Insurance - if you add up what you've paid out vs what you've claimed

[horsemad32]

Per horse if you have more than one - how much have you paid while you've had them (roughly), vs how much have you claimed? Just wondering - all these threads say horse insurance isn't viable for companies as they don't make enough profit - so, is it?

For various horses I've had:
1) £2400 paid in ins, claim totalling £5000.
2) £3780 paid in ins, claim totalling £1500.
3) £768 paid. No claims.

So in total I've paid out £6948 and claimed £6500.

 

[Tr0uble]

Well, I've claimed the best part of £15k in total....so I think it was worthwhile!

 

[princessa81]

ive only had my boy 8 months and paid 296 in payments so far. he is due at vet school on wednesday for xrays,bloods,nerve blocks etc so il be claiming for 2 vet visits,and trailer company. il keep you posted! in my opinion? insurance well worth it!

Elizabeth

x

 

[Littlelegs]

I am definitely better off for insurance. Only had one claim but as I went to the max, including all the extras it was more than I'd payed. Plus at the time I claimed I had less funds of my own than in the past, so was like an untouchable savings account. If I had put money in an account for years I would have spent it through desperation when I had daughter. So for me it has been more than value for money, its peace of mind.

 

[Louby]

Im in the well worth it clan too.
Ive paid about £3700 in premiums but claim in excess of £10k. Fractured leg, tooth extraction under GA
To me its peace of mind. Im all for no insurance if you have the funds to pay if need be.

 

[Carefreegirl]

Unfortunately I'm also quids in. Last horse LOU payout after a year of treatment almost lazing out the 5k limit then the £1600 LOU payout then new horse 7 months later in horsepital for 10 days for joint flush and treating sceptacemia. I definitely wouldn't do without insurance.

 

[criso]

Paid out about £2500 in premiums.

Claimed about £20000

and that's on one horse

 

[EmmaC78]

I have probably paid about £3000 in premiums and claimed about £1300. Was actually considering cancelling it last time the renewal came in but didn't want to tempt fate.

 

[Wheels]

Over the last 10 years I've paid around 5k in premiums and claimed back less than 1k lol so erm... Probs I should hope this continues as I don't want an injured horse even if vets fees are paid by seib

 

[Catcus]

I've paid in for 14 years and never claimed! I'm not going to add it up, it'll just make me cry!

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Paid out £3000ish Claimed £100

Happy to be out of pocket and long may it stay that way as could do without the stress and worry of a sick or lame horse and a large claim.

 

[CBAnglo]

I have multiple horses; one retired, one recently injured and a youngster. All three are insured with NFU.

The retired one's insurance is almost as much as the other two, even though he has the lowest value (£500 is the minimum). But he has max vet cover.

I think it is a waste of money getting insurance with a company that is not going to honour their side of the contract; we all know that company with two letters which is notorious for not paying out. You would be better off sticking the premium in the bank.

I recently rang round to get quotes, and it was much of a muchness (not a lot of difference - unlike, for example, car insurance) however I ended up staying with NFU as they have a good reputation. This was despite the problems I had with my injured horse's claim, which have now been sorted out.

If I add up what I have spent and what I have claimed, I have spent more. But you cant really put a price on piece of mind; when your horse is injured/sick the last thing you want to think about is money or fighting with insurance companies, so I think it pays to insure with a good one.

 

[YasandCrystal]

For one horse I paid in £1,500 and they paid out just short of £14,000 all in 18 months! Thank God for insurance!

 

[Pinkatc]

Horse 1 an Anglo Arab owned since 2005 paid in £3000 claimed £1200
Horse 2 a NF mare owned since 2006 paid £1200 never had the vet apart from jabs and teeth (touch wood!)
Horse 3 a TB owned since 2011 paid in £480 claimed £2500! Clumsy accident prone eejit
I'd like to say I'm regimented enough to put money aside every month for emergencies and cancel the policies, but I know I'm not. I'd rather pay the premiums and know they are covered for anything major happening.

 

[WestCoast]

Insurance is not there to make you money - it's there to provide you with peace of mind and protect you against an unlikely disaster.

The most important part of it is the third party cover, which really should be compulsory in the same way as it is with cars as horses do potentially have the ability to seriously injure someone.

The level of vets bill cover is, however, scarily poor for the price of it. Particularly the ability to exclude something that has happened before from the next year's cover.

Paula

 

[Thistle]

I have 5 horses and no longer insure, I can afford to pay a large bill if I need to but prefer the money to make interest in my account rather than an insurance companies.

3rd party is covered via BHS and PC membership.

I stopped insuring when I added up the policies.

 

[tabithakat64]

Over the 15 years I've had my own horses I've claimed about £14k but have only paid roughly half of that.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We added up all that we'd paid out, took into account the fact that the only time we notified the company of a vet visit (which wasn't quite as much as the excess) resulted in an exclusion. Several years later when the horse had to be pts, the company refused to pay out.
We have multiple horses and fortunately can afford to pay our vet bills. We have no intention of putting any horse through prolonged box-rest or major surgery, so we simply go with BHS gold membership.

 

[Racergirl]

Im also in the "quids in" camp - New mare (only brought her home 5 weeks ago) has already racked up 2k in vets bills with an injury and subsequent cellulitis that is still ongoing (paid out two months worth of premiums) Other mare has had all but three years worth (so about £1000) and claimed somewhere around £8 - 10k in total I should think...

My homebred "youngster" who is out on loan now - hes 13, but by the time he was 3 he had racked up £30,000 in vets bills (he was RIDICULOUSLY accident prone when he was 2!) so apart from it not being a suprise when i had a polite request to insure him elsewhere, Id say its most definately a good thing !!

 

[criso]

We have multiple horses and fortunately can afford to pay our vet bills. We have no intention of putting any horse through prolonged box-rest or major surgery, so we simply go with BHS gold membership.

I think with multiple horses it is more likely to even out but even without surgery or box rest it is scary how easy it can add up.

One of my claims, my horse did something to his back leg in the stable, non weight bearing, suspected possible broken pelvis. Emergeny call out after hours, rushed to vet hospital. Xrays, ultrasounds, round the clock observation in the ICU resulted in a vets bill that pushed £2000.

A more recent one, ongoing lameness which didn't improve with rest. Too lame to sling out in a field or even retire. Another hospital visit when standard lameness work up and nerve blocks didn't help. Ultrasound after ultrasound, x rays, more nerve blocks. Needed scintigraphy in the end to locate the problem in his shoulder. We would never have got to that point without the tests and technology. Another bill over £2000. And that's before treatment.

The reality is that the diagnostic options open to vets now are expensive as well as treatment. As I said with several horses I would consider self insuring and putting the money the premiums would have cost in a bank account but with one I think it's worth doing.

 

[micramadam]

With the grey mare I reckon we are about even as she is a sick bay ranger!
The other 3, have paid more in insurance then have claimed but it is the peace of mind more than anything else for me.

 

[Double_choc_lab]

In the 7 years we had two 13hh ponies I spent about £3,500 but claimed absolutely ZERO. Think what I could have bought for that.

Two years with mare spent about 800 but claimed 1,400

 

[haras]

I'm in the thank god for insurance camp.

I have one mare, who I have spent approx £700 in premiums and have had approx 18k back. Old gelding have spent approx 1k in premiums and have had in excess of 2.5k back. Old mare (now rip) paid about £600 in premiums, had approx 1.5k back.

Two young fillies, I've paid out approx £400 and £200 respectively and touch wood had £0 back. With the issues I've had with my mare though, its peace of mind.

 

[whizzer]

My insurance has paid out 10k for 2 claims over last 2 yrs. I've paid £6k on top of one claim for a problem that turned out more complicated than originally thought & maxed out on 2nd claim for gastric ulcers, so if he gets those again I'll be forking out for that myself! Still wouldn't be without my insurance though.