Finding insurance with a high excess and lower premiums

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Widgeon

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Does anyone have suggestions for some at least semi-reputable insurers who will allow you to raise the excess in order to push the premiums down? I don't mind paying a higher excess - I'm only looking for insurance for peace of mind in case of very expensive accidents or illness. Any thoughts? Current quotes have been between £650 and £900 for a healthy 9 year old native gelding with no existing problems. Alternative option is the KBIS catastrophe cover at £300 p.a., plus a savings account.

Any suggestions welcomed - thanks.
 
when you've been getting quotes have you been asking if they will put the excess higher?
Mine is higher this year than in the past, I asked for it (and now I'm regretting that :p)
 
E&L have a higher excess than most (17.5% of claim value if I remember rightly). I know a lot won’t trust them, but I have to say that I’ve had a good experience over a couple of high value claims and still insure my current 2 with them. Not the fastest at paying out, but it was all settled ok.
 
milliepops said:
when you've been getting quotes have you been asking if they will put the excess higher?
Mine is higher this year than in the past, I asked for it (and now I'm regretting that :p)
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Thank you, this is a good point - no I haven't asked because I just assumed they'd say no. I will ring round a few of them and see what they say.
 
Melody Grey said:
E&L have a higher excess than most...I know a lot won’t trust them, but I have to say that I’ve had a good experience over a couple of high value claims and still insure my current 2 with them.
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Thanks - yes I have been chewing over E&L as an option. I am always pretty well on top of paperwork and small print (which seem to be the things they will try to weasel out on) and the speed of payout isn't a major problem for us - we do have the cash but obviously would rather be able to claim it back from insurers! Someone said that they don't cover injuries caused by other horses - have you found that to be true? I need to read the T&Cs through properly.
 
I use the insurance emporium which is the same underwriters as E&L. Costs me about £22 for 5k of vets fees and a £135 excess. People go on and on about E&L not paying out but they have paid out to everyone I know, including one where even I thought they were taking the mickey trying to claim. Just make sure you read the terms and conditions and know what is and isnt covered so theres no nasty surprises and then make sure you get permission before starting any investigations and it should be fine.
 
I used to be with Shearwater until horse got too old and expensive to insure. They were always very helpful by changing the excess if I felt the cost was too high. I think they are brokers so will find you the best deal. I also added or took off things as needed (tack insurance, loss of use, etc.)
 
Just on E&L my vets won't allow them to pay the bills direct, owners have to pay the vets and then keep the money from the insurers.
I would struggle to cover a big bill all at once, so I stay with an insurer that the vets will deal with direct.
May not be an issue for other people but I don't think my vets are unusual so thought I'd mention it.
 
I haven’t tried to claim for an injury inflicted by another horse and wasn’t aware that could be a problem- so thanks for the heads Up there. My claims have been related to lameness work up/ KS surgery and rehab/ ulcers etc.

My vet practice are happy to deal with them so I haven’t had to pay out myself and then await payment, but can definitely see why that would put some off!
 
I’m with petplan and my excess is £500. I have no idea why it’s so high! I pay £32 per month. Albeit going up to £43 per month now after a claim.
 
holeymoley said:
I’m with petplan and my excess is £500. I have no idea why it’s so high! I pay £32 per month. Albeit going up to £43 per month now after a claim.
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They give you the choice of a £145 excess or a £500. The lower excess has higher premiums although I pay between £35 and £45 per month for my ponies and I have the lower excess.
 
milliepops said:
when you've been getting quotes have you been asking if they will put the excess higher?
Mine is higher this year than in the past, I asked for it (and now I'm regretting that :p)
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I set mine for 500 for two horses a few years ago. I then had 5 claims all over £500 some not buy much others by lots. And think was £700 premium across both horses for that year. Was expensive year!!! (Think was underrun abscess that took 3 months to burst vet thought was fractured pedal bone, sarcoids, hocks issue, teeth issue, kick on joint vet thought might be a fracture)
 
Thank you all for your help - I have done some ringing around (based on what you've all said) and at least I can make a much better informed decision now.

It does look like I might go for E&L....the other companies I rang ranged from between £450 and £700 p.a., and the lower end quotes were for limited vet fees of up to about £3K. E&L are coming out at £350 per year for what looks like reasonable cover. Ho hum. At least if I go for the E&L option I can "self insure" at the same time.

The main exclusions I can find on E&L are "Any claim caused by barbed wire, stock fencing and plain wire fencing" and [basically anything]"contributed to by Influenza or any derivation or variant thereof." I can't actually find anything about injury caused by other horses so hopefully that one was a red herring.

I am off to check every inch of the yard fencing at the weekend!
 
An update, just in case anyone ever stumbles across this thread; this is a bit of an approximation but I thought I'd post the outcome of my musings.

I ended up with 3 options:

E&L (up to £7.5K vet fees, 17.5% excess): about £325 for an annual (i.e. one year) policy
PetPlan (£3.5K vet fees; £500 excess): about £425 for the year
KBIS: Catastrophe cover £300 plus £100 for death = about £400 for the year

This is for a 9 year old native type with no prior conditions and an insured value of about £3-4K.

I then rang Scottish Equestrian (same underwriters as PetPlan) who quoted me for everything between £3K to £4K vet fees (increments of £500) with both a £150 or a £500 excess for all options. I made a little table of the results (don't laugh).

£4K of vet fees with a £500 excess was coming out at £425, then they said the first month would be free, so that's £390.

That's better than any other quotes I've had, plus it's from an insurer with a pretty good reputation, so I'm going with that.

Thank you all for your thoughts, you've been very helpful.
 
Flyermc said:
just a thought, but if your looking to reduce your monthly payments, could you reduce the value of your horse?
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When I tried to do that with NFU, it hardly changed the premium. They sent me a breakdown of the various aspects and the value affects the death or theft part of the policy which is not that high a proportion of the total policy. It's the vets fees that are the biggest expense and they're the same whether its a £500 horse or a £50,000 horse.
 
Flyermc said:
just a thought, but if your looking to reduce your monthly payments, could you reduce the value of your horse?
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I did try, but as I've only just bought him, there is a limit to how much you can underinsure. Most insurers specify that you must insure for at least 75% of value, which in the first year of ownership is usually purchase price (no way round that, I did ask!)
 
criso said:
When I tried to do that with NFU, it hardly changed the premium. They sent me a breakdown of the various aspects and the value affects the death or theft part of the policy which is not that high a proportion of the total policy. It's the vets fees that are the biggest expense and they're the same whether its a £500 horse or a £50,000 horse.
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this was my experience too.
I have a pretty worthless horse insured with the lowest possible value and her premiums barely changed from before.
 
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