Humane destruction

johnson

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21 July 2001
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On a subject I know None of us Like to think about. I thought I would warn other forum users about Insurance companies and Their thoughts on what Humane Destruction means. It does not mean that when an owner and a vet agree that the best thing for a horse is to be put down. I Had My horse put down three weeks ago after he had badly damaged a tendon in his Hock. The Vet and I had done everything in our power to make it better and after 7 months of treatment, we both decided not to put him though any more. He was never going to come right and wasn't suitable to be retired( which is what the Insurance company thought should happen even though they had never met the horse in question), partly through his temperament, his size (he was a 16.1hh (looked like he had percheron blood in him)heavy weight cob)and the fact that the hard ground in the summer would not agree with his damaged hock.They decided that I have not got a case for claiming on lose of horse and therefore will not pay for his having been put down either. What Mattered to me was my horse and not causing him any more suffering if thats not humane then what is !!!( I have deliberately not named the insurance company as I have other animals insured with them(but probably not for much longer but as I have paid this years premium will not be changing till renewal time). My Vet has been brilliant though all this and even wrote them a letter explaining why we had taken the course of action we had but the insurance think they know best!

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This happened to me as well, my horse was 'just' sound enough to walk around the field with navicular, they would not pay out when I decided to call it a day. He was in pain and miserable in mine and my vets opinion. He even got colic with the pain of his feet, he lost weight and was fed up with life.
 
won't help the horse but with ALL insurance - pay by monthly installments - otherwise - e.g. if you write off a car - you will have paid the whole year and not get most (if any) of it back.

Once bitten, twice shy - pay your animal insurance by monthly DDebit

as for the insurance company - contact the insurance ombudsman - not much hope but it's the only chance you have

you may get a partial settlement.
 
A family friend of mine had this problem with E+L - that's why I just put a note in the thread about insurance companies saying stay away.
It's awful. With my boy - they wouldn't pay out because we didn't ring them before we had him PTS - he was in agony. We didn't have time -I was hardly going to let him suffer while i was on hold for a hour waiting to speak to them!!
GAH!
 
Well I can recommend Equestrian Direct and AMTrust Equine , due to the two companies seperating half way through my claim they both paid out for my horses surgeries and subsequent LOU and would have paid LOU whether or not I'd retired him or PTS. Because I chose to retire him they paid for his freezebranding to.
Ovbiously they didn't pay out double but settled everything between them.

Think with horse insurance you really do get what you pay for.
 
and I can NOT recommend Pet Plan who, when my horse was burnt to death in an arson, asked my vet to provide proof that the horse that was killed was the one they insured.

I was distraught, my vet went ape down the phone to them, I sent PP a photo of my horses burnt body and I removed the insurance of all my other ponies from PP immediately and NEVER EVER recommend anyone to insure with them

Callous and inhuman - especially as on the claim form I'd between floods of tears made it absolutely clear that my horse had been burnt to death

I can still see a mental picture of his charred body lying there and 10 years or more have gone by.

PP - spit !
 
I was with an insurance company who put an exemption on my mare after she went down in the lorry, the vet came out and checked her and said her heat seemed irregular, not suprising as she was in shock, anyway they put an exeption on her so she was no longer covered for her heart, this was with no proof and when I proved she was fine they refused to remove it.
My friend recently lost her mare as she had motor neurone disease and her behaviour became very dangerous, she had her PTS and the company have refused to pay out as she didn't seek their permission, absolutely appalling and something I will never understand however my current insurers have been excellent for my ongoing claim for a kissing spine op although come June it'll also be an exemption!!
 
My first horse was pts at 6pm after the vet had tried everything to save her (colic). E&L wouldn' pay out because I didn't ask their permission
shocked.gif
. At 6pm their offices would have been closed anyway, plus I had more important things on my mind
mad.gif
 
This is why I no longer bother to insure any of my horses - I only hack and have BHS gold membership to cover my for public liability.
 
This is why we had to wait for our vet to phone the PetPlan vet & the Newmarket vet before Cat was put down. Cat was very ill with Crohn's disease & we & the vet made the decision that he'd had enough, & once we'd made that decision, I wanted to get it over with.

It was really, really awful waiting for the phone call to say that we were 'good to go'. It seemed really cold blooded & mercenary making sure we had the financial side in order first. And 6 weeks later, I'm still waiting for my money.
 
I wanted my Ginny PTS after 6 months box-rest due to fractured splint bone - but vet and insurance refused. OAKHAM vets would not press for it, so insurance would not permit. Wish I had insisted, cos lost everything (especially my beautiful baby) anyway. Have never insured a horse since and never would. It is all experimentation. Next time your horse has an injury, wait and see what the first question is..........Do you have insurance?
 
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