5 stage vetting for 2 Year Old???

[Landcruiser]

I have a deposit down on a lovely but quite pricey (5 grand) 2 year old. My regular insurer, Shearwater, are insisting on a 5 stage vetting because of her price. My vet is bemused - my filly has only been generally handled and led - stages 3 and up are irrelevant and can't be done due to her age. I took this back to Shearwater but they are adamant. They are quite happy for me to pay for 5 stage vetting and paperwork, most of which will be filled in with "Not applicable" or "Unable to test." They absolutely won't insure her without. They told me most insurers would be the same.

I checked Animal Friends - they are absolutely fine with a 2 stage. So she'll have a flipping 2 stage and I'll pick a more sensible insurance company, thanks.
Has anyone else come across this with a youngster?

 

[ycbm]

Crazy. I winced when I read recently about a yearling passing flexion tests ?
.

 

[shortstuff99]

My insurance asked for a 5 stage for my yearling. I said no she was too young and would only have a 2 stage, and they accepted that.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

Animal friends would insure without a five stage but I had to have a two stage even though she was a yearling. They would only insure for LOU/ death for £4K or less with a two stage though. My filly cost considerably more than that.

Unfortunately, my filly died only a few weeks after we purchased her. Animal friends don’t cover euthanasia at all, and the rest of the call out fell below the excess amount. I ended up spending £500 on the incident itself and then obviously lost on the purchase price being higher than the insured value.

All my own fault, nothing untoward from the company - these are their policies and I agreed them. I just didn’t consider the sequence of events when I made my decision and a vet bill under the excess seemed totally fine - coupled with the euthanasia costs and it was more of a shock. And then of course, I didn’t want to do a five stage (how…???) so couldn’t insure for her full value.

Also, another quirk is that unbacked they can be insured as field / leisure and then once backed they can be field / leisure but actually backing is apparently in the same category as eventing / jumping so if anything were to go wrong in that period, you’ll find you’re not covered.

 

[Abi90]

KBIS will insure without a vetting I think. They may want a 2 stage for £5k plus… or you insure for £4950

 

[Equi]

Buy the horse for 4999.99 and it magically won’t need a 5*

 

[teddy_]

I think KBIS will insure up to £10,000 without a vetting.

 

[Abi90]

I just insured my 3.5 month old colt with KBIS for £4750 and no vetting required

 

[eggs]

I changed insurers to NFU for my filly when she was two years old having bought her for £7k as a foal. The initially said they needed a 5 stage vetting but my vet agreed that was ridiculous and spoke to them. They accepted a two stage with full disclosure on her previous vet history which was easy for me to provide as I had her from a foal but may not be so easy for you.

 

[Widgeon]

Buy the horse for 4999.99 and it magically won’t need a 5*

I was going to say this too. I'm pretty sure Scottish Equestrian put the cut off at £5K. Below that no vetting needed.

 

[lannerch]

My 2yo cost 6k two years ago , she had just a 2 stage vetting which all the main insurers when I had quotes were willing to accept.
£5k is not expensive for a 2yo.