Horse Insurance

AdorableAlice

AdorableAlice

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Just got home and opened the post - NFU annual renewal for a 19 yr old retired competition horse, only insured for £1000, £5k vets and nothing else. Yearling ID filly insured for £1000, £5k vets and nothing else.

I have a 12 month claim going for the 19 yr old and NFU are paying no problem, claim ends 1/8/12. Never claimed for the filly.

The premium has gone up from £72.33 to £93.23 a month. Total cost is now £1,118.88, per annum, I have had to have a lie down with a bottle of red.

I have now just read the small print and cannot believe the following on 'General Exclusions'

Quote from policy --

If your horse has previously suffered from the following ailments, we will not pay for any future incidents of these conditions, whether or not they occur in the same area or structure or any OTHER area or structure of the horses body.

Arthritis, bone spavin, colic, degenerative joint disease, sarcoids, tendon/ligament sprains occuring in the same or oppposite limb.

What is the point is insuring the horse with the NFU anymore?

I will let them payout until the claim limit is reached on the 19 yr old and keep paying the premium to them, I have no choice, and then he will be uninsured and I will put a bit away for him, but can any of you suggest the best company to insure the filly with please.
 
Goodness that sounds extortionate!
I would recommend Petplan Equine. I've had several thousand pounds of claims for my TB mare in with them, and the renewal came in in December at only £2 per month more. I think I pay about £28 per month for her. That's for £5k vets fees and third party liability. She is insured for £600.

My three year old is also with Petplan - insured also for £600 and with £5k of vets fees and third party liability. I think she is £24 per month.

Petplan have not yet failed to pay out on a claim - yes they've queried stuff, but always paid out.
 
Holly Hocks said:
Goodness that sounds extortionate!
I would recommend Petplan Equine. I've had several thousand pounds of claims for my TB mare in with them, and the renewal came in in December at only £2 per month more. I think I pay about £28 per month for her. That's for £5k vets fees and third party liability. She is insured for £600.

My three year old is also with Petplan - insured also for £600 and with £5k of vets fees and third party liability. I think she is £24 per month.

Petplan have not yet failed to pay out on a claim - yes they've queried stuff, but always paid out.
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Thank you Holly Hocks,
I have insured many horses with NFU for 20 years, they have been superb, I have claimed for a number of problems, including a horse who had colic surgery two days running and died, they were simply fantastic, I cannot fault them for the service I have recieved for the horses and lorry+breakdown.

The competition horse spent 4 years insured for £10,000 value + 5K vets, his premium was about £640, he was competing all over the country between 2005-09. They now want more than that for him insured at £1000 stood in the xxxxing field and going for a hack on a Sunday morning.

I am obviously astounded at the cost, but what has really got my goat is the policy wording, it effectively means if a horse sprains a fetlock in the field they will never payout again for any other sprain on any other part of his body.

I have just spoken to my vet and was told if they attend a horse with a gassy colic that is sorted with a shot buscapan, the insurance company would then exclude any further claims for colic be it a tummy rumble or full blown sugery. Things are most definetely changing on the insurance front and I wonder if we should all be reading our policies very carefully indeed.
 
KBIS all the way! Have just insured 3 for £2000 each, only 1 with vet cover for £5000 per incident. Total cost £480 the year for all 3. I normally only cover for death but the one is out on loan so wanted her covered for peace of mind. They've always been very good when I've claimed, payment within days and always very helpful when you speak to them.
 
Maesfen said:
KBIS all the way! Have just insured 3 for £2000 each, only 1 with vet cover for £5000 per incident. Total cost £480 the year for all 3. I normally only cover for death but the one is out on loan so wanted her covered for peace of mind. They've always been very good when I've claimed, payment within days and always very helpful when you speak to them.
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Heading to their website now for the Archie fillies insurance. Just got quote for her on SEIB £1200 value + 5k vet - £437.00, what are they on ! I am not bothered with a value, she would only sell for £1000 max if I was lucky, but I do want vets fees on her.

Big horse stays with them as they are paying on his claim until August and then he will just have to have a piggy bank as the only thing they might consider paying on him would be for a ear ache !!

Thanks for the advice, I think I need to open another bottle of red !!
 
Just cover her for market value then (£1000) and vet cover as they won't pay out more than market value anyway so why waste what you don't have, put it towards another bottle of red?!

Have to add, my 'cost' was after a percentage loyalty discount given. I really should get commission too for sending so many to them!
Laie_42.gif
 
AdorableAlice said:
Heading to their website now for the Archie fillies insurance. Just got quote for her on SEIB £1200 value + 5k vet - £437.00, what are they on ! I am not bothered with a value, she would only sell for £1000 max if I was lucky, but I do want vets fees on her.

Big horse stays with them as they are paying on his claim until August and then he will just have to have a piggy bank as the only thing they might consider paying on him would be for a ear ache !!

Thanks for the advice, I think I need to open another bottle of red !!
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You see the issue is that it's a pretty open secret that the NFU loose money on there horse insurance.
So if a horse has a mild colic they will exclude it as colic does tend to reoccur the same thinking would cover arthritis and think as well if your car was worth £1000 they would not pay you £ 5000 to repair it.
Insurance is a buisness and if it's loosing money they will seek to rectify that.
 
Maesfen said:
Just cover her for market value then (£1000) and vet cover as they won't pay out more than market value anyway so why waste what you don't have, put it towards another bottle of red?!

Have to add, my 'cost' was after a percentage loyalty discount given. I really should get commission too for sending so many to them!
Laie_42.gif
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My NFU quote of £1118 included a loyalty bonus of £90.00 which they were very pleased to grant me after 20 years of insuring horses with them !

Just got a online quote from KBIS £213.00 thats better ! I have calmed down now, no more wine the keyboard has gone squiffy and the OH is sick of my swearing and moaning.
 
I insured my mare with Petplan after the renewal quote from NFU came through (was limited on options as 18 and didn't just want veteran insurance).

I save a couple of hundred pounds per year. I also didn't take the 3rd party liability insurance that they offered as I got cheaper and better cover by becoming a gold member with the BHS. This would be worth your while looking at as would give you 3rd party for both horses for 1 fee.
 
I had NFU for my previous horse, it was awful and I would never use them again. Long story...but it ended in a 14 month fight through the Financial Ombudsman, which I won.

I've been using Stoneways for my current horse, he is insured for his full value and £5K vets fees. No loss of use cover. I have been paying about £600/year. I called this week to add on trailer cover and tack cover, and they wanted an extra £150 for these, plus they made me take the trailer to a dealer to get an written valuation - a waste of half a day and lots of petrol (they would not accept the original purchase receipt that I had from the seller when I bought the trailer 3 weeks ago).

Tack - they refused to add to policy until I sent original receipts from the purchase of the saddle (saddle only...they would not cover Sprenger stirrups, leather girth or stirrup leathers etc because I didn't have the receipts).
Staff at the head office - very rude, they rush you off the phone and cannot be bothered to answer your questions. Vague.

Renewal - I rang to ask them about something else this week, and they said the policy was due for renewal, and it would be over £1000/year. I made no claims at all for my horse. Nothing. They refused to justify the increase, and said very vaguely that "insurance premiums have gone up across the board".
When I said I would look around for a better price, they made it obvious they did not value my business and said, "that's your prerogative".

Petplan - I just did an online quote - including trailer (£2500) & tack cover (£2500), plus full value of my horse, and £5K vets fees - it came out at £540 for the year (plus I get a free gift - a Horseware gillet worth £40.).
I need to get a 2 stage vetting (BVA mortality cert), which costs about £75.

All in all, I am glad to say goodbye to Stoneways (am really appalled at their behavior), and hello to Petplan, my new insurer. Petplan is almost half the price for the same cover (Stoneways and Petplan both are resellers of Allianz insurance).
 
AdorableAlice said:
My NFU quote of £1118 included a loyalty bonus of £90.00 which they were very pleased to grant me after 20 years of insuring horses with them !

Just got a online quote from KBIS £213.00 thats better ! I have calmed down now, no more wine the keyboard has gone squiffy and the OH is sick of my swearing and moaning.
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That sounds better, you can breathe again! :D
 
Maesfen said:
That sounds better, you can breathe again! :D
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Morning Maesfen, I spoke to KBIS yesterday, they were astonished at the wording on my NFU policy. Their policy is the normal exclusion for 12 months following a payout, then review the situation.

My Archie filly went on cover and will have the normal 14 days waiting period and then she has full cover. I paid £230 for £1000 value and 5K vets. They lady I spoke to at KBIS was knowledgable, interested and pleasant.

I called in at my local NFU branch earlier in the week to throw my toys out of the pram. They actually told me their equine and farming interests have changed since they became a mutual society, whatever they may mean. I think they are far more interested in the finance/pension/investment business, it must make them a small fortune.

On questioning why my premium had rocketed they told me the big horse had been such a liability they had loaded the premium. I pointed out that they had also loaded the pemium for my yearling who is on the joint policy with the big horse. Their comment was as she belongs to me the premium had to be loaded because I had made several claims for a horse on the same policy.

Pointing out that there is a large difference between the risk of a yearling in the paddock doing nothing but eat, sleep and fart against a 19 year old semi retired top level competition horse that has worked very hard for years, the comment was 'tough' said in a polite fashion.

Anyway, with the filly off the NFU policy the premium dropped to £700 with all the exclusions, as he is in a claim for the hind inferior check, I will leave him with them until the claim runs out and then he can have a piggy bank at home and decisions will have to be made if he gets into serious problems again.

He started the walking out last week after being locked up since last August and I am pleased to be able to tell you it is going well, leg is cold and we are up to 15 minutes, takes one on each side of him, tacked up in breaking tack , he has been very polite so far.

Thanks for the guidance on KBIS.
 
just to say I am sure you do not need to renew your policy to continue to claim for the existing claim. Your claim is on last years policy (once renewal date has passed)
Insurers cover you for one year from date of claim
 
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