E&L Insurance: anyone use with success?

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H.K.D

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Hi I am looking to change insurance for my 11 year old polo pony and 20 year old polo pony. I am currently with NFU for the 11 yr old and am not satisfied as they won't cover loss of use for polo at that age and won't even insure my old mare.

So a 'friend' recommended E&L and I have always heard awful things but she says she has claimed with no problems.

I will probably risk it with my old mare at £12 a month its better than no insurance. But what about the other mare?

She is on loan so the new loaner will be paying and I want her insured for everything for the value of £4000!!

Advice please
 
I never had any problems, They paid out for £600 knee claim, £1750 Laminitis claim, £2000 death of horse and £475 for a respiratory issue.
They also paid out for a trailer claim for £375.

I must admit they weren't the quickest in paying out but i didn't have any issues and would use them again.

There are people on here with horror stories but to be honest there are people with horror stories with every insurance company...there are always posts on here moaning about NFU and Petplan and apart from people responding to someone asking about E&L you hardly ever see posts with people whining about E&L!!!

Must admit some vets don't like them because they are slow at paying.
 
Oh No! Don't touch them. You may as well throw your money in the bin. Seriously! I have just insured my oldie with petplan. I have used AIMS before and had plenty of claims without a quibble. But they won't insure my old girl for the amount that I want for vets fees so I changed to Petplan. I was once with E & L and had loads of trouble.They never even sent the claims form out until I had rung up 4 times and then tried to get out of paying because I was late claiming. Well it was because I couldn't get a claims form! They did this on all 3 claims I made. I only ever got paid for the final claim after 8 months of chasing them and threatening them with Watchdog. Please don't give your money to these crooks.
 
I had difficulty claiming for some vets fees over a year ago, ended in not getting them and leg excluded from insurance. But we had no problem with them in sept claiming for death/disposal. Took them about 2 and a half months to pay out.
 
Loads of posts on here with horror stories but i used E&L insurance for my first neddy and never had any problems with them. Very quick to pay out on a claim and easy to handle. With NFU for Dee though
 
Heard not such good things about E&L so I always insured with NFU and they paid so fast when I made a claim. I then found as the pony got older it the costs went sky high! I now just have BHS gold more for 3 rd party and if I ever get a vets bill for the pony I will just pay up front out of my own pocket in future.

Hard to get older ponies insured, more than a car insurance for me

Good luck
 
Wagtail said:
Oh No! Don't touch them. You may as well throw your money in the bin. Seriously! I have just insured my oldie with petplan. I have used AIMS before and had plenty of claims without a quibble. But they won't insure my old girl for the amount that I want for vets fees so I changed to Petplan. I was once with E & L and had loads of trouble.They never even sent the claims form out until I had rung up 4 times and then tried to get out of paying because I was late claiming. Well it was because I couldn't get a claims form! They did this on all 3 claims I made. I only ever got paid for the final claim after 8 months of chasing them and threatening them with Watchdog. Please don't give your money to these crooks.
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H.K.D said:
Thanks for the replies.

How slow is slow? NFU took 10 weeks to pay us last year. x
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Well They payed me within 2 weeks of recieving and dealing with the claim.So dont know what happened your end.
 
The main thing to be aware of with E&L is that while their monthly premiums may look slightly cheaper than their competitors, the small print states that the premium is for a LUNAR month, i.e. four weeks, so you make 13 payments a year instead of 12. On that basis, they're actually more expensive than quite a lot of the other companies.
 
Had no problems with them, paid out for pony that needed surgery on her leg after injury, then paid out for other pony with laminitis.
 
Right I have taken the policy out on lunar monthly as it is only £12.11 for my old mare and will look around for the other mare.

Many thanks.

I guess her being insured with E&L might be worth the risk in comparison to not being insured at all. x
 
im with nfu and have been for four years. I have just claimed over 3 grand and they have paid up so far. I had my old pony insured with e&l and we claimed for a simple operation that cost £650, all straight forward etc. Would they pay!! took over six months, lots of phonecalls and letters = stress! they tried every angle they could to get out of it.
But then again, i have heard friends say how quick they paid out etc. my vets wont let you claim and pay them directly from the insurance if you are with e&l. they prefer you to pay it and then claim if with e&l due to the waiting issues and problems.
 
I have had two payouts for one of my horses and they were veerrry slow and one of these claims were for colic. They have now excluded colic which is madness in a 6yr old ....what happens if he gets a bad tum at 12 yrs..
I'm not concerned about the time it took as I paid the vet I just think I need to know they WILL pay. The same horse has intermittent lameness (joy) and I confess to being very worried IF they will pay up.
They should be looking at whole picture, I have three horses and if I was a serial claimer surely would have claimed there too! ....the other two have not had one claim!
 
Have you looked on any review websites. I've heard bad things so have avoided them, but it seems each case is different. I use Scottish Equestrian Insurance. SEIC (I'm not in Scotland) via Julie Andrews Insurance brokers. They are fab. paid up no question when my youngster had problems and ended up at Liphook Equine Hospital. And they paid them directly....I wouldn't change even if found slightly cheaper.
 
My friend tried to claim through E&L when her tack was stolen. THey wouldn't pay out because the shed it was kept in was made out of steel. They only cover tack if it's kept in a wooded or brick building!!:confused: Because wood is much stronger than steel I presume.:rolleyes:
 
Lots of vets around our way won't deal with E&L - you have to pay and claim yourself, which can be a pain. Might as well not insure as pay money that is a pain to get out of them, especially with exclusions etc.
 
Hey guys, the one thing you need to be aware of if you are insured with E&L is vets will NOT do a direct claim with them, so if your horse is unfortunate enough to require colic surgery and gut removed then you are likely to be looking at more than £5k for the surgery and a weeks after care more if your horse is toxic. Would you be able to find that money?

We had a case in where the horse had a gastric impaction, the owner ended up with a £10k + bill and no horse at the end, she had to pay us and claim off E&L herself to then find they wouldnt pay out because 3yrs previously the horse had had a mild bout of colic having been given oxytocin for a retained placenta post foaling, which is a common side affect of oxytocin in horses.
If you insure with them then BEWARE.
 
Wagtail said:
Oh No! Don't touch them. You may as well throw your money in the bin. Seriously! I have just insured my oldie with petplan. I have used AIMS before and had plenty of claims without a quibble. But they won't insure my old girl for the amount that I want for vets fees so I changed to Petplan. I was once with E & L and had loads of trouble.They never even sent the claims form out until I had rung up 4 times and then tried to get out of paying because I was late claiming. Well it was because I couldn't get a claims form! They did this on all 3 claims I made. I only ever got paid for the final claim after 8 months of chasing them and threatening them with Watchdog. Please don't give your money to these crooks.
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set fire to your money? I think you are being rather overdramatic sweetie. I've been with E&L since 2005, had a couplle small claims and a 5k claim, all paid swiftly.
 
This is probably a stupid question, but my horse died unexpectedly in the field 3 years ago. Obviously I had to arrange disposal etc and I was so shocked and upset I never thought about claiming on insurance. Could I have? He was 22 and on a veteran policy with E & L. Even more silly question - if I was entitled to claim is it too late now?
 
I had a very bad experience with them some time ago. Refused to pay out on a horse for nervicular - claimed it was pre-existing. ??? horse was insured with them (by that time) for 5 years. Vet got involved but nothing. So on that basis, not with the proverbial bargepole at any touch...
 
My horse had impactation colic in Feb 2009, and they paid out instantly no problems what so ever. Op, aftercare the lot! Just keep all your paper work handy - I've certainly not had a problem with them.
 
I used to be an equine veterinary nurse, and E&L were one of the companies that we wouldn't deal directly with as they were so bad at settling claims and alot of our clients had problems with them! I have my mare insured with pet plan as their premiums are quite reasonable and if you have your horse insured with them by the time it is 18 (I think??) then they will carry on with your normal policy until the horse is 25 before converting it to a veteran policy, whereas most other companies transfer you to a veteran policy when the horse is 20! Good luck sorting it out, insurance can be a mine field!!
 
They may pay out........... Eventually took me a year of fighting!
And looking At the review sites their pet insurance does not fair better. An equine vet only last month warned me about them.
 
hudsonw said:
I never had any problems, They paid out for £600 knee claim, £1750 Laminitis claim, £2000 death of horse and £475 for a respiratory issue.
They also paid out for a trailer claim for £375.

I must admit they weren't the quickest in paying out but i didn't have any issues and would use them again.

There are people on here with horror stories but to be honest there are people with horror stories with every insurance company...there are always posts on here moaning about NFU and Petplan and apart from people responding to someone asking about E&L you hardly ever see posts with people whining about E&L!!!

Must admit some vets don't like them because they are slow at paying.
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RunToEarth said:
set fire to your money? I think you are being rather overdramatic sweetie. I've been with E&L since 2005, had a couplle small claims and a 5k claim, all paid swiftly.
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Ive had a claim with E&L and they payed out WITHIN 2 WEEKS OF CLAIMING ,this was IN 2010. I dont have a problem with them,theyre very friendly and helpful. They did their best to get me a better price for my renewal. Im quite happy with them.
 
I personally won't recommend E&L, I made a small claim £500 last year which was dealt with quickly and paid out but then when my horse when to horse hospital I had to settle the £5000 bill and claim it back from E&L over two months later I got the money! Then sadly when my horse was put to sleep in March this year, they argued over permanent lose of use and made a ridiculous offer which I ended up fighting and eventually months later they settle!

I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole :(
 
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