Do you Insure Your Horse?

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MosMum

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This is something we wouldn't do in the states unless its an expensive horse or bred for show etc (which most horses here are, I guess). Random cattle horses live out their days and are often sent off to the Happy Hunting Ground in the Sky if they break a leg or get sick.

I have a 15 mos old arab x cob, and the person who sold him to me told me that horse insurance here is so finicky about what they will or won't cover that you could spend hundreds of pounds on cover and still end up paying the vet fees anyway if things go wrong. Is this true?

He said it would be wiser to set the money I WOULD have spent on insurance to one side and save in that way for vet fees. If Mo got hurt tomorrow we would be fine but of course you have to think of potential long-term care too.
Any thoughts?
 
I insured my two for 10 years and then realised that Im insurance company averse and so hadnt claimed for any of the things I could have, so there wasnt much point me having the cover.

My aversion stems from the fact that I hate the worry of them having all the power to decide whether old conditions are related to the new one, whether I might forget to mention something etc.

I have 3rd party liability insurance and insurance in case I have an accident, but we are going the savings route now.
 
I have a friend who is a vet in the US. He says in America only wealthy people take pet insurance, which causes a problem because when people want their pet treated, they cannot afford it, so they are pts or abandoned.

In the UK pet insurance is big business. I do not accept that the insurance companies do not pay out. There will always be a couple of companies that don't pay, but the big names, NFU, PetPlan, SouthEssex etc have excellent reputations. This year my horse was very ill. The money they paid out, far exceeded the premiums I had paid them for the 9 years I owned the horse. The reality is that most people do not save the premiums for a "rainy day".
 
Having claimed nearly £5000 in the last year for what was a seemingly small kick injury on my boy (he was never even lame), I would always insure my horses. I have never had a problem with claiming and the insurers have always paid out. If I had saved the £50 a month for the year during which I had my big bill rather than paying it to the insurers, it would still nowhere near cover the costs! Injuries/illnesses will not always been major enough to consider having the horse PTS, but the bills for treatment can still be astronomical.
 
I'm just with bhs gold membership for 3rd party cover. Apart from that i don't bother think insurance is a con. I £s in over the years and have paid for what ever vet bills as they come. Use a saving account I put back money each month which has covered all bills iv had so far. And no insurance company trying to back out off paying but taking your money
 
Only have gold BHS for my three horses. Past experience of insurers - they won't pay out and will try to wriggle out of any claim you make. Save the money and cut them out, they're useless OMHO. Just my experience.
 
My new horse is pretty much insured for everything including loss of use. Knowing my luck the moment we don't insure one we will have to cough up a large amount of money for vets bills. Being with the PC aswell I have 3rd party cover.
 
Mine is insured up to the eyeballs. In the last ten years insurance have paid thousands for his various injuries - there's no way my parents could have footed the bill. If I was ever in a position where I could fork out thousands at a time if necessary then I wouldn't insure, however I'm realistic and it's in his interest as an accident-prone pony to be insured.

Dog is also insured but we are thinking of going the savings route instead - her bills only come to about £150 which we can cover.
 
Def insured. Though I think how worthwhile it is depends on what company you go with as often cheaper doesn't mean better. I'm with nfu, am claming atm for expensive and lengthy sarcoid treatment as it isn't responding as it 'should'. They are being fab and I have not complaints at all so far. I am v glad I have insurance as it would be so expensive without, and that is just for a pretty simple condition.
 
I will always insure mine (Petplan). Had him 4 years and never had to claim which is fair enough. I may never claim but the safety net is there and my insurance premium will pay for others who do claim so its money well spent whatever.
 
Yep, mine is insured. I don't have a stash of savings so if something awful happened and she needed expensive or emergency treatment, I'd have to pts if I wasn't insured.

I chose my insurance company based on a friend's experiences - she has had a run of bad luck with her horses and they have paid out without quibble each time, so I feel that I have good cover.
 
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