Has Anyone Cancelled Their Equine Insurance This Year?

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DougalJ

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Just reading an earlier post about rising insurance premiums and was wondering if anybody out there has cancelled their equine insurance this year. I cancelled mine in Feb this year after being with Pet Plan for 7 years and never made a claim until autumn last year. Without boring you all with the story of the claim, they made every excuse possible and made the whole process very lengthy and time consuming. I eventually received about a fifth of the claim, less excess 6 months later. I had to come up with the money up front and then claim. The point of the insurance at the time of taking it out was to help me financially if I had a huge bill, less the excess. You now have to find the money to pay up front and then claim hoping they agree and get your money back. This makes the insurance to me pointless. I have now joined BHS with the Gold membership which includes PL insurance and now pay £50 a month into a savings account. I do have access to some emergency money if needed. With rising premiums in tough times, I wonder how many do not insure now...
 
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Cancelled ours last year - just couldn't afford it! I'll just get the old card out if vet is needed - hasn't been in 4yrs so fingers crossed!!! Have PL through pc though
 
I am with Kbis and they are brilliant when you have to claim, perhaps change companies :)
Although my insurance has gone up :( and I now have an exclusion.
 
I'm thinking about it. Have PL through RC membership & when young horse had lots of injuries etc so nearly everything is now excluded. My insurance company were good though & there was no problem about them paying out but legs, respiration, digestive, abscess, allergy problems are no longer covered.
 
I have not renewed insurance for both of mine in the last six weeks, after 25 years of horse ownership, always with insurance. The premiums requested by SEIB were 20-30% up, based on 'an increase in vets' fees.' I was insured for theft, death and 3rd party damages only and had made no claims in the last 6 years. After a long phone call the nice lady from SEIB could not explain why it was fair to charge me such an increase. So I have joined the BHS as a gold member to get the 3rd party, and I'll 'self-insure' the other risks (as I have being doing for vets' fees anyway.' I think the insurance industry is well on the way to becoming a major rip-off.
 
blackislegirl said:
I have not renewed insurance for both of mine in the last six weeks, after 25 years of horse ownership, always with insurance. The premiums requested by SEIB were 20-30% up, based on 'an increase in vets' fees.' I was insured for theft, death and 3rd party damages only and had made no claims in the last 6 years. After a long phone call the nice lady from SEIB could not explain why it was fair to charge me such an increase. So I have joined the BHS as a gold member to get the 3rd party, and I'll 'self-insure' the other risks (as I have being doing for vets' fees anyway.' I think the insurance industry is well on the way to becoming a major rip-off.
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I'm so with you on this - I've had a small vets bill with my horse since cancelling the insurance and the money was in my account to pay it. This is because I have been putting what a premium would be a month away into this account. Before I would of paid the bill anyway because it was less than my excess and still have to pay the ever rising monthly premiums....
 
I wouldn't ever be without. Have claimed back way more in 5yrs than I've payed out in premiums. Have been with petplan all that time, claimed 4 times and never had an issue.
 
I'm considering it (renewal due in October). I went with Pet Plan's high-excess policy last year so would have to pay the first £500 anyway and then it's only £3000 vet's fees after that. One pony (aged 10) has exclusions for colic and laminitis, and now the vet has noted she has melanomas (after I asked him to confirm that's what she has) I expect they will exclude that too. The other pony (15yo) has an exclusion for sweet-itch and although I never claimed they probabably won't pay up for choke or laminitis as she has had treatment for those in the past. I won't put either of them through something like colic surgery and if they broke a leg it would be a bullet job anyway. I am also a Gold member of the BHS so tbh I don't know what I am paying for!!

Eta. Neither of them are insured for more than £1000 each so not exactly "high value" either!!
 
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Rosiefell said:
I'm considering it (renewal due in October). I went with Pet Plan's high-excess policy last year so would have to pay the first £500 anyway and then it's only £3000 vet's fees after that. One pony (aged 10) has exclusions for colic and laminitis, and now the vet has noted she has melanomas (after I asked him to confirm that's what she has) I expect they will exclude that too. The other pony (15yo) has an exclusion for sweet-itch and although I never claimed they probabably won't pay up for choke or laminitis as she has had treatment for those in the past. I won't put either of them through something like colic surgery and if they broke a leg it would be a bullet job anyway. I am also a Gold member of the BHS so tbh I don't know what I am paying for!!

Eta. Neither of them are insured for more than £1000 each so not exactly "high value" either!!
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Exactly! I had no worries about my insurance and thought Pet Plan were the best to be with until I had to claim. I wouldn't put a price on my horse either but you do have to think whether these insurances are worth it? I now have MY money in the bank to pay for vets bills etc and remember you have to find the money first and then claim. How many of you out there would struggle to find money for a large bill, and still pay your monthly premium and then only possibly get your money back many, many months later?? Say for example you horse gets COPD ( like a friends horse) which is a life long condition, insurance only pays out for 12 months only. You will have to fund that for the rest of the years on top of paying your friendly insurance company.
 
Don't get me wrong, when I claimed for the colic it was settled very quickly and they paid the vet directly but because it was over £1000 (just!) it has been excluded. No surgery was involved, just copious amounts of IV fluids!
I do care about my ponies but I am not a believer in treating something just because you can. Past experiences with my own and friends' horses have shown me that extensive veterinary treatment is not neccessarily in the animal's best interest. It doesn't mean I wouldn't get them treated, just I would think twice about how far to go.
 
Petplan get a thumbs up from me. Easy to claim and quick to pay out. Saved me a fortune last year. (And for daughters dog
That said, I do agree about the point that they only pay for bills in the first year of diagnosis and then happily exclude the expensive parts of the animal from further cover.
If I had saved the money every month instead, it would have more than covered my claims. Thats why I don't insure all the horses. BHS membership covers the public liability on those.
 
The thing is if you start saving every month god forbid something happens and you've only saved for 2 months or similar your a bit stuck.

Our insurance saved us last year when our horse died paid all the vet fees and the £5000 which my horse was insured for. That allowed us to buy a new horse with decent tack and rugs.
 
we cancelled ours. I have rider insurance which covers the horse for upto 2500 vets fees anyway so if necessary i could claim that but we have access to emergency cash and also our vets allow a payment plan. premium doubled in june and no claims had been made. So also have BHS for PL
 
alfiesmum said:
when did petplan change their policies to make you pay up front and then claim back from them? i was not aware of this?
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I think a lot of vets state they want paying then it's up to you to to claim the money back from the insurance company. I know my practice will quite often authorise a direct payment though, particularly if it's a reputable company.
 
I cancelled mine. Was with NFU, the premiums increased by over £200!

So bought BHS gold membership for liability insurance and have savings to cover, god forbid, should anything happen.

The way I look at it, anything small (ish) and I wouldn't claim anyway, and anything big would then become void on insurane the year after anyway!! So don't bother now, simples :)
 
I put £50 per horse in a savings account every month against vets fees. I also have a small bond of £3,000 which is my 'security' blanket. (I have diligently saved that over the years).

I suspected that most things I would want insured would be excluded.

I also have BHS membership as 3rd Party Insurance is essential for a good nights sleep!!
 
alfiesmum said:
when did petplan change their policies to make you pay up front and then claim back from them? i was not aware of this?
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im interested as well as this year i had a policy on a monthly DD for 5 months then the horse died and they paid out with a quibble and without me having to pay the full policy. shearwater on the other hand - if you want to make a claim you have to pay the policy in full before they will pay out.

i cannot recommend PP enough.
 
canteron said:
I put £50 per horse in a savings account every month against vets fees. I also have a small bond of £3,000 which is my 'security' blanket. (I have diligently saved that over the years).

I suspected that most things I would want insured would be excluded.

I also have BHS membership as 3rd Party Insurance is essential for a good nights sleep!!
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I do exactly what you do Canteron - nearly all vets now for equine, cats and dogs ask you to settle the bill first and its up to you to claim. There is a large notice in my local vets which treat my cats that they do not deal with the claims for insurance anymore and bills must be settled straight away. So you have to have find the money anyway to settle the bill. and then sort the claim yourself. With premiums rising I'd rather put MY money away and not give it to these insurance companies and yes I do have an emergency stash to dip into as well.
 
Rosiefell said:
I think a lot of vets state they want paying then it's up to you to to claim the money back from the insurance company. I know my practice will quite often authorise a direct payment though, particularly if it's a reputable company.
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my practice dont - they ask who your insurers are and then if you do have to make a claim, i pay the xs £135 for higher vets fees cover, and they vets and PP liaise with each other. simples.
 
We have cancelled ours for both horses. Like a poster above mentioned, we have to pay bills upfront at the vets we use (and they are the best in the area by far so def not changing!), so need the money available regardless, which kind of does away with the main reason for having it! We have acess to some savings/credit cards so bills can be paid, and am getting BHS gold for the liability bit. Just couldn't justify paying over £1200 for two healthy mares, without loss of use. Bit scared that they'll suddenly need mega £ vet care, but hoping that won't be the case!

The insurance was just becoming far too expensive, and although we found the insurer good to deal with (NFU), it was still too much. We did consider trying a cheaper quote, but with the multitude of bad reports of lots of other insurance companies on here it didn't seem worth saving a couple of hundred pounds and risking that they wouldn't pay out anyway!
 
Yup, no vets insurance. Got a savings plan instead and third party liability for my horses and me/anyone else riding/handling them with my permission by having gold membership of the BHS.
 
Don't get me wrong I did have a few wobbles about cancelling the insurance and felt jinxed that something awful would happen to my boy once it had been cancelled. That's 6 months ago now and I now have money in the bank to pay out if needed. I would have to use this money anyway on top of a premium if I was insured.
 
It's something I've considered but not sure if I would do it as knowing my luck I'd cancel it, start saving the money and then after a month pony would fall ill. That said, I do have access to saving/other payment methods that would mean that up to about £7k I could cover costs.

I'm currently with NFU - my premium has not gone up in previous years and has actually dropped year on year with my bonus. I have however heard that most peoples premiums have gone up this year and when my renewal comes through in October I doubt I'll stay with NFU if the premiums have gone up.

Looking at other insurers though KBIS and SEIB all quoted higher that I pay now with only Pet Plan and E&L quoting lower - I wouldn't touch E&L but will probably go with Pet Plan.
 
ldlp111 said:
I am with Kbis and they are brilliant when you have to claim, perhaps change companies :)
Although my insurance has gone up :( and I now have an exclusion.
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Same here - I renewed with KBIS in March with very little increase in the monthly cost, just a few pounds. I claimed in Feb 2010 for a cortisone injection to the hock which were then covered for 12 months if repeat treatments required which was the case as he got another injection in Feb 2011 - so this is now excluded as the 12 months have expired - not sure how its going to affect my premiums but KBIS paid out without any issues and quickly so are a very reliable company.

I'm not afraid to cancel my policy and go with the savings account and plastic option though it they decide to raise my premiums excessively. Would always have 3rd party insurance though - too risky and I dont have a couple of million should someone sue me
 
I stopped insuring a few years ago when Kbis wanted to exclude my new, young, healthy horse's 2 legs and entire wind on the basis of some throwaway comments on the 5 stage vetting I had done (which she passed with flying colours). One of the comments was that she was slightly tight on turning a circle on one leg, possibly due to an ill fitting shoe, but that it was of little significance, and slightly loud breathing on exertion. I tried to discuss it with them, they asked me to get another vetting to state that it wasn't a problem. I just couldn't justify spending so much money to give them business, with so much of the horse likely to still be excluded anyway. When I sold her, 4 years later, still perfectly sound, her new owners didn't get her vetted and now have her fully insured with no exclusions...

So thats 5 years of no insurance, and 2 vets visits for a mild colic and a deep cut which had to be treated with penicillin, in both cases costing less than £100 in vet's fees, which I wouldn't have claimed anyway. That saved £3000 or so in insurance would pay for an awful lot of treatment, which I would self fund if necessary.

To be honest, I never have horses that are that valuable anyway, or if I did, they would almost be too expensive to insure. I have 3rd party liability through BS, so it would only be for vet's fees, and I'm suspicious that vets are sometimes a bit too keen to embark on complex treatment in veterinary hospitals when they know the horse is insured.
 
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