sympathy otherwise you face continued opprobrium.
 
I think we all need to be careful re insurance claims and "minor" health problems. Certainly my insurance policy states that I must let them know immediately of any change in the horse's health, even if I have no intention of making a claim. If you think about it that's because their risks immediately change. And I'm afraid it's risk analysis that governs our insurance and premiums. You're lucky thatyour insurance company is paying out anything because if you don't declare an illness, they could refuse ALL payments later on, on the grounds that you are in breach of contract. But lets not slate them too much. Insurance companies don't shell out the payouts themselves. They are all underwritten by other organisations who DO shell out. It's these underwriters that impose the restrictions and if you think about it, if you decided to sink your life savings into underwriting a horse insurance company, YOU would probably want all sorts of robust safeguards built in to protect your investment. I have to tell you that about 4 yrs ago my 20yr old Highland x was diagnosed with bilateral DJD and navicular and the prognosis was zero. Because he was pts for humane reasons rather than because of a traumatic accident in the field, the company paid the vets fees swiftly and painlessly but they refused to pay out on the value of the horse (only a token £1000). However, the wonderful vet who had dealt with my Sullivan in his last months phoned them (no fee) on my behalf and made a case for the horse's destruction. Bless his cottons and bless the insurance company too - as a goodwill gesture they paid 65% of his insured value. They weren't obliged to pay a penny. So there ARE good companies out there who try everything to respond to customers' needs. They aren't all monsters trying to screw horse owners: their hands are tied by their underwriters. So sorry for your problems Rio, exactly at the time you are trying to deal with your ned's grave health problems. x
 
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It is not a con, it is standard practice. 12 months cover from diagnosis OR from when the problem first arose.

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Sorry but this is standard practice nowdays. The other thing to watch for is if you make a claim for something like laminitis, not only will the affected feet be excluded for vets fees, most companies will exclude death cover as well. So, if the horse is PTS for a lami related problem several years later, no payout.

It's also common now for insurance companies to contact vets in the event of a claim to see if you have had treatment for a related condition previously and again, if you haven't told them about it, no payout.

My philosophy has now become one of weighing up if it could be lengthy treatment ie a tendon strain versus simple wound and claim from the outset.
 
My Horse is currently being treated for a blocked sinus, I have contacted my insurance company as the vet said she may need x rays if the antibiotics doesn't work.

I have since contacted the vet as she doesn't seem to be getting better and again contacted the insurance company who have advised me on when to claim IE if she does have the x-ray. So any more treatment my mare has I will be contacting my insurance company.
 
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