Beware - E&L & Western Saddles

Rhandir

Rhandir

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Have just received my BHS mag and a letter concering western saddles caught my eye. It concerned a member whose horse had been found dead in it's stable, they informed their insurance company E&L (Entertainment and Leisure) of this and submitted a claim.

There were other complications with their claim but one which stated that they were not covered if the horse had ever worn a western saddle. Now these people did not ride western as such, they simply found a western saddle more comfortable and gave them a little more security whilst hacking out.

The company are refusing to pay out (no surprises there) but if you are insured with this company take care, or move to a company that does incude western riding in their list of activties.
 
E&L stands for Equine and Livestock (I have a LOL at Entertainment and Leisure!!)

They are renowned for not paying out, that's why most vets won't deal with them!
 
All insurance companies will stick to their Ts and Cs, it's what insurance is based on (a contract of utmost good faith - everything has to be declared).

For what it's worth, I had a horse insured with E&L. I had to have the horse put to sleep. E&L paid out, though it was a painful experience in all respects.
 
i agree that thye should have checked their policy documents and read ALL the small print then they would have known not to use a western saddle.
 
I think the difference is that E&L have a hell of a lot of terms and conditions which get them out of alot of claims, I've known 2 people to never get pay outs from them, one horse, one caravan (the latter wouldn't pay out on the theft of the caravan because it wasn't under a particular wattage security light!). Every vet surgery I've ever spoken to won't take their claim forms, you have to pay the vet and try to get your money out of them instead of the vets! Great to hear they have acutally paid out on some claims though, I'd imagine if they refused every single claim then the insurance ombudsman would have shut them down!

They also now have this insurance site to to try and get away from their poor reputation and lure others in: http://www.horse-insurance.co.uk/about/
 
I spent a couple of years working at an equine vet clinic, and dealt with all the insurance claims. My heart used to sink when anything from E&L came in.
How they are still allowed to continue in business I'll never understand, obviously they are paying out 'just enough' claims to be legal.. I feel sorry for the people who answer the calls there though, they all seemed lovely and completely resigned to the situation :(
 
my friend is currently trying to claim off E&L after having her horse pts and they are arguing about how much the horse was worth ,she was 11yrs old and it came as a shock my friend is heart broken as are we :( and it is terrible having to now deal with this ,they have been a right royal PITA from start to finish with her claim

i have been insured with NFU and south essex and have never had this sort of trouble claiming from them ,i certainly will never insure with E&L or any of there "other names" or recommend them to anyone :(
 
angelish said:
my friend is currently trying to claim off E&L after having her horse pts and they are arguing about how much the horse was worth ,she was 11yrs old and it came as a shock my friend is heart broken as are we :( and it is terrible having to now deal with this ,they have been a right royal PITA from start to finish with her claim
(
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With E&L you need to be really bloody irritating, then they generally do pay up. Make sure your friend is on the phone daily, writes to senior management and threatens to contact the Ombudsman if they are playing silly beggars. The longer they can put off paying out claims the better financially it is for them, and don't they know it? :mad:
 
More to the point, what exactly is E&L's problem with a horse having worn a western saddle at some point in its life??? :confused:

I ride in an Australian stock saddle sometimes; would that fall under the same distrimination as the western saddle I wonder? :confused::confused:
 
rhino said:
With E&L you need to be really bloody irritating, then they generally do pay up. Make sure your friend is on the phone daily, writes to senior management and threatens to contact the Ombudsman if they are playing silly beggars. The longer they can put off paying out claims the better financially it is for them, and don't they know it? :mad:
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they certainly do :(
she's just gutted and keeps bursting into tears on the phone and is running out of energy ,they are refusing to talk to anyone else without her filling another form in to say they are allowed to talk to us
they are just heartless thieving *****ds if you ask me :(
 
angelish said:
they certainly do :(
she's just gutted and keeps bursting into tears on the phone and is running out of energy ,they are refusing to talk to anyone else without her filling another form in to say they are allowed to talk to us
they are just heartless thieving *****ds if you ask me :(
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Does she have a decent vet? It's funny how much quicker they would pay up when they had a phone call from a very angry vet (preferably one who had a busy on call night the previous night) ;)
 
Spyda said:
More to the point, what exactly is E&L's problem with a horse having worn a western saddle at some point in its life??? :confused:

I ride in an Australian stock saddle sometimes; would that fall under the same distrimination as the western saddle I wonder? :confused::confused:
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My thoughts exactly - how could using a western saddle ever create an exclusion?! I never knew them to be life shortening or health threatening!
 
E&L don't list western riding as one of their "activities", so therefore if the horse has been ridden in a western saddle they consider you a western rider, regardless of wether you are or not. Of course this is quite probably a "get out clause" to avoid paying out.
 
Do what i did as soon as i got the email saying we are not paying out. Called Ombudsman Soon had email back saaying we will pay out ..Its Upsetting as it is.
 
rhino said:
Does she have a decent vet? It's funny how much quicker they would pay up when they had a phone call from a very angry vet (preferably one who had a busy on call night the previous night) ;)
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she has the same vet as me so yes a phone call may be in order ,it might work if they will speak to the vet as they will not deal with anyone other than my friend atm

sorry op for going slightly off OP ,E&L are just a plain nightmare and i don't know how they are still about ,it is indeed just an excuse not to pay out and a very sad lesson to learn about reading small print

what are they going to come up with next :(
 
have to admitt have paid my 2 claims on 2 different horses and they were not small claims either infact 1 was for an op at newmarket but sadly didnt work out and pony had to be PTS and they still paid everything op,all vet bills this end,removal and market value for the pony,so no complaints from me :o
 
E&L - horrendous! Had a heartbreaking ordeal with them that ended in me having the horse pts (and paying for it) and then them trying to charge me again for a year for a new policy for the dead horse.

I started legal proceedings but my solicitor basically said their policy T and C's get them out of paying for anything and the cost of prosecuting would be large.

Lost my lovely boy and £2500 in the end :(
 
I had a quote from Amtrust and was rather alarmed to see E&L mentioned in the T and Cs I must admit I did not read all the way through BUT E&L was definitely mentioned.
 
11. Any claim caused by a vice of the horse will not be covered (including public liability) if
the animal has a history of this vice, for example biting, rearing, bolting, shying, kicking,
escaping, unless we have been informed about the history and have accepted it in writing.
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Now that I find worrying, from the E&L small print. How many horses have NEVER bitten, reared, bolted, shied, kicked or escaped?
 
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