Horsebox Breakdown Cover

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LansdownK310

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Hi All,

I've just taken out my insurance for my horsebox (3.5t Renault Master) with KBIS, to add breakdown cover it was an extra £125.

Who do you have your breakdown cover with and how much do you pay? I anticipate not going great distances so just local shows a few times a month.

Thanks :)
 
Hello

This was me last weekend! I took out insurance with KBIS but when I quizzed them about their breakdown cover they couldn't tell me how they would get the horses home if I broke down and I really didn't like the idea of being towed with horse in lorry. Might just have been the person I spoke to on the phone was unsure of the policy though.

So I think i'm going to go with http://www.ohto.co.uk/ Organisation of Horsebox Owners as read lots of good things and a bit cheaper than http://www.equinerescue.co.uk/ who were the two I narrowed it down to.

Have lots of fun in your lorry!
 
student1 said:
Hello

This was me last weekend! I took out insurance with KBIS but when I quizzed them about their breakdown cover they couldn't tell me how they would get the horses home if I broke down and I really didn't like the idea of being towed with horse in lorry. Might just have been the person I spoke to on the phone was unsure of the policy though.

So I think i'm going to go with http://www.ohto.co.uk/ Organisation of Horsebox Owners as read lots of good things and a bit cheaper than http://www.equinerescue.co.uk/ who were the two I narrowed it down to.

Have lots of fun in your lorry!
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I was just about to say the same thing, they told me aranging for the horse to be taken home wasn't included. I went with getting it from equine resue, bit more expensive, but they will come and pick my horse up, take my horse home or to the show and bring us back from the show. They will send a horse transported and breakdown company to you. The one and only time I used them I could not fault them.
 
very few if any breakdown companies can tow with horses on any more. Their drivers simply do no have the ACETQ that is required do be able to drive horses on a commercial basis, which recovery is. All of the horse breakdown companies have a list of approved transporters who they contact to collect your horses if your vehicle needs to be recovered. This might only mean coming in a Disco to pull your trailer, but as you are being recovered it is a commercial operation so driver must have DEFRA pat the pony certificate! KBIS use Equity Red Star to deal with their breakdown and recovery.
 
Be careful with some of the cheaper companies & read the smallprint Equity Red Star were one of the ones who would try to winch up 3.5t boxes onto a flatbed with your horse still on board.This is not allowed. Horsebox & Trailer Owners,PRP (sister companies) or Equine Rescue would be your best bet by far,very knowledgable people who understand horses.
 
I had a similar conversation with KBIS, my concern was someone coming with a trailer to transport my horse home. My horse doesnt do trailers! They told me depending on the size, they could come with a flat bed, when I said my horsebox was too big to go on one of them and that it was illegal to do that, he got a bit ar**y. I left it, did a bit of research and realised Equity Star are behind most of the insurance companies, so rang back and took the cover. I was with NFU but the premium went up and when I told them Id had a bump in my car, asked if it would affect my premium, they said no its seperate. I thought this was odd as KBIS said it would. The renewal form from NFU asked for details of ANY claims on ANY vehicle, so the staff at NFU didnt give me much confidence either.
Ivr heard that Anthony Evans use flatbeds too and OHTO was too expensive. I do realise you get what you pay for but policy I wanted was just too much (cant remember what put me off the lower policies they did) Its a minefield isnt it.
 
I'm with Anthony Evans. I broke down just before Xmas and once the breakdown people came and assessed lorry and realised it couldn't be fixed they sent another vehicle to tow my lorry. I was able to stay in my lorry with horses whilst we were towed home and was really impressed at how smooth journey was (journey included M25 and some real twisty country lanes). I realise that people are really anti being towed, but there is no way I would be able to unload my horses and re-load them into a strange horse box on the road side in the dark.
 
Hi,

I have my horsebox insurance with KBIS and was shocked at the price of breakdown, I just got mine out with Anthony D Evans for £84 full breakdown service, cheapest one I have found. I had never heard of them before and their insurance are cheap too as they gave me a quick quote while I was on the line

:D
 
Anthony Evans are one of the ones that put your lorry onto a flatbed with your horses onboard....from my research anyway. I have decided to go with OHTO as they seem to know their stuff and aren't too dear
 
monkeymad said:
I'm with Anthony Evans. I broke down just before Xmas and once the breakdown people came and assessed lorry and realised it couldn't be fixed they sent another vehicle to tow my lorry. I was able to stay in my lorry with horses whilst we were towed home and was really impressed at how smooth journey was (journey included M25 and some real twisty country lanes). I realise that people are really anti being towed, but there is no way I would be able to unload my horses and re-load them into a strange horse box on the road side in the dark.
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I feel the same as monkeymad I would feel much safer being towed (obviously not on an angle) with the horses still in their own box than having to unload and try and reload on a road , motorway, possibly in the dark into an unknown lorry or even a trailer... if I want that do I need to go with the Anthony one? do all the others make you switch transport?
 
I use Anthony Reynolds, and did go on the back of a flat bed with my horse in the lorry. They will also put horse up while lorry is being fixed.
 
zaminda said:
I use Anthony Reynolds, and did go on the back of a flat bed with my horse in the lorry. They will also put horse up while lorry is being fixed.
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is yours a 3.5 lorry with them rear facing? Just wondering how they cope with it being put up onto it? Just like going up a steep hill I guess really? and you stayed it the lorry with them?

I heard a story from a friend of a friend about a 3.5 breaking down and them not being able to put it on a truck (maybe owner just didnt like the idea not sure reason) but apparently they had to get another lorry and close the motorway while they transferred and had a bill of about 7k!!! Thats why I am eager to do my homework on which company to choose!
 
It is illegal to tow a horsebox with the horses inside. It is also illegal to place a horsebox on a flatbed transporter with the horses inside. The companies that do this also know that it is illegal - they are merely selling an inferior product more cheaply than the professional rescue companies. The only exception is if the vehicle needs to be moved a short distance to a safe place to facilitate the horses being transferred to a professional transporter.

The fines and/or penalties for anyone involved in either allowing or carrying out any form of transportation that DEFRA consider to be contrary to the welfare of an animal in transit (including both of the above) are severe - this, one would presume, would include the owners of the horses in question if they requested or allowed such an action to take place.
 
Really? That seems so strange to me I would have thought it was much safer than tranferring them... :-(

Oh its a minefield! I am moving from a trailer to a lorry as I thought it would be safer now I'm thinking at least if you broke down with a trailer you could just switch tow vehicle...!
 
I've just taken out insurance with 4counties who offered breakdown cover at an extra £125 per year. I specifically asked whether this included sending another horsebox if mine could not be fixed at the roadside and was told on two separate occasions that would be the case. The recovery is with Equity Red Star. I've been with [content removed] previously who winched my 3.5t with a front lift onto a recovery truck with the horse in and then proceeded to drive in excess of 80mph on the motorway - I know it was over 80mph to because I was sitting next to the obnoxious driver and could quite easily see the speedometer. Wouldn't touch [content removed] insurance or recovery with a barge pole ever again.
 
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