Insurance - loss of use?

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MagicMelon

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I hate to even ask about this but the odds are that my wonderful horses career is over due to his serious tendon injury - he damaged it further 3 weeks ago (after his 2nd month on box rest after surgery) which vet said reduced chances of him returning to any sort of work (let alone 1* eventing and BSJA that he was previously doing) to barely 25%. As of 2 days ago, the leg has now swollen up badly which is very worrying and clearly not a good sign yet again. Vets have said his injury is rare therefore they have great difficulty knowing what the prognosis will be and how long it'll take to know. They've said certainly a year from the point of when he had surgery, but another vet said it can take 2 years for a horse to fully heal as much as can be with this...

My insurance company is paying out for my claim but we're already at about £4k of my max £5k limit and we still have months left of re-scanning, checks etc. Due to the vets uncertainty about how long it'll take for him to be as healed as he ever will be, at what point could I claim loss of use? He's insured for £8k so I assume I would get the full amount since he was certainly worth at least that just before he hurt himself? I'm just thinking that since it looks so rubbish at this stage, I'd rather get the £8k sooner rather than later because it'll go towards looking after his ongoing care (ie. pay for further vets fees once I'm over my max £5k limit).

What would happen if he could be ridden but only gently for perhaps dressage (even that's unlikely they say)? He is an eventer and showjumper so I assume I could still claim loss of use since his career was never as a dressage horse?

Apologies for the ignorance but I've never claimed on my insurance until this so have no idea how it all works!
 
I don't think you will get the full amount.. Sorry to be the bearing of bad news but they tend to say, well you are keeping the horse and in x years, he will be worth x as a hack. I would really talk to your vet for advice first before talking to the insurance company as to the best way to approach your insurance.

Really sorry to hear about your boy...
 
Luci07 said:
I don't think you will get the full amount.. Sorry to be the bearing of bad news but they tend to say, well you are keeping the horse and in x years, he will be worth x as a hack. I would really talk to your vet for advice first before talking to the insurance company as to the best way to approach your insurance.

Really sorry to hear about your boy...
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Thanks, he's 14 already and is definately never going to be a hack (I stopped hacking him years ago as too dangerous!). Even then surely a hack is only worth pennies especially one in his mid-teens so I should get the bulk of the £8k? I assumed loss of use meant the use of which the horse was previously used (ie. eventing / SJ in this case)?
 
Most LOU is a % of insured value, check your details for how much they will pay, you really need your vet to work with you if you are going to claim, he needs to be sure the horse will not return to full work.
 
It depends who you are insured with, my insurers paid up 80% which I believe is the maximum you will get LOU. My horse's ridden prognosis was very poor (chronic sacro illiac dysfunction) and Sue Dyson at AHT was happy to say so. If your vet will state that your horse won't be ridden again you will get the full maximum %. I had almost maxed out on vet fees for the one condition. I anticipated a battle over my horse's insured value, but no the iinsurers accepted it without quiblle (and I collected loads of adverts for Sandro Hit bred dressage horses!!, which iI didn't need) I understand LOU is paid in %s according to what the horse could do - ie. a well bred mare would retain a significant worth maybe as a broodmare etc.
 
I am going through the same thing at the moment. Louis fractured his elbow last October and I have just accepted that he will never be able to do what he is insured for any more. I am with KBIS and they have told me that they keep 10% of the value he is insured for so if you have yours insured for £8k they will keep £800 and you should get back £7200, that way you can still keep your horse insured but only for the lesser value (£800). They have also reduced my vets fees from £5k to £3500.

I think a lot depends on the fine print of your policy but I doubt they vary that much.
 
I claimed loss of use 2 years ago on a mare that I bought for £4500, I had the loss of use as I had scraped together every penny I had to buy her and should anything go wrong I wanted to be able to afford another.

I fought with the insurer for over a year about the pay out. The independent valuation given by a lady in Greece ? Was £2500 as I was keeping my mare rather than having her euthanised I would have got 50% of that. My mare was injured 6 months after I bought her and my argument was that they were happy to insure at the purchase price and charge me the insurance of a horse at that purchase price so how can the 'market value' drop by half.

I did win of soughts in the end, I got about what I was due if we had agreed on value plus a refund on some of my policy payments.

It was all very stressful, but I stuck at it and I think that's why they gave up lol. So be prepared to fight it and have your horses competition results at hand then look on the selling sights and find a few that match and are around your insurance price :)

I also had a vet report from Sue Dyson at AHT saying that my girl would never do what she was insured for. My own vets felt I needed a referral as their word alone wouldn't have been enough.

I hope your boy heals well and good luck :)
 
Mine pay 100% if the horse is pts and 60% if kept. My 6 year old has suffered ligament damage when she fractured her pedal bone on Boxing Day and an MRI scan a couple of weeks ago left me with a possibility that she may never come sound. Unless she's in pain that can't be controlled she'd just be retired rather than pts so that's my choice and therefore the insurers would pay 60% of the value she was insured for at the time of the incident.

I spoke with my insurers and I have 12 months from the date of injury in which to claim but if by that time its still not completely clear as to whether she will come sound enough to do what I insured her for then I can apply to the under writers for an extension.

You need to check what your policy states and speak to your insurers. Nobody here is going to be able to give you the correct answer I'm afraid.
 
You wont get the full insured sum I have one here who was a LOU horse I was given him after his claim went though the owner got 80% ofthe insured value it will say on your policy what that it.
This horse had a rare problem with unknown prognosis he was referred by the insurance company to university vet hospital where two professors agreed that the horse was unsafe to ride
He was doing the job he was insured for right until the issue was discovered and it had occurred since he had a five stage vetting three months before the insurance company paid out the full 80% on LOU they make you on offer which might not be the full amount in this case because the horse (an expensive one ) was no older than when the policy was taken out he was doing the job insured for and the two vets assessed his value for the company they paid no quibble at all.
 
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