Does anybody not have horse insurance?

Lintel

Lintel

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So my single pony insurance quote this year is ridiculous for a healthy unclaimed pony that does very little. I already have public liability through WHW. Thinking about just taking the risk and paying out of savings if the need ever arose.

Any thoughts?
 
My horse has so many exclusions there is no point. Instead I have a horse savings account to cover vet fees.
 
my oldie is no longer insured, i have third party for her but that's it. My younger horse who is in full competition work has got the cover now!
 
I've decided not to insure my new pony. I'm a barefoot hippy and would never have scans, X-rays or shoeing of any kind. I also wouldn't have any colic surgery. I have savings for anything else.
 
I guess in part it depends on your attitude to your horse and whether you believe you ought to do everything in your power to treat it or whether you are happy to let a degree of economics enter your decision making. I'm not saying either attitude is right or wrong just you need to consider your own views.

As an example I don't insure for vets fees (have 3rd party liability).Six years ago I was comfortably off and could have scraped together £5k for vets fees without too much hardship. Then my husband walked out and left me with a 6 month old baby changing my financial position enormously. With exquisite timing my horse nicked his tendon sheath a matter of weeks later. On a Saturday! Gold standard treatment was straight to the nearest horspital for a flush with weekend call outs etc the estimate was £3-5k depending on whether they needed to do it several times etc. Obviously I was an emotional wreck at the time anyway without having to make the decision to wipe out my entire savings now I was in a precarious financial position. My local vet was superb and said to me basically "He is a horse and you have a baby to look out for" so we agreed that we would do everything possible without flushing, intravenous antibiotics etc etc but if he showed signs of infection he would be pts immediately and not be allowed to suffer. So as a result of not insuring and my situation changing I was forced to make a treatment decision based on economics.

The story ends happily for me and my horse but it did cause me to carefully re-evaluate whether to insure or not. Strangely having been faced with the possibility of losing him because I couldn't afford gold standard treatment I now find that I'm ok with that, I still don't insure, I can now at a squeeze still afford to pay a substantial bill. I find that even though I can I may choose not to depending on the condition/treatment/prognosis and I am glad I have that choice because I feel that providing the horse is not allowed to suffer unnecessarily there are worse fates that can befall them than a gentle early death at home and occasionally animals can be subjected to treatment more for their owners sake than for theirs. That just my opinion of course and others may view things differently.
 
I didn't insure when I had 2 as worked out that premiums were same or more than likely vet costs for 2 native ponies. In the event I think it probably worked out about the same but I did feel more in control of decisions when one had a tendon injury and the vet was suggesting tendoscopy (sp?) at a cost of more than I had paid for horse in 1st place! In the end after 9 months turn away and rehab by the book injury reoccurred and I was in control of the decision not to rehab again.

I now have new horse which I am insuring based on the expectation that a claim will probably be more than the premiums over time.

I based my decisions on horse type and expected activity level and allowing for the unexpected field incident - which is how my previous did his tendon, that's horses for you!
 
You win some you lose some that is the problem. One I didn’t insure I lost big time when she died suddenly after 6 months. Big bill, no horse. One I did insure I “won” at least enough to cover 3 years premiums, that one I am going to keep insured I think. Otherwise I tend to now think I will insure for the first year only.

Most horses I’ve insured I haven’t made a claim on, so mostly I’ve probably lost over all but there is some comfort in knowing you can do it all without worry. Most of mine however, are not insured and I pay 113 quid a year for family Gold BHS membership to cover liability.
 
Nope, I don't insure anymore. I started what turned into a lengthy thread about it a few weeks ago, and plenty of other folks don't either.
PoppyAnderson said:
I've decided not to insure my new pony. I'm a barefoot hippy and would never have scans, X-rays or shoeing of any kind. I also wouldn't have any colic surgery. I have savings for anything else.
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Not insuring, shoeing or having colic surgery is pretty common. Why on earth would you rule out scanning and x rays, though? They are hugely useful non invasive diagnostic techniques.
 
Both of mine were originally insured. Horse one has had several claims against her for various things and I’ve just about claimed more back than I’ve paid out at this point in time, but on the flip side her premium is now almost £100/month and her list of exclusions is as long as my arm so I will be cancelling her policy shortly.
Horse two was insured with no exclusions, then went ‘wrong’ in that she underwent a sudden personality change and no longer agreed with people touching her, grooming her, picking her feet up or saddling her. She underwent an ovarian ultrasound, ulcer scoping, lameness workup, and back xrays with nothing found, I had to pay out ~£1500 of my own money since nothing was ‘wrong with her’ and I couldn’t be bothered having to explain all the investigatory work to the insurance company and having to deal with possible exclusions in the future because of this work, so I cancelled hers.
I’m happy now that if anything goes wrong with either in the future I will PTS or turn away rather than go through surgery, expensive diagnostics etc. They have both caused me enough money and stress in a short space of time. It’s a balancing act with insurance I feel, and my two at the moment have just tipped over onto the wrong side. I would mostly likely insure my next one off the bat and re-evaluate as I go. I do have third party liability of course.
 
Tiddlypom said:
Nope, I don't insure anymore. I started what turned into a lengthy thread about it a few weeks ago, and plenty of other folks don't either. Not insuring, shoeing or having colic surgery is pretty common. Why on earth would you rule out scanning and x rays, though? They are hugely useful non invasive diagnostic techniques.
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Because it wouldn't change the course of action I would take next. I've been around the block enough with vets and would never bother with nerve blocks, scans etc anymore. Their advice is always the same regardless - box rest, in hand walking and remedial shoeing.
 
I cancelled my insurance having paid since the horse was 2 up until he was 16 or 17. I did have one claim regarding a leg injury, and it even paid out for rehave livery which was a pleasant surprise. The horse returned to soundness and his showing career.

When he got to about 12 I cancelled the Loss of Use cover and when the premium jumped a couple of hundred pounds I questioned whether it was worth while and a year later I did not re-insure. He is 19 now. I am fortunate that I could find money to cover treatments, but now he has arthritis, and what happened when he had the leg injury, I doubt very much if I would opt for colic surgery.

Just as an aside, a friend's horse went to the equine hospital with her horse that had colic and she had to pay £1,000 up front, as so many people now do not have horse insurance. Fortunately her horse did not need surgery, but she had a battery of blood tests and stayed in hospital for about 3 or 4 days with excellent care and attention.

A few days later she opened the bill from the hospital with trepidation, to find she had a cheque for £500 refund.
 
PoppyAnderson said:
Because it wouldn't change the course of action I would take next. I've been around the block enough with vets and would never bother with nerve blocks, scans etc anymore. Their advice is always the same regardless - box rest, in hand walking and remedial shoeing.
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My farrier will not do any kind of remedial shoeing without having seen x-rays of the feet.
 
If I had access to the cash needed for vet bills without financial hardship then I wouldn't insure. For one horse though I'd want to have getting on for £10k though - as if you only have a few thousand available you can easily spend it all then have another bill before you have saved it back.

I have a few thousand saved up as will eventually have to stop insuring my pony, but for now don't have the cash available so I do insure and to date I have had more paid out than I have paid them. But that is down to my bad luck with injuries! So I may have "won" with the insurance but at great cost to my sanity.

I had to make a decision based on economics with a much beloved young cat - he was uninsured and accidentally poisoned. We lost him and had a £1.5k bill. He could have gone to a specialist hospital at a cost of over £5k but a) we didn't have the money and b) the odds were not in his favour. If the odds had been better I would have wanted to pay it. The cats are now insured for a massive amount (£12k each!) as it was awful to not have the option.
 
I have one horse insured, and for the other retired horse I pay my vet practice £10 a month, which adds up nicely to keep me in credit should he need veterinary treatment.
 
At the moment, no I have nothing insured of mine (although the one out on loan has basic cover paid by loanee).
Competition horse had a big claim then was widely excluded with high premiums - she is now retired with premium cancelled. Yearling I'm taking a gamble on, premiums were disproportionately high for something in a field. Cheap project giant, again a gamble but he is a horse I'm willing to write off if it came to it.

I'd imagine when the yearling is backed, and providing looking talented, he will be insured
 
I don't have insurance other than rider insurance for my 18 year old lad. Instead I transfer £100 per month into a savings account, plus I have a credit card at the ready should I need it.

He has just had a lameness workup, stay at vets, X-rays, scan and steroid injections into both front feet. Not had vet bill as yet, but I think given he has provided 10+ years good service to me it's the very least I could do.

I suppose I am just winging it and hoping he dose t do anything significant, but if he does I will judge it on the type of injury and possible outcome before I decide if I want to spend vast amounts of money on treatment.
 
I cancelled my horse insurance when she turned 16 and the premiums jumped up alarmingly. I'd had no claims, but the patronising lady from KBIS told me that this hike was because other people had claimed. I suggested they increase the premiums of those that were costing them money, but apparently the pot had to be spread out and as my horse was now old (!) she was more likely to have issues.

In future, if I buy another I would insure for the first year and gauge whether the new horse is a clumsy klutz and what protective gear it needed to survive. To be fair, judging by the scars on my current horse, she was either a clumsy klutz in her youth or was put in dicey situations.
 
I thought I'd insured one of mine, til he got ill. It was bit of a nightmare and thank god coming into Spring so money was less tight (had it been going into winter I'd have been stuffed)
I keep the two ridden ones insured but the others are living out their days as companions/grass ornaments and I'd not put them through anything much so no they are not.
 
i stopped insuring my old horse as there were so manyexclusions but she never went without as i have credit cards which i used...i always kept in mind her quality of life when deciding on treatment and she was never denied any treatment die to lack of funds...
 
PoppyAnderson said:
Because it wouldn't change the course of action I would take next. I've been around the block enough with vets and would never bother with nerve blocks, scans etc anymore. Their advice is always the same regardless - box rest, in hand walking and remedial shoeing.
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:D

This. So many lameness issues are dealt with through rest and restriction. Mine is 17 now and until last year was insured. But had so many exclusions it wasn't worth it and I don't think I'd put him through surgery now.
 
I managed 10+ years without a claim, bought my dream youngster and shortly after wracked up several thousand in vets fees thanks to an acute tear to her DDFT. Insurance gave me the freedom to do everything medically possible to improve her chances of recovery without the added stress of running up credit card debts.

For this reason, I would always insure my horses.
 
PoppyAnderson said:
Because it wouldn't change the course of action I would take next. I've been around the block enough with vets and would never bother with nerve blocks, scans etc anymore. Their advice is always the same regardless - box rest, in hand walking and remedial shoeing.
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It wouldn't be for hock arthritis, for instance. Or it was, then best change your vets!

I'd always rather know what the diagnosis is, if possible.

ETA I have BHS Gold membership for the 3rd party cover.
 
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Too many exclusions. So have 3rd Party via BHS, a credit card and savings. Oh, and a MiHorse Club membership at £9.99 per month which gives me a 10% discount on prescribed drugs, 20% of vet fees (except call out), free vaccinations and free worm counts and a few other bits and pieces. She is 16 and full of melanoma and an ex broodmare. The monthly fees were enormous without tack and 3rd party.

When my ship comes in and we get another younger horse, it will be insured.
 
I've insured my horse for 12 years & only claimed a few times for only couple hundred over my excess. I now insure with high excess which covers me a bit if something big happens. It isn't massive premium. She's on box rest for sdft injury so may well get some value out of it. I do have savings but am quite risk adverse & rather pay the premium. She's got few exclusions but not bad cover for 18 year old.
 
Tiddlypom said:
It wouldn't be for hock arthritis, for instance. Or it was, then best change your vets!

I'd always rather know what the diagnosis is, if possible.
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yes, me too. With all of Millie's various injuries we have scanned at multiple points during the rest/rehab/recovery too, which I was glad of because in her dotage she doesn't heal as quickly as you'd expect. We had a leg that looks OK on the outside, and a horse that was sound and ready to start work... but on the scan you could see that the lesion hadn't repaired anywhere near enough to come out of rest yet.
 
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