Horse Insurance

[Bessieboo]

Ok I think this is probably the dumbest thing that will ever have been asked on here but before I ask it can I just say that my husband has kind of made me ask and give you a bit of background as to why. (Cookies to anyone who bothers to read this!)

Last night I came home from the yard to a barrage of questions from my old man all about how much my ponio was costing us. Mainly to see if there was anyway we could cut costs. I have to point out that he is a lovely guy but every now and then he kind of throws a head fit about money especially money spent on my ponio.

Well to make matters worse the renewal had come through for the insurance on her and he said to me that in his opinion we do not need insurance because what are the chances of anything happening. I was horrified at this and went on to explain that it's not only vets bills that are covered but liability which I think is probably more important.

Anyway he wanted me to go and ask everyone who has a horse that I know what they think and I thought that you guys on here would be the best to ask.

I think he is crazy in the head for thinking about not having insurance but just want to know that I am not crazy in the head for thinking this.

Thanks for any replies I get.

 

[reindeerlover]

Tell him he's silly! Yes probably nothing will happen but WHAT IF IT DID?? The other thing is of course to shop around for cheaper cover- Petplan give a discount for ponies and sometimes you can reduce the activity group of your horse if you have it insured for showjumping for eg and never showjump you may as well move to hacking only or local shows etc. Also, if you aren't doing much with your pony or he's getting on a bit or something, consider reducing your sum insured. That's if you aren't worrying too much about getting your money back if he dies....? I am something of an insurance bore I'm afraid!

You could also offer to make your own clothes instead of buying new, reuse teabags, use salt instead of toothpaste, give up deoderant etc and see what he thinks of those money saving schemes?

 

[ladyt25]

If you want to reduce costs you can get a PL only policy via the BHS for about £50 a year. I think anyone with a horse would be foolish to not have PL cover and i would tell your other half that yes, it may seem expensive but, should your horse cause damage to a 3rd party vehicle/property or person then the costs will be considerably more than your annual premium!

Also, should your horse escape or god forbid be let out and strayed onto a road resulting in a vehicle accident which could potentially be fatal and involve numerous people then you could be held liable and again, the cost of this would be a heck of a lot more than an insurance premium.

Put it this way, we have a recent case - pony escaped from field, car driver hit/swerved to avoid hitting said pony, crashed through fencing and was left with severe injuries and needing long term care. Total liability claim against the pony owner was £1million. Would you have that sort of cash in the event of something like that happening? Somehow I think it is unlikely. Yes, it may never happen and we all hope it won't but how many of the people who it has happen to thought it'd never happen to them?!

So, ok maybe don't insure for vets fees and other additional covers if you want to save money (save money in a seperate account if necessary for vets fees) but please ensure you have adequate PL cover.

 

[Bessieboo]

Thanks for the advice.

I will have another chat with him tonight and let him know the options.

Very much like the idea of saving money by making my own clothes etc. made me laugh so hard I almost cried.

Bessieboo x