Horse Insurance: The Good, The bad and the Ugly...

Dusty85

Dusty85

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Hi all,

I need to pick a new insurance company. Ive been insured with NFU in the past, but just wondering if there was anyone to recommend or avoid?

From previous posts I seem to have the opinion that E&L are best avoided.

I have a dog insured with pet plan who I've dealt with once and were excellent. Ive had a quote from them already at £60/month for 10 payments.

Need to ring NFU in a moment, and will also try KBIS.

Anyone else?

Thanks in advance!
 
I'm with PetPlan and haven't made a claim yet but am about to (ulcers) - anyone with any experience? Are they going to be difficult and quibble over everything?
 
So Ive rung around for a few quotes:

petplan £62/month £687/year (they have 0% for monthly payments)

NFU £58/month £707/year

KBIS £52/month £588/year

All have similar cover: Third party, Vets fees to £5000 with ~£150 excess, Cover for death or theft. KBIS includes personal accident and saddlery for £500 too

Does this sound reasonable?

MyDogsAnIdiot- my dog is insured with pet plan, only ever made one claim (sedation and X-rays and treatment)- they were great- the vets filled out all paperwork for me and went directly to them. I only had to provide them with a copy of my certificate and pay up to my excess. They only contact I had from them was to say it all been paid up and that was that!

ETA: Sorry should state that Petplan include personal accident and saddlery to £1000- just checked the quote!
 
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I am with PetPlan, they are the more expensive but when we lost my pony they were really good and paid out without any quibbles.
 
I'm insured with Petplan and I've made two big claims in 9 and a half years. They haven't quibbled either. The first was a SI injury and currently just had an op on his hind annular ligaments at 19 years old. I've probably nearly paid for it though in premiums over the years.

Last horse I was insured with NFU and again no quibble - paid out for all investigations inc. second opinion and then loss of use for wobblers. When I insured my current horse you had to take out another policy with your horse insurance and I didn't have anything else to insure at the time so went with Petplan.
 
I'm with KBIS and impressed so far.

I have a 7 yr old Welsh D and insured him for up to £7500 per incident including colic surgery, tack, loss of use, 3rd party, rider etc etc and it's £37 per month over 12 months.

I used them for my mare previously and they paid out no problem, but I think it's their nice people on the end of the phone I like the most about them. Very sympathetic and understanding.

I avoided E&L as I also read bad reviews. I used Animal Friends for my cat and they were awful - think they do horses too but I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.
 
Jumping onto this thread, can anyone please tell me if NFU and KBIS require a full 5 stage vetting before they insure? I'm about to start looking into insurance for a 4 year old OTTB...
 
Optimissteeq said:
Jumping onto this thread, can anyone please tell me if NFU and KBIS require a full 5 stage vetting before they insure? I'm about to start looking into insurance for a 4 year old OTTB...
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I didn't get my horse vetted. I told them this and KBIS still insured him/me.
He had a 5 stage vetting with his previous owner 2 years before I bought him and I knew her. I didn't ask her for the certificate (not that it would have counted ayway), nr did I have him re-vetted.
 
I have had a brilliant experience with Amtrust Equine, they paid out no problems (almost 5k's worth) and very quickly. Had to get permission for an MRI which normally takes 4 days as they go through the paperwork in the order it comes in (fair enough) but my horse was at the hospital with a catheter in as he was a arse for the vet so they checked the paperwork and got back to me within 2 hours. If I am being picky, my last bill I sent took a while to get paid because I hadn't renewed with them (horse was being pts 2 weeks after it lapsed)
 
I am with petplan and they paid out with no problems for my horse this year. Just had to do the normal form filling. Used to be with nfu but they were a bit expensive.
 
I am insured with KBIS (Gold cover, I think) I have just put in a claim for £4987 and they have paid straight out. My original claim was performance issues, then it was changed to back pain and LH lameness, it was then changed to bilateral hind lameness, arthritic changes to both hind fetlocks, hocks and sacroiliac, fractures to ribs 8-12, old fracture to cranial cervical/atlas region and back pain . Despite the changes to my claim they haven't questioned and have paid out straight away.

KBIS only require vetting if insuring for over £5000 as far as I am aware and that is the same with Pet Plan... but its been a while since I looked!
 
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insured mine with KBIS, they have always been super helpful and paid out around 1500 earlier this year for xrays/medication/sedation/etc. for a fractured tibia and infected surface wound (one and the same, its a long story) with absolutely no quibbles, all very quick and helpful
 
What's wrong with E&L? I've got a claim going through with them for vets fees and loss of horse following losing Sal to Grass Sickness in October, they have all the paper work but I've not heard anything back yet...
 
I was with E&L for seven years, 3 horses, put nine claims through with them and they were absolutely wonderful - didn't query anything and paid swiftly.

I'm only with NFU now as I have a collective insurance policy so it works out cheaper. I would recommend E&L.
 
Always look at the small print, when I claimed NFU payed 1/2 you basic hospitalisation livery and transport to hospital, neither of which Petplan would pay, this saved over £700 when I had to make a claim.
 
RunToEarth said:
I was with E&L for seven years, 3 horses, put nine claims through with them and they were absolutely wonderful - didn't query anything and paid swiftly.

I'm only with NFU now as I have a collective insurance policy so it works out cheaper. I would recommend E&L.
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Phew! Thanks...
 
Oh and KBIS also paid £250 for hospitalisation so didn't need to worry about that and £500 for complimentary, both of which I used in my claim too.
 
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