Insurance claim - HELP!

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Ok, so I now know what it wrong with Grace and want to claim for the treatment so far and the following shock wave therapy treatments she is due.

Do I just send off for a claims form?

I am with NFU
 
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Thanks... should I not have requested permission to carry out the xrays, scans etc?

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Probably, or at least informed them that she was being investigated? Have you read your Policy? What does it say?
 
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Thanks... should I not have requested permission to carry out the xrays, scans etc?


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Yes and they may well refuse to pay because of this, but they are quite good and if you speak to them they may consider a payout.
 
I'm with NFU and have had no problems with them at all, a bit slow dealing with a couple of decisions but all in all very good. Even paid for a bone scan when it was me and not the vet who wanted it done!!! I thought he had other issues than the fetlock with the arthritis but the vet thought it was nothing else (guess who was correct
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but at least I know now)
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I would give them a ring and ask for a claim form.

I would have thought they would pay for the xrays. (They did when I was in a similar position earlier this year (ie hadn't told them what was going on until I had the bills to pay!).)

I think from my wording it says that the only thing they won't pay for is MRI scans unless they have agreed to do so in writing before you go ahead (and then I think it is only 50% of the cost)!

NFU are generally good, so I would call to discuss.

Glad to her Grace is back home and enjoying her time as a 'patient'!
 
If you are going to be claiming for your horse's treatment insurance company's in my experience need to be informed of the problem in a certain period of time. And then they give the go ahead for the treatment, based on vets reports.
 
I've normally found NFU are good with claims but you need to contact them, like any other company, immediately you know you will be claiming. The will probably be ok with the majority of treatment but I know that they, as many other companies, are a little apprehensive about paying for scans without their prior approval
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I know I received a letter from them at some point regarding scanning & it outlined this point.

Contact them urgently & get a claim form, they must be aware of what you are doing & what you have done.
 
I am in same situ shock wave therapy starts monday but they are normally pretty good. I have been unsure if I should claim or not because they will exclude the front legs! We have told them whilst in middle of treatment before and not had prob. Hope all goes well as going through same! x
 
Hi Becki
So relieved they have found the problem.
I'm with the NFU and had to claim for Higgs root tooth infection which included trips to Leahurst, xrays, gamma scintigraphy (sp?) etc and they paid for everything. from memory I don't think I informed them of everything prior to treatment. When I had him PTS with GS I informed them afterwards (some policies you have to get their permission beforehand
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) and they were fine.
Pidge is currently on a claim for his hock spavin and again they have been fab and are still paying for his treatment for a year after diagnosis so I can still claim for everything up to May 08.
If you ring their claim number explain the situation, request a claim form you should be ok. I know we pay more for NFU than other companies but IME they have been fab with dealing with any claims.
 
Thank you everyone... I will phone them this morning.

Technicially she has not been referred, she has just visited a vets, and they started investigating straight away. I never thought about insurance because before I knew she was having shock wave therapy I was planning on paying for it personally (scans, xrays, etc etc)
 
Becki, you should be fine as all the people I've dealt with at NFU claims have been horsey people so understand that when your horse is ill the last thing on your mind is contacting the insurance company prior to any treatment.
Good luck
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Thank you everyone... I will phone them this morning.

Technicially she has not been referred, she has just visited a vets, and they started investigating straight away. I never thought about insurance because before I knew she was having shock wave therapy I was planning on paying for it personally (scans, xrays, etc etc)

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Does not matter if you were planning on paying for it yourself you should still tell them if your horse goes into the vets otherwise your policy is invalidated and any future claim can be refused, regardless of whether it is related or not. I am always utterly amazed that people do not know this, and have not read their policy terms and conditions etc. If something will go on your horse's vet notes/record, you need to tell the insurance company, regardless of whether you are making a claim or not. Otherwise they are well within their rights to refuse any future claim. And you almost certainly agreed to them requesting your horse's entire medical history from your vets when you took out the policy, so they can find out very easily if you have not told them about something.
 
Becki, just call them. NFU are normally very reasonable, they even paid my friend who didn't inform them before she had her mare put down (wasn't an emergency, just her time to go). She didn't even fill in a claim form, just phone them to cancel insurance as horse PTS and a few weeks later a cheque arrived.......amazing.
 
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But she was just going to a regular vets...

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It does not matter! Most policies require you to inform them of any non-standard treatment, i.e. anything outside of vaccinations! Example - my horse stood on a nail - had to have vet out to give course of antibiotics. Obviously not a long term thing, risk of recurrence nil (in terms of caused by same incident). Cost of vet visit and ABs = less than excess, so no claim was ever going to be made. I STILL had to inform the insurers because had I not, and I had tried to claim for something else down the line, if they had requested my vet notes they would have been well within their rights to refuse my claim as my terms and conditions say I MUST notify them of anything non-standard. Most policies are the same.

I raise and lower my level of cover to coincide with the eventing season to cover costs - every time I have to fill in a declaration of health - if you lie on that and they request your notes your cover is null and void too. Just not worth it IMO.

The point is not whether you will make a claim or not, it is that they want to know about all non-standard vets visits in order to determine how much risk you are to them and therefore what to exclude/what premium to charge. Which is why if the cost will be over your excess you may as well claim - you have to tell them anyway so paying it yourself doesn't actually benefit you in any way.
 
I would have thought by now you were easily up to about £500 excluding the SWT. Why would you pay for insurance and also fork out for vet fees?
 
When I first took her, I thought it would be a bit more straight forwards than it has been... Up to £300 I was going to pay myself to prevent my policy increasing in cost. However, on Thursday evening when I discovered what was causing the lameness (don't forget my own vet thought it was just her 'way of going') I just knew I couldn't afford to pay it myself.
 
Have you phoned them yet are they OK about it all.

When my horse got scanned at home by my own vet he charged me £45, she then got referred to Willesley, who are probably similar to where Grace went, they charged £125 a scan - both saw the same things. As soon as you go somewhere posh the prices get extortionate, so I would take a deep breath before opening the bill
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But your policy would not necessarily increase in cost due to the claim, and equally, it might have increased anyway since you would have had to tell them about the investigations. The mare who had £1800 of workups done and nothing found did not end up with an increase in policy cost as the whole thing was so bizzare it was considered unlikely to recur.

Edited to add: Horse insurance is NOT like car insurance - with car insurance if you pay it yourself you can avoid a loss of no claims etc. With horse insurance you have to tell them anyway so will probably get an increase whether you claim or not, plus exclusions etc, so you may as well claim.

 
Im with NFU

My horse came in with a huge fetlock back in april and went down for a scan on it 2 days later. I didnt tell them after i had the scan as wasnt sure like you of the cost.

She then had over the next few months x-rays, nerve blocks joint injuctions etc etc and i never told them just sent them the bill.

The only time i rang for concent was when we had to call in a speicalst surgeon to operate ( you have to for GA purpouses ) and they have paid out everything without a single query.

All i can say is NFU are the best and ive been throught enough this year with cappellli and its taken some of the stress out of the situaion knowing they are being so helpful.

All the best with your horse, lets hope thing all get sorted without too much worry.
 
There will be a time limit for you to claim. I have to claim within 60 days of first treatment. When Rhyn had his op done I had to notify and start claiming within 60 days of first getting the vet out to him, and even then they tried to tell me I'd known about it longer so couldn't claim.

Give NFU a call, ask for some claim forms then send off. Your vet will have to fill some of it in.
 
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