Insurance or not

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Velvet turner

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I have had my horse insured for the last year. She is only 3, has had impaction colic before as she was fed lawn trimmings by the neighbour, so of course colic is excluded as this was before her policy was taken out. I have just contacted them to advise i will be having ulcer checks is this covered and they advised vet fees are not covered (my mistake, i was so sure i did select them). I offered to backpay to the date of inception for them however they said they can add them from now but ulcers would be excluded as they are prexisting because i am adding a benefit - very annoying!

I have now cancelled this policy and was going to take one out with another insurer however i would of course mention the ulcer symptoms as they are before the new polcy date. With colic and ulcers now excluded i am thinking is it worth just putting money aside each month and using a CC for large bills? Or should i reinsure. I hate the 'will they pay, wont they pay' worry with insurance but appreciate them when they do pay out. What do you do?
 
I have up to £1500 accidental injury cover with membership of World Horse Welfare. I put a certain amount of money (equivalent to my premium when I did insure them) into a dedicated bank account each year - to date I am significantly in credit.
 
The issue isn't saving X amount per month for premiums, it's having £5-10k available and ring fenced for potential broken horse bills. (And explaining to your husband why you're spending it on horse bills when you could have insured)

I bought my mare in 2012, she's be insured since then and I estimate I've probably spent about £9k in insurance premiums in that period. I didn't make a claim until she was 19 and since then I have probably claimed just over £10k so for me, the first near decade I never claimed and then all of a sudden made my money back!
 
The problem is that when things go wrong, they go very wrong and costs can build up very quickly. I have had my current horse for three years. My insurance premiums, if saved up monthly, would come to around £2,500 which would barely touch a large vet bill if one were to occur now. I would definitely insure.
 
I don’t think this is a question anyone can answer for you as it depends on your individual circumstances. Things to consider are:

Do you have savings you can use to cover vet bills?

Do you have easy access to credit and can you afford to pay it back?

What is your appetite for risk? Would it make you feel anxious about your horse’s health if you didn’t have insurance cover in place?
 
I always insured and when the NFU premiums kept going up, I took the boys off. And thought I would put the money to one side. One had to have his epiglottis sliced by a professional from Newmarket. £3,500. And the other fractured a tooth. Estimate is running into thousands too. So, I really wish I did still have the insurance.
 
I’m dithering about insurance right now. I’ve always had mine fully insured and hardly claimed on it but my current mare is 20 and has had a run of injuries, ems, colic and so much is now excluded. I definitely got my money’s worth with her. I’m paying £86 a month 🙁 so I’m looking to cancel it and take out a veteran policy with just basic cover for injury.
 
@dreamcometrue I had a similar dilemma with my 22 year old, I ended up dropping her cover from £5k per incident to £3k and adding in disposal and it knocked about £20 off a month so it's about £77 a month, I did the same with our old terrier, his monthly premium went higher than his monthly treatment cost so I lowered the cover amount and it covered a huge chunk of the vets bills when we lost him 3 months after renewal, much more than I would have paid in premiums.
 
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