Horse Insurance - watch the exclusions!

[George123]

Hi,

when your horse insurance policy arrives for renewal, keep an eye on the exclusions!

Mine has just turned up and although I havent made a claim in the last year, the exclusions have extended!!

2 years ago, my horse was endoscoped for stomach ulcers as he was sensitive having the girth done up, he had a very mild stomach ulcer which was treated with gastroguard - all went through the insurance. Last years policy excluded coverage for stomach ulcers - fair enough....that was last years policy and no claim has been made since or reoccurance of the stomach ulcers.

This years policy renewal has just arrived and the exclusion of cover for stomah ulcers has now been extended to all digestive related conditions including colic...! Fair eough I suppose if such a claim related to the ulcers but to now exclude all unrelated conditions is shocking...Luckily, I spotted this in the smallprint and have been able to sign up a new policy with a different insurer without these exclusions also much cheaper!

So just be aware and keep an eye on these things as it was in the smallprint and could have easily not been noticed!

George123

 

[Its_A_Rollover]

often if you call your insurance company and asked why they have been placed you can get them reviewed with a letter from your vet? i did this as my horses feet were unisurable due to being imbalanced. the vet came and looked at him, confirmed they were balanced and wrote to the insurance company who removed the exclusion.

Also people worry that exclusions are only due to claiming but they are previous vet hist so if you have anything that comes over your excess you should claim as it could be excluded anyway and you pay too much just to not bother claiming just because your worried about exclusions.

 

[George123]

I tried that last year - when my horse was vetted 3 years ago, a skin rash was detected, it was a simple thing, rubbing under the girth. However, it was put on the policy as an exclusion. So I contacted the insurance who told me to get the vet out and have it checked, which I did and they confirmed it had gone and went back to the insurers on my behalf. However, the policy still came through with the same exclusion and when I queried it they said, it was the underwritters decision and couldnt be altered - £80 on a vet check down the drain!

 

[alsxx]

I do wonder who you were insurered with?

 

[Evadiva1514]

George 123 may i ask who you were insured with? We're having no end of problems at the moment with exclusions with our new mare. She had an extremely thorough 2 stage vetting which picked up on very minute details such as a small nodule on her back and the fact that she needed her feet trimming etc. The insurance co have excluded all of her feet and pedal disorders because of it and any skin conditions in the saddle area amongst other things. Its a complete farce. Having read her policy documents it really isn't worth the premiums each month to insure her. To read it, you would think she is a three legged, one eyed old croc which she most certainly isn't.

The annoying thing is we have 4 other horses insured with this company and if we hadn't bothered having her vetted her policy would have been clean. It s almost as if they are punishing people for being honest and paying out for vettings!! Im so angry about it!! One of my geldings policies is up for renewal shortly and has gone up by 30% just in this year. I have never claimed on this policy so why the price hike?? It's just crazy!!

I'll get off my soapbox now!! Hehe!!

 

[NR99]

Yep tell me about it, with the exclusions placed on my policy for very minor things basically my horse can have a problem with his right legs, his head or internally but not the left legs, or anything relating to a lack of topline at time of purchase. All this for £90 a month and he passed a 5 stage vetting. Hence our poor sausage is in a for a bone scan today to identify pain in SI area and we are having to pay for it x

 

[Kayfm]

my horse pulled his shoe off and came down on a nail hence a punchered sole, I informed my insurer about this incase i had to claim. i did not make a claim but they still excluded this from his policy on renewal. what a check, hence i changed companies on renewal, try NFU ive got both mine insured with them and my horse box.

 

[George123]

Hi, currently insured with KBIS....

 

[worldchimp]

Hi,
Am new to the Forum but just say your quote regarding Insurance renewal.

I made a claim last year as my boy ran into the upright of the gate post as he was scared by a low flying plane.

He chipped his hip bone and spent 3 months on box rest. Insurance paid out on vet fees minus the excess.

Shock horror, got a letter from them last week - 2 sentence letter to say that due to my claim, the underwriters were increase the vet fees by 50% for my forthcoming premium.

I realise that there was going to be an increase but not double and my lad did it July and the last time he saw the vet for the related injury was last August.

Can you offer any help?

 

[NR99]

We are too!

 

[George123]

Hi Benjis_girl,

I totally agree with you, what a farce - how do the justify it? other than to get out of paying future bills which is exactly why they do it....They scare people into not claiming....If I had known they would have excluded colic, I would have thought twice about the endoscope...what makes me laugh is that the endoscope was 2 years ago and the exclusion has got worse even though the condition has cleared!!

what a joke!

 

[NR99]

Hi
Suggest you shop around, but be totally honest about the incident, good luck x

 

[NR99]

My friend had a horse with a cough and the vets scoped him, they lost the scope in the process and it tore his gullet - all healed fine but my friend then received notification that the horse was excluded for anything at all to do with the digestive track in the future.

I understand the whole big theory about insurance being one big pot and if you need to take some back, going forwards you will be asked to put extra in, but is so unfair when it is a one off like this rather than a lifelong condition.

 

[George123]

Hi,
I tried NFU, they were all busy, took my number but have not yet called back (that was 9AM!), they obviously dont need new business....

It looks like I will be going with SEIB, I discussed the exclusions and they were much mre accomadating, only excluding the actual thing I claimed for, i.e gastric ulcers..

I also halved my monthly premium!!!

George123

 

[nobbster]

to be honest most insurance companys do this becouse it is seen as a risk i am with petplan and i do find that they are good with removing excl, they are expensive but goood.

good luckX

 

[George123]

Yes, I totally agree!

That is ridiculous to exclude all digestive things - colic can happen to any horse, anytime and is often completely unrelated to other symtoms...

Get your friend to try SEIB, they were reasonable with the exclusion.

George123

 

[Kayfm]

Hi ya, still try NFU, my polices are monthly. sometimes it takes ages to get through. All my friends are with them. i have had a claim on a two week policy on my new mare and they paid straight up.

 

[nobbster]

thats what petpllan done for me

 

[Evadiva1514]

Currently we have 6 horses insured and pay over £1800 a year in premiums! After this fiasco, we're seriously considering whether it's worth the bother of insuring them for vets fees and saving the money in case they need urgent veterinary treatment instead. They seem to be really tightening up with everything at the moment and to be honest it just doesn't seem worth it.

 

[Its_A_Rollover]

I'm with NFU and they ammended my exclusion and have never quibbled a payment... but i did here that if you claim on one horse, they can increase your premiums on.... YOUR OTHER HORSE? anyone else heard this?

 

[Persephone]

Not heard about them increasing another existing horse 's premium but my friend was insured by NFU for two consecutive horses and through bad luck had to make a lot of claims. She went back to them for a quote when she got her new loan pony and they were quite open, saying that her premium would be loaded because she had made so many previous claims on her other horses!

 

[Evadiva1514]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm with NFU and they ammended my exclusion and have never quibbled a payment... but i did here that if you claim on one horse, they can increase your premiums on.... YOUR OTHER HORSE? anyone else heard this?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ive heard that too. I have one of my horses insured with NFU and they are absolutely fantastic! My horse spent a lot of time down at Rossdales for a lameness relating to a Keratoma last year and NFU were ultra efficient both with actually dealing with the claim itself and paying out! I can't speak highly enough of them, sadly we are dealing with another of the 'Big Guns' in Insurance at the moment with our current problem and i have found them to be extremely unhelpful and on many occasions downright rude!!

Some of the exclusions will be reviewable in 12 months for our new pony, but they fail to see our point that, if we had bought her and not had her vetted, then none of these ridiculous exclusions would apply. Our vet who recently started her vaccs, could not believe that they were putting blanket exclusions like this on our pony, after reading her vetting and examining her himself. It does make you wonder whether the underwriters actually have any veterinary understanding at all??

 

[galaxy]

My firends horse is with KBIS, and sh'es got thev exate same problem with exclusion,s and they were less than helpful. He passed a 5* vetting to event, but had a couple of tiny comments , one was small windgalls! They put an exclusion on saying any problem where Windgalls could have been the first sign! She queried it saying most horses have small windgalss, they are tiny, you can't see them, and they refused to alter their opinion. She's changing when it comes up for renewal.

My horse is with NFU, I made a claim when he hurt his back a few years ago, came to about £800, they didn't put an exclusion on. My trailer was also damaged in a fire and they paid out with no fuss at all. They've never put my premium up I'd say excessively....

 

[Mithras]

My 11 y o perfectly healthy mare is no longer insured (well, I "self-insure" her). This is due to two of her legs and her entire wind being excluded despite my never having made a claim. She cracked a bone in a hind leg when with her breeders, whom I bought her from, it healed without veterinary intervention but had to be x rayed. Then when I had her vetted, the vet noted that she was slightly stiffer on one side when turning a circle than the other, possibly due to a poorly fitting shoe (by this time she had been out of work for 9 months), and her breathing was slightly noisy.

It was KBIS, I queried it and was told I'd have to get another 5 star vetting saying it was ok now in order for them to consider removing the exclusions. The one that particularly irked was the front leg, which had never even been injured!

So faced with the prospect of having only half a horse insured yet paying a full premium, I chose not to bother. Ironcially too she must be the soundest horse on earth, hunting all winter, jumping big BSJA and working hunters all summer, hacking miles, etc..

I really think the insurance industry are going to have to rethink the service they are offering. Its ridiculous excluding a commonly occuring condition such as colic simply because a horse gets it once! People insure for peace of mind, the way they operate, they are not providing that. Insurance is a risk industry, they must be prepared to take on some risk. Its the same with a lot of insurance, like mortgage protection policies - very difficult to actually get them to pay out, but will easily take your money.

 

[alsxx]

George123 feel free to pm me but if I were you I'd be re-thinking my choice of your new insurer.

 

[George123]

OK Kayfm,

Thanks - they didnt come back to me but I will try them again in the morning

George123

 

[George123]

My friends have scrapped the insurance on their 3 horses for exactly that reason - they couldnt get them to pay up for a navicular hore they had put to sleep ansd got so fed up with paying 3 premiums they cancelled everything and put the moneyaway each month, just in case - does make you wonder!