Help - do I need to up my insurance value

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kiagirl

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I have my mare insured for £995 as that is what I paid, she had been backed for 8 weeks roughly and was backed and then had a ursprise foal, then sold to a dealer who weaned and rebacked her.

She is 6 now and ive had her for nearly a year, she is 15.3hh still a little green but is such a sweetie, she stands all day, is totally chilled about everything, my nices ages 3 and 5 ride and handle her. I was offered £2k for her at a show recently by a dealer as whenever we go out she is placed first in a class. I have been doing lots of in hand classes and walk and trot tests as her canter is a bit special at the moment, it is getting better but she is a standbred so I am taking time and not rushing her.

So if she was yours, what would you insure her for? All I can think of is £1k price tag and I think I need an objective view

Thanks guys
 
The insurance value doesn't really equate to anything other than whether or not you need to get a vetting. You could call your insurance company and chat to them; but the bandings are really broad and you may well find you don't need to change anything.
 
If anything happened to her she is irreplaceable to me but my RI pointed out I was lucky to get such a gem and that £1k wouldn't buy an equivalent replacement so suggested I looked at upping the value as she is worth more
 
I did this with our mare when she won a lot showing.

Honestly all it did was push my insurance premiums up a lot. Unless you are looking at loss of use as well for a very expensive competition horse its not worth it.

In future for a horse worth less than 3K I would insure it for a low value and keep my premiums down.
 
My gelding is insured for £700. That was what I paid for him as a yearling! He is 5 now, and probably worth a fair bit more, but I can't really see the point in upping the figure, since I don't have LOU on him.....
 
It really depends on what you want to receive if you lost her, ie, what you would want to buy another with. I have both my horses insured for about 2/3 of their value, but would be able to buy a reasonable youngster with the money.. It will make your premiums go up though if you raise the value.
 
When I bought my lad about 5 1/2 years ago I paid £2.5k, he is now insured for £3.5k as I would need the insurance money to buy another horse and my days of youngsters and projects are over - if I buy another horse I want something that has the basics established (w/t/c/basic jumping and lateral work) and that will cost.
 
Thanks everyone, not sure I would want another projectif Nything happened to Star, OH is family planning lol. If I change her value to £2.5k, its an extra £3 a month which is affordable :), now the question is, is that her true value?
 
Hi Kiagirl,

I was in a similar position a few months back. The horse I bought for £1500 a year ago is a totally different horse than the one I have now.

I thought the same as you and spoke to my insurance company who advised I could only raise the value by £500 without getting documentation etc as to why the value has risen. Obviously the premium would rise too.

Anyway, after looking at websites to see what I could get for the same money now I found that as horse values have dropped I could actually get something pretty decent for what I paid 15 months ago, and as a result decided not to bother. I may reconsider if values start o rise again, or as my girl improves further.

Hope that helps.

J
 
kiagirl said:
Thanks everyone, not sure I would want another projectif Nything happened to Star, OH is family planning lol. If I change her value to £2.5k, its an extra £3 a month which is affordable :), now the question is, is that her true value?
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That's an almost impossible question without seeing the horse etc etc. You need to look and see if you could buy her equivalent for £2.5 k The market is very depresssed as everyone knows. I personally like standardbreds, but they are not everyone's cup of tea.
 
kiagirl said:
Thanks everyone, not sure I would want another projectif Nything happened to Star, OH is family planning lol. If I change her value to £2.5k, its an extra £3 a month which is affordable :), now the question is, is that her true value?
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It doesn't matter if thats her true value or not, its what you think, what you would want to replace her etc that counts..

I upped a horse's value from £3k to £5k without having to get valuations etc - they accepted it because the horse wasn't a youngster anymore..
 
Be very careful about upping the value. You may have to provide some sort of proof that your mare is worth more than you paid for her, which could be expensive. Also, no matter what your horse is insured for, if the insurance company feel that at time of death she was not worth your valuation they will only pay out what they think she was worth.

The most valuable part of insurance is the Vets Fees and they remain the same whatever the value of the horse. Standardbreds are not very popular as riding horses/show horses so unless she has an exceptional show record you could struggle to justify more than doubling her value.

But, they do have lovely temperaments and make brilliant endurance horses!
 
Tammytoo said:
Be very careful about upping the value. You may have to provide some sort of proof that your mare is worth more than you paid for her, which could be expensive. Also, no matter what your horse is insured for, if the insurance company feel that at time of death she was not worth your valuation they will only pay out what they think she was worth.
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This is so important, if the worst was to happen you would have to prove your mare's worth. Depending on the insurance company this can be incredibly difficult.
 
Thanks everyone, I just need to submit a letter at renewal to say why she has increased in value. I think I will up it, then God forbid anything does happen, I will hopefully get enough back to get something similar.
 
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