Grrrrrr bl**dy insurers

[RoobyDoobs]

So, when i bought my horse last year, I couldnt afford the vet fees cover so went with everything but.

Today, I called my insurer and asked for a quote to upgrade my insurance. I was told

quote

We can quote you, however to upgrade your insurance you will have to have a 2 stage vetting. Your alternative is to cancel your policy, and re-start with the cover you want. Then you dont have to have the 2 stage vetting provided your value is under 3k.

unquote

My horse has no ailments, is healthy, and I am not prepared to go and spend £200 for a 2 stage vetting and told them that. I also said that if I have to get new quotes and cancel / re-start my policy to get vet fees cover, I will also get quotes from other insurers and make sure I am getting the best deal for my money.

Their response..... ok!!! Shocking!

Off to get some quotes.... who would you recommend???

 

[Gluttonforpunishment]

How odd - think I'd be tempted to ring back and ask for a senior team member and discuss it with them.

Totally ridiculous way to do business.

I have previously been insured with NFU but due to huge premium increase this year I've decided to self insure.

 

[Goldenstar]

look ar it from their side you have the horse a year then what to insure it for vets fees.
I am sure your honest but been a bit unlevel front ? Hocks feel a bit stiff when he comes out too easy to insure for vets fees wait a while and then call out the vet so i am not surprised they asked for a current vets cert.

 

[Gluttonforpunishment]

look ar it from their side you have the horse a year then what to insure it for vets fees.
I am sure your honest but been a bit unlevel front ? Hocks feel a bit stiff when he comes out too easy to insure for vets fees wait a while and then call out the vet so i am not surprised they asked for a current vets cert.

See your point but they are happy to cancel and then take straight back on without needing a 2 stage vetting. If they still required the 2 stage vetting then that would make sense but totally idiotic to say they won't do a mid term adjustment without the vetting but are happy to take on a new contract for her and not require one.

 

[tedster]

See your point but they are happy to cancel and then take straight back on without needing a 2 stage vetting. If they still required the 2 stage vetting then that would make sense but totally idiotic to say they won't do a mid term adjustment without the vetting but are happy to take on a new contract for her and not require one.

Its because for the first 14 days cover on a new policy you cant claim for illness i think

 

[Gluttonforpunishment]

Its because for the first 14 days cover on a new policy you cant claim for illness i think

Good point - had forgotten that

 

[Goldenstar]

aggree that's not logical but with vet bills spiralling upwards I think vets bill insurance will get more difficult to get and more expensive.
I self insure always have the one time I thought I would insure I approached the NFU who insure everything for us. my OH when I was basking in the sunshine of his approval bought me a beauiful horse she was lovely years later and I still dream at night of riding her I could not afford to insure for her value but thought if I insured her for 5000 at least I could start again with a young one if there wasa disaster they would not insure her she had a vetting commensurate with her high value it took almost a day for the vetting at that stage I thought that confirmed everything I thought about insuring and returned to carrying the risk myself.

 

[RoobyDoobs]

I am sure your honest but been a bit unlevel front ? Hocks feel a bit stiff when he comes out too easy to insure for vets fees wait a while and then call out the vet so i am not surprised they asked for a current vets cert.

Hi Goldenstar. I'm a little confused about your comment. If I cancel the insurance, then re-take with vets fees covered, there is a two week exclusion anyway. They could let me upgrade my insurance (and why shouldnt I - surely that is my right as a customer?) and put a two week vets fees exclusion from the upgrade date instead of risking losing my business altogether! If they thought I was being dishonest, which I am not by the way - I simply couldnt afford it last summer when I bought my ned - they they could cover themselves in that way.

 

[Goldenstar]

If I was an insurance company I would insure no horse without an up to date vet cert.

 

[ladyt25]

Is this Petplan? They did this to me actually after my horse had been insured with them for about 14 years with no claims. Having worked in equine insurance I decided when he was 18 I would reduce his value but include vets fees. They asked for a 2 stage, fair enough, I got it doen when vet came to do vaccs. Now being that a 2 stage is a BASIC health check on that day it is not going to be an in depth vetting. My vet is pretty good and does very good detailed vet certs but there was nothing 'wrong' or that he could find to mention about my horse. So I duly sent off my cert only to then be told that it wasn't satisfactory (as there was nothing they could exclude basically!) so they took itupon themselves to contact - my vet and as for a fukl veterinary history (I'd had the horse since he was 4). ALL they then could come up with to exclude was nail bind!!

I was fuming and quite honestly I should have kicked up more of a stink when I think about it. They should have made their bloody minds up. In reality a vet history would have been more appropriate in his case anyway seeing they'd insured him for 14 years bu no, instead I wasted over £100 for a 2 stage vetting that they then didn't deem enough!! I'm still mad at myself for not giving them more of a b*llocking, I would NEVER have asked for that as an underwriter - if you as for a 2 stage you have to accept what it says! Showed total incompetence to me to be honest.

Personally i would change insurer or cancel and set up a new policy. if your horse is below the criteria for a vet cert to apply then you wouldn't be asked for one. At the end of the day, if you make a claim the insurers would ask for veterinary history fron your vet anyway so the vet cert means nothing.

 

[RoobyDoobs]

Is this Petplan? They did this to me actually after my horse had been insured with them for about 14 years with no claims. Having worked in equine insurance I decided when he was 18 I would reduce his value but include vets fees. They asked for a 2 stage, fair enough, I got it doen when vet came to do vaccs. Now being that a 2 stage is a BASIC health check on that day it is not going to be an in depth vetting. My vet is pretty good and does very good detailed vet certs but there was nothing 'wrong' or that he could find to mention about my horse. So I duly sent off my cert only to then be told that it wasn't satisfactory (as there was nothing they could exclude basically!) so they took itupon themselves to contact - my vet and as for a fukl veterinary history (I'd had the horse since he was 4). ALL they then could come up with to exclude was nail bind!!

I was fuming and quite honestly I should have kicked up more of a stink when I think about it. They should have made their bloody minds up. In reality a vet history would have been more appropriate in his case anyway seeing they'd insured him for 14 years bu no, instead I wasted over £100 for a 2 stage vetting that they then didn't deem enough!! I'm still mad at myself for not giving them more of a b*llocking, I would NEVER have asked for that as an underwriter - if you as for a 2 stage you have to accept what it says! Showed total incompetence to me to be honest.

Personally i would change insurer or cancel and set up a new policy. if your horse is below the criteria for a vet cert to apply then you wouldn't be asked for one. At the end of the day, if you make a claim the insurers would ask for veterinary history fron your vet anyway so the vet cert means nothing.

Yes, it most certainly is. When I have a bit of spare time in the next week or so, I am going to ring round a few for quotes. Can anybody highly recommend their insurer?

 

[Natz88]

I highly recommend KBIS, they have been fantastic. Hope you get it sorted

 

[Darkly_Dreaming_Dex]

Yes, it most certainly is. When I have a bit of spare time in the next week or so, I am going to ring round a few for quotes. Can anybody highly recommend their insurer?

Massive recommendation for AIMS- you wont find them on the net but they do advertise weekly in H&H- they are part of SEIB and have insured my lot for 6 years- always paid out promptly and bargain premiums BOTH of my hunting cobs are fully comp for £25 each per month

 

[Bikerchickone]

That's strange, I'm with Petplan for both of mine since April last year after NFU's price hikes put them out of my budget. I didn't get asked for vet certs for either of them and when I had to call the other day to get a claim form for sending my cob off for an MRI to check for navicular I had no problems at all.

Fair enough they've asked for all history, which is a lot because I've had him 11 years but I can't see there being any problems because I've never claimed on insurance before.

They haven't actually paid out yet, but they did say the whole scan was covered under my policy so I'm hopeful, or should that be stupid?

I think if they'd treated me the way they have you I would look elsewhere though!

 

[RoobyDoobs]

Thanks Natz and DDD, I will give both a bell next week.

BikerChick, I think because you took the vet cover from the start you shd be ok if they say you are covered. I suppose because I didn't, but want to now, they are suspicious. In my opinion, as an existing customer the right thing to do would be to allow me to upgrade, with a two week exclusion to protect themselves. Surely making me cancel and then re-start my policy is more costly for them! A very strange way to do business !

 

[Persephone]

I am pretty certain I am right in saying that Petplan will reduce cover part way through a term but not increase it.

You wait until the end of the phonecall, they have a new underwriter's question where you have to disclose any physical or mental illness you are diagnosed with. They then want a letter from your Dr. to say you are safe to ride/deal with the horse. I kid you not.

 

[RoobyDoobs]

I highly recommend KBIS, they have been fantastic. Hope you get it sorted

I am pretty certain I am right in saying that Petplan will reduce cover part way through a term but not increase it.

You wait until the end of the phonecall, they have a new underwriter's question where you have to disclose any physical or mental illness you are diagnosed with. They then want a letter from your Dr. to say you are safe to ride/deal with the horse. I kid you not.

I don't disbelieve you but that's so outrageous it made me laugh out loud!

 

[Persephone]

I don't disbelieve you but that's so outrageous it made me laugh out loud!

I know...I kicked off big time at them, said they had insured me for the last 20 + years without a letter from my Dr. they rolled over, apologised in fact, but I was furious

 

[RoobyDoobs]

I know...I kicked off big time at them, said they had insured me for the last 20 + years without a letter from my Dr. they rolled over, apologised in fact, but I was furious

I'm tempted to go down that road now just for the entertainment value!!! Not surprised you kicked off I would have done too. Forewarned is forearmed... Thanks for sharing that little gem

 

[Bikerchickone]

OMG! That's scandalous!!!

In my case I'm not sure why they didn't ask for a vetting certificate to start with, especially since vet fees cover is all I'm insured for with them? Very strange!

Scary what an insurance company will do to try to get out of a claim really!

 

[halt_at_x]

I believe Petplan and KBIS are both under-written by Allianz. In which case I'd look into them a bit further. I am with Scottish Equestrian, who are also under-written by Allianz. I put in a claim a month ago for a large vets bill for my horses broken leg and they are being hopeless. I don't know if it is Scottish Equestrian or Allianz who are at fault but they haven't even looked at my claim yet, the people you speak to on the phone seem unable to give any sort of information about the status of the claim, and one was downright rude. They have added to my stress at what is already a really ****** time.