Insurance Death Claim - Any Experiences?

catembi

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My horse was put down on Monday with the full agreement of the local vet, Newmarket vet & insurance co vet.

Reading my policy small print, it turns out that the amount I paid for him is the 'maximum' I could get back for him, & I could get the 'market value' if less...

Has anyone ever made a death claim & not got back the sum insured?

I bought Cat for £6k 4 1/2 years ago. He's a 17 hh sports horse by Cruising & was 11 when put down. Since I bought him, he has won £145 BSJA & 9 BD points. He was competing Newcomers with the odd 1 m 15, qualified Disco 2nd round, etc.

Am I likely to have issues with the insurance co in getting my £6k back? I know that it seems very mercenary with poor Cat only recently departed, but I miss him so badly that I need another friend, and I need some idea of budget. Need to get cracking if I'll have to persuade o/h to do a remortgage & need to get planning if I need to sell his sports car while he's at work...
confused.gif
 
I am dealing with my friends insurance claim at the moment where her horse was killed in a road accident. ( the rider also killed ) She got back the full amount the horse was insured for. Who is your insurance company if you dont mind me asking how much was he insured for? You say you paid £6k for him but was he insured for £6k? If he wasnt you will only get what he was insured for.
 
Hello,

I paid £6k for him & he was also insured for £6k. He was a nice horse, as you can see from his photo. The last thing we did together was come 3rd in a newcomers at an area 32 show & got our names in H&H.

Looking around on here at the horses for sale, I don't think his value is unrealistic. (Although I'd give far, far more than that to have him back in the field safe and well.)
 
If he was insured for £6k i cant see you having any problems getting £6k back. I think the "sum insured or market value if less" is for those who insure a lower valued horse at a higher price to get more money ( am sure there are some of them out there ) i am dealing with NFU at the moment so havent any experience with petplan. They paid up within a week of receiving the claim form. I cant forsee any problems you will have. Like you said everything was agreed between the relevant companies before your horse was PTS so i think you have done everything by the book. Good luck and let us know how you get on.
 
You should get £6k in my experience. From what you say he has done if they query it (I doubt they will) it will be pretty easy to find adverts of horses of similar age, type and scope to back your claim. Petplan are pretty good. (I used to process all the insurance claims at a large equine vets so have been involved in several claims like this)
 
When my horse and old pony were killed by lightening in the summer the insurance paid straight out for my horse although they asked for written conformation from instructors etc that she was still worth the value insured for (we paid £5000, she was insured for this and they paid this back out). The pony however was with a different company as a veteran and so was insured for next to nothing and they took forever to pay out (mentioning no names as to which company this was!)
 
I had a horse of mine PTS years ago and we got paid out no problem, I would guess you will get your £6k back, as in theory £145 Bsja is not really like a massive amount to win over the length of time you had him. It sounds like a fair price to me. If my memory is right it didnt take very long for the money to come though only a couple of weeks.
Ps * Have a hug*
 
QR - my experience with Petplan in this circumstance was very bad. they refused to pay out a penny because of one word - ataxia - that the vet put on the death form thingy that allowed them to wriggle out by saying that he died from an 'illness' despite the fact it was caused by a witnessed accident.

huge hugs to you, this is a very difficult time for you and you have my full sympathies.
 
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