Have you ever had to claim on insurance for death of your horse?

[charlie76]

Sorry to be morbid!

I am making a claim at the moment for my horse who had to be put down due to having long term lameness. Has anyone else made a claim on similar and if so was it quite straightforward to get the claim sorted.
I have given my vet the form and he has filled it in.
I am just wondering if its going to be difficult to get them to pay as he was lame for 5 years?

Any info gratefully recieved!

 

[Tia]

No sorry I haven't but depending on the company you used I have heard of quick payouts from friends of mine who have had to have their horses PTS.

Best of luck.

 

[Happy Horse]

Did your insurance company give the go ahead for Euthanasia? Generally in a non-emergency situation then they will give authority after consultation with the vet.

 

[Stasha22]

I claimed following the death of my mare a few years ago. She was to put to sleep due to a disease and my insurers were very good and paid quickly without any hassle.

I think it really does depend on the insurers - the service they provide varies greatly, and the actual details of the case.

Good luck with yours.

 

[charlie76]

I'm with Pet Plan.
He was under vet treatment for 5 years but sadly got worse rather than better.

 

[luie123]

Yes, I claimed with E and L and it took a long time!

 

[jacks_mum]

I'm with Petplan too. My horse fell in the field and did nerve damage to his back - he came down on the corner of the water trough - it was a witnessed accident. The vet and I tried any number of things including steroids to help him recover but after 6 months it became clear that this wasn't going to happen. He had another fall because he didn't have full control of his back legs and we made the decision.

Petplan refused to pay out because my vet put the word 'ataxia' on the claim form and they said this was a disease not something caused by an accident. we spent 6 months argueing with them - including my vet - saying this had been the direct result of an accident that had been witnessed. my horse had been fine prior to the accident and the accident had caused the nerve damage/ataxia but they still refused to pay a penny to me.

 

[sillygillyhorse]

A couple of years ago I had to make the decision to have one of mine PTS, it was a Friday night emergency and we did not have time to get insurers permission etc. It was not possible to arrange a Post Mortem and my insurers tried to wiggle out of paying by saying I was in breach of contract. Due to a fantastic letter from my vet (she did this unasked!) I managed to get 75% of the insured value as I had mitigated the insurers losses, if the horse had been sent for surgery he would have died anyway and they would have had to pay for vet treatment and his death.

Did get the cheque pretty quickly though. If your horse was put down with their permission after speaking with your vet I would imagine you should get paid but don't take my word for it.

 

[barkinghorse]

I had Jess put down in August,
I'm with Petplan and they were fab! I had to send them my passport for proof of ownership, and was very gratefull to them for sending it me back...
All the letters they sent were sensitively worded, and I got my payout last week.
I have to say, I was suprised they paid out the full amount she was insured for, i thought it would be like when you get a car written off, and they pay a percentage.
Sorry for your loss
Jo xx

 

[sillygillyhorse]

You may find that the lameness had been excluded from your policy, if so then sorry but would not expect a pay out.

 

[Evadiva1514]

I lost my horse last easter sunday to colic. He was PTS on the operating table as once he was opened up they discovered a lot more problems than anticipated. Obviously with it being a bank holiday i didn't contact Petplan until the following tuesday who were very helpful and understanding. The vets at the hospital where Barnaby was operated took their time a little to get there report through to Petplan but they sorted the claim very quickly and efficiently, and i received the full amount for him a couple of months later.

 

[burtie]

[ QUOTE ]
I am just wondering if its going to be difficult to get them to pay as he was lame for 5 years?


[/ QUOTE ]

I would be very surprised if this condition was not excluded from his insurance at one of his last 5 renewals so I would find it unlikely they would pay out in this case, but hope things work out for you. Sorry about your loss making a decision in the case of a long term lameness is always very tough.

 

[sevenoceans]

Mine was with pet plan, they refused cos my mare was "healthy" she has chronic lameness for 3 years was turning nasty... tried to fight with them for settlement even with vet's report... they won't take it... unfortunately it put me off petplan for good on any animal i own...

Bankers equine was fanastic with me until petplan took over.....

 

[jacks_mum]

i would never recommend them to anyone because of my experience with them. They made a painful time worse than it should have been and i can't forgive them for that.

 

[sevenoceans]

Ditto....

 

[burtie]

I'm guessing he is only insured for meat value anyway as he has been lame for 5 years?

 

[charlie76]

He was insured for £2500, it has cost a lot in premiums to keep that up!

 

[burtie]

You will only get market value for him unfortunately if you get anything which I think is unlikely. If the insurance company had known he was permanently lame they probably should have advised you to reduce his value but I don't think they have any requirement to in Horse Insurance. If they refuse to pay it may be worth trying to get back you premiums you have paid for the last 5 years as long as you have not claimed for anything else as basically you were not insured anyway.

Sorry if that's not want you want to hear. I may be wrong(adn I hope so for your sake) as I not a horse insurance expert but have worked in general and life insurance for over 15 years so know a bit about how things tend to work.

 

[Bri]

We're currently in the process of claiming for my horse who is sadly being put to sleep next week. Our insurance company told us we had a year from the date we first informed them of his lameness, after that we'd only get 60% as Loss Of Use.

Good luck, I know how horrible it is having to worry about Insurance on top of everything else.

 

[Neddies]

My previous horse was insured with Pet Plan and during the last few years of her life I had to make various claim's from lameness to colic and they paid everything with no problems.

When she did have to be put down due to a non healing wound to her leg, Pet Plan were notified prior to the event and they did give me her market value on her death. I hadn't expect to get a penny and to tell the truth i wasn't that bothered at the time as getting money back for her death was the last thing on my mind, but, I did feel this was very good of them and it went towards purchasing another horse.

Make sure you read the policy wording, also have you got any exclusions on your policy? It's a bit of a dodgy area if you horse has been lame 5 years, but I wish you the best of luck. It's hard enough going through having a horse PTS without having the added worry about insurance.

 

[cariadssogreat]

Sorry to put a sour post on here - but both the ponies I had PTS , both were insured with Petplan and both times they refused to pay out!

 

[Stella]

Hi, I'm sorry for your loss. Thankfully, I don't yet have any experience of this. Will you come back and let us know how it goes?

 

[Pidge]

I had Higgins PTS in May last year as he had Grass Sickness. I didn't get my insurers permission first as I made the decision on a Sunday, they were aware of what was going on as we had to take him to Leahurst. After he was PTS I had forms to fill in and send to vets etc, and had to speak to one of the claims assessors because of how much Higgins was worth. The NFU were really good, very sympathetic and they paid out in full.

 

[lisaward]

i had my first horse put down she broke her leg.
it was with E&L and they paid out straight away.

 

[Louby]

Im with NFU and had my previous horse Jess PTS. NFU were wonderful as I was claiming for LOU at the time and went to the stables one morning and she had surgical colic. My vet rang NFU who gave the go ahead for me to either have her PTS or send her for colic surgery. She was a terrible traveller, was lame with ringbone and it was suspected she had been colicking for hours. She didnt respond to any treatment and vet reckonned if she survived surgery she probably wouldnt walk out of the stable following the long box rest due to the extent of her ringbone, so sadly she was PTS.
Sorry to waffle, just dont want you to think we took the easy option which Im sure those of you have had one PTS will realise.
I think if they are PTS on humane grounds then you stand a good chance of the insurance paying but if your horse could live as a companion then I think you may have a struggle, thats where LOU comes in.
Ive heard of companies refusing to pay out but after a letter of the vet they sometimes pay a percentage.
Sorry to hear about your horse.

 

[Maloo]

I too insure with NFU and have sadly had to have 2 horses put to sleep over the years (one with colic - unoperable) and one due to a broken vertibra / damage to spinal cord(schooling accident) both were out of hours decisions on the advice of the Vet. All I can say is that NFU were fab both times -dealt very sympathetically (sp?) with both claims. It was no consolation to the loss, but the settlement for the full amount arrived very swiftly.
I wish you luck with what you have to go through, and I hope that the insurance company does not add to your grief.