Insurance nightmare! WWYD?

Birker2020

Birker2020

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Had my renewal quotation last week from NFU for my rising 16 year old, and its nearly £1000 a year, gone up from £74 to £83. Started shopping around at Your Horse Live last month and got a couple of quotes from KBIS and SEIB in time for my renewal date. I had a very good quote of SEIB which was exactly the same benefits as my present insurer and £30 month cheaper, but after faxing my horses veterinary history to them, and their underwriters assessing the risk they have told me they will not cover my horse for illness, only accident.

Now I need to send his history to KBIS and see what they can offer me. KBIS seem hopeful there won't be many exclusions on the policy. The problem seems to stem from the fact I had the vet out for gassy colic, once or twice but it was just a matter of giving a shot of painkiller and he was fine again (due to rich grazing at yard). Nothing of any concern.

Spoke to vet yesterday and he said that the colic's were nothing and that they couldn't make an issue out of those, it was the equivalent of us having tummy ache. But he obviously wasn't right as SEIB underwriters were really worried about the colics and said they would only take on my horse for accident and not illness.

Don't know whether to go for the cheap insurance and put some money aside every month in case of illness, my vet said I could credit my account if I wanted to. I've had him 8 years and he hasn't had an episode of colic for over 18 months now. In the eventuality of him getting colic - if push came to shove I could afford the colic operation as I have savings but would rather be insured. The vet said such an op would be £4K - £6K. He said he wouldn't hesitate to operate on Bailey as he is in such good shape and is competed every weekend, and fit, sound and healthy.

WWYD? Go for the cheaper insurance and credit my vet account or pay the dearer renewal and hope they would cover me for colic?
 
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Tbh, if one insurer is knocking you back, the likelihood is that they all will:(. Will your current insurers definately pay for colic or would they use it as a get out of jail free card if you ever had to claim?

Will the cheaper insurer cover you for everything except colic? I could live with the colic being excluded but I dont think I would want only accidental injury cover.
 
i had this dilemma 4 years ago and took out BHS gold to get third party for around £60 and pay £90 every month into an ISA. Nod now has £5k that i can spend on him as I like and if he doesnt need it then its a nice nest egg :)
 
What is their reasoning for excluding all illness, and not just colic? My old loan horse wasn't covered for colic due to a couple of episodes of gassy colic, but he definitely was covered for other illnesses.

Is it something to do with his age? I know some insurers will only cover veterans (and they class a 16 year old as this, as my girl is) for accidental injury and not illness.

As an aside, I am with KBIS and would definitely recommend.
 
Sarah_Jane said:
Keep trying if you can and then at least you know your options. Also give Amtrust a try they are very sensible and reasonable cost wise!
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Agree re AmTrust - excellent company to deal with.

However as others have said if one has knocked you back they are quite likely to all follow suit. Go back to the NFU & query the rise - you may find they will reduce the renewal quote. What you don't want to happen is for a new company to take you on, then in 12 months time reduce the cover, as you will find your options even more limited in a years time. It may seem a large rise in your premium, but it takes no time at all to run up a vets bill of 1k +, so even if the NFU don't improve their renewal quote you may find that the best option is to stay with them.
 
I don't think that's true to blanket a statement over all companies. NFU refused to cover my horse (bone spavin treatment in previous yr), SEIB would cover but exclude all arthritis, KBIS (who I took policy with) only excluded hind legs. It's only a phone call, try them all!
 
It might be worth getting a letter from your vet to explain that the colic was not serious to give to your insurers. I did this to get some silly exclusions removed.
Otherwise putting some money aside may be the best option. I am coming round to this conclusion. Once a horse has had a few things wrong with it they become pretty much uninsurable.
 
don't insurance companies ask you if you have been declined cover for anything, think once one has a bee its bonnet the others will too, and if NFU ask you, you are in same boat.
 
I like to be able to make all decisions regarding my horses care, rather than have to defer to someone with possibly no knowledge of horses/me/my situation on the phone! I am rather a contol freak generally!
There are just so may threads on here about insurance companies being difficult in paying our or delaying treatment while people have to negotiate or even people not PTS (when they believe that is the right thing to do) becasue the insurance co. won't pay out!
Or worse people have wracked up huge bills believeing they are covered but then finding out the insurance co won't pay and they are stuck in a nasty situation.

Polo has so many exclusions (after a tough eventing career) that if he injured his ear he'd probably be covered but that was about it!!
I have a savings account/ credit cards and my own land for ornaments !
 
I agree to get a letter from your vet to get SEIB to reconsider. I have done this in the past to get an exclusion lifted. I've been with them for a long time and have 2 horses and lorry insured with them; they have always been brilliant. However the underwriters don't care about loyalty but a vet's letter can swing them.
 
Couple of things. Did you tell your current insurers when your horse had his episodes of colic? Even if you don't claim, you have to tell them. If you didn't tell them, then there's a very strong possibility that if you ever claim for anything through them, your claim would be denied! Also, as another poster has said, once you've been turned down for insurance you may find you now have to declare this at every new application! Finally, if you decide to abandon insurance altogether, I wouldn't credit it to your vets' account! Leave it in your own bank/building society account. I know the interest on it is miserly but if you build up credit with them to equal colic surgery of £6k then that would be interest you're losng and - god forbid - if anything happened and your vets went out of business you might have great difficulty getting your money back! And what if you urgently needed the cash you'd lodged with them for some other reason? Would they give it back to you? Take care!
 
Polos Mum said:
I like to be able to make all decisions regarding my horses care, rather than have to defer to someone with possibly no knowledge of horses/me/my situation on the phone! I am rather a contol freak generally!
There are just so may threads on here about insurance companies being difficult in paying our or delaying treatment while people have to negotiate or even people not PTS (when they believe that is the right thing to do) becasue the insurance co. won't pay out!
Or worse people have wracked up huge bills believeing they are covered but then finding out the insurance co won't pay and they are stuck in a nasty situation.


I have a savings account/ credit cards and my own land for ornaments !
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"this"
that way I am in charge of their treatment. I and my vet are the best people to determne treatment and PTS if necessary not an insurance company.
 
We did the Maths last year when our first lad turned 15 and his insurance shot up just because of his age.

At the end of the day insurance is a bit like gambling. You bet you will need to claim, and they bet you won't. But like any "house" they stack the deck and play with the odds. The purpose is to make money for them and for thier shareholders at the end of the day.

Now I am not saying don't insure. 3rd party liability, legal fees, death & disposal are all worth insuring for. If you have a competition animal loss of use is probably worth it too. (We have some with and some without.)

But Vets fees are a real gamble and we felt it was a step too far. We now "self - insure" by saving the equivalent amount. If the insurers have done thier sums correctly - and I'll bet they have! - then we should be making the money rather than them.

But we do have the savings cushion to cover anything unexpected.
 
THank you all for your comments. I've been sick all Xmas with a terrible virus so haven't been able to see your replies. I've just rang back KBIS and accepted a quote with them.
 
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