Horse Insurance for a 2 year old......

DiamondClover

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Hi,

My homebred 2 year old's insurance is up for renewal...... We've actually had to use the insurance 3 times in the last 2 years...... gutted...... big bills too :-(((( We signed up at 3 months old with E&L (Yep..... I'm sure you'll all have lots to say about them!!!)..... thinking 'he's only a baby...... we 'shouldn't need it'..... so insure cheaply - just incase..... HOW WRONG CAN ONE BE !!!!

He's had all fetlocks xrayed because he was growing too quickly at 4.5 months..... 1 big bill...... I paid the excess of £135.00 - and it took MONTHS for the Insurance company to pay our - but they DID eventually!!!

Then later in the same year he went lame on a hock joint...... he was very under the weather - spent a week in the Vets having skin scrapings, bloods. etc., taken..... until they discovered it was RINGWORM !!!!!! £1.700 vet bill (Oh yes!!!!!)...... £135.00 excess paid by me........ yet again took an absolute age to get them to pay out - but they did all but the hospitalisation of 7 days......

Then he took a tumble in the field....... had him on box rest for 4 months, Vet came to assess..... advised more box rest (a 2 year old going nuts in a small area!!)had a second opinion, and lots more x-rayys etc., he'd got a small boney growth of bone growing on his hock bones.....very similar to a bone spavin..... we were advised small surgery to remove the cartilage from between the bottom 3 bones in his hock, thus speeding up fusion.... and he should be ok again........ had that ok'd by E&L..... all done fine BUT as the surgery etc., came out at around £3.000 I didn't pay the £135.00 as I thought...... but 20% of the total bill :-(((((( I had to pay the Vets on leaving with my boy after surgery.... so put it on a 0% finance credit card to give me a bit of breathing space...... they AGAIN took MONTHS to pay out..... but finally did........

So....... do I go with them again this 3 year..... or change? They are VERY slow at paying..... BUT have NOT excluded both hind legs (after the surgery)..... and the policy is still under £200.00 ....... (I do have his mother to insure - plus another expensive eventer.... and I'm struggling with it all)....... What are you thoughts on this??? Be very interested to know..... he's out 24/7 at grass to mature......
 
Firsty, my deepest sympathies to you for all your bad luck and heartache with your yougster. I know how you feel having gone through similar myself. Personally I would swap. I'm with Scottish Equestrian who have always paid up promptly and are very reasonably priced.

With my current boy I have him insured for the lower end of his prce bracket and I have taken into account all his ailments and injuries when considering his value. God luck!
 
Hi,

Sorry to hear about all your youngsters troubles...

I know allot of people will have horror stories about E&L but to be honest apart from the time it takes them to pay out, in fairness to them they have paid out every time.
I was with E&L for years and made 3 claims one for a fractured knee totaling £2k. They took 7 months to pay but they did and didn't exclude his knee. About 4 months after his knee he got a really bad cough...£750 worth of vets bills they paid out but they excluded respiration issues for one year. Then last year over £3k on a laminitis claim which included 2 vets, farriers and disposal. They took 6 months to pay out but luckily everyone involved waited for their money.
My new horse is insured with Petplan as my vet said he no longer deals with E&L and if i needed to claim i would have to pay him up front...couldn't afford not have insurance so i had to choose from Petplan or NFU.
I have heard horror stories from both customers of Petplan and NFU so my conclusion is that all insurance is based on a case by case basis and at the end of the day are all pretty much the same :rolleyes:
Who ever you choose to go with you will have to disclose your horses medical history which will affect the policy price...if E&L have excluded anything, chances are your new insurer will also impose and exclusions however i know that Petplan after 1 year of a no recurrence, after a letter from a vet may include the excluded part again. Even though E&L hadn't excluded his knee i got a quote on-line off Petplan and they said they would exclude it for a year even though it wasn't them i claimed off!!!
I know Petplan have a multi-horse policy which may be cheaper for you but i have heard that NFU are quite quick at paying out.
If the worst thing E&L are famous for is slow payment then that isn't all that bad, at least you know that have paid out and they have the cheapest premiums.
 
As said above you will need to notify who-ever you take your next policy out with about his history, hopefully they'll just take a copy of a report from your vet, they will I would have thought impose exclusions on those conditions. My mare had a small sarcoid removed whilst I was with NFU, I never claimed as it didn't go over my excess, they still put an exclusion on!!

I used to vet nurse (along time ago!!) and even then we were all advised not to use E&L since then and till now I know of at least 3 people personally who have had their claims refused. But having said that you've been with them, you know what they are like, if you can afford to take the gamble then stay, or if you want to pay for peace of mind and fast payments, pay a little more and go with another company.

I have 3 horses and got a combined quote from Equestrian World Insurance Services, spoke to Laura and I got a very competitive quote. I made sure they were nothing to do with E&L but I still didn't settle fully incase of problems come payouts (normally the saying is if they're cheap then it's for a reason!!). Well I've now put them to the test on a vet claim for arthritis, and I've already received the first cheque for the first lot of treatment, now waiting on the second! 2 of mine are yearlings, and I have the actual value of the horses quite low, as it's the vets fees I need, to keep down costs.

http://www.horseponyinsurance.co.uk/horse-insurance/
 
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