Insurance & PTS question please

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Sophiesmum

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I can't instantly lay my hands on my insurance document and was just wondering whether anyone knows the answer to this.............our boy had cover for vets fees (and death on humane grounds) as opposed to loss of use, and we had him pts last month following a horrid diagnosis with front foot lameness. I have only paid the vet the excess so far, but think the actual pts and disposal wouldn't be covered as it wasn't death on humane grounds. Thoughts please............Thanks
 
I doubt you'd get a pay out on death I'm afraid, you would normally battle this out with insurers before PTS. They only tend to pay out after minus consultation if it was an emergency/BEVA guidelines.
 
Sorry, I probably didn't make myself clear, not the cover for the value of the horse, the actual cost (payable to the vet) for pts and disposing of. The vet signed that it wasn't in accordance with BEVA guidlines. Sorry, you might have meant that anyway. I'm just not sure if I will owe the vet another £400ish
 
I would have thought it's up to you to pay I'm afraid, as like you said it wasn't on humane grounds (which would be a broken leg for example). It's so unfair as in your eyes it was the most humane thing to do, but insurers don't usually see it that way.
 
You're probably right Bean88, we did the best thing for the horse instead of running the bill up sky high and still having to have him pts - c'est la vie. Looks like they will only have to cough up for the diagnosis and x-rays then
 
SM - 5 years ago I was in a similar position. My 20 yr old had a terible foot diagnosis that didn't mean he had to be pts there and then but I knew he wouldn't be able to go on much longer and for sure the winter would be impossible. With a very heart I arranged for him to be pts as late in the autumn as I dared. My insurance also said cover if pts on humane grounds but I had already discussed the quality of life (lack of) that my horse would have had and if that wasn't humane grounds then I don't know what is. My specialist vet totally agreed with me and bless him he rang my insurers to argue my corner. After this they agreed to pay out 65% of Sullivan's value as a goodwill gesture. It might be worth getting your vet to ring or write to your insurers arguing the same. They can only say no. So sorry about your horse and good luck with finding a solution to the insurance x
 
QR
As BOF - some years ago had a terrible time with pet plan who felt we should not put our boy to sleep. We went ahead and the vet wrote and said he felt it was in the best interests of the horse and they sent me a cheque a month later despite arguing the toss for weeks before. It was unexpected as I had faxed them the day before PTS to say time and place etc that it would take place and offered them another chance to send someone to assess him. They never ever replied to this. It may be worth asking your vet to write to them. Sadly I am sure you would rather have your horse than your money but unfortunately when there is no choice that is what you pay insurance for.
 
Most insurance companies will not pay out if the horse is "field sound". You and I would consider the horse's quality of life to be the most important factor. But to them "field sound" means that pain can be controlled with painkillers, even if this is expensive and causes side-effects and leaves a poor quality of life.
Despite Vet letters my friend did not get a payout and put her much loved mare to sleep because her quality of life was so poor.
 
Sorry to hear about your horse.

When Catembi was PTS, I seem to remember that I had to pay the disposal costs, even tho we had no option but to PTS. They weren't covered by the policy, altho I got the sum insured for him.
 
Insurance companies have to adhere to Beva guidlines which are set down by Vets.. most compaines have additional options like disposal..however its likely that if Beva guidelines are not met the whole claim would be rejected ie death (sum Insured) and Dispsal... vet fees may be payable though

Beva guidelines are quite harsh
 
Unless the vetcould confirm this was the only reasonable and humane oputcome for the horse then no you would not be covered for death of the horse or the disposal. The cost of euthanasia is not usually covered either unless it has been agreed by the insurer and incorporated as part of the vets fees costs.

Bascally insurers don't want people to just have horses PTS to claim death payments when said horse could be perfectly happy living out in a field but the owner felt it was of no use to them so they had it PTS instead.

There are plenty of cases where a horse really does require euthanasia as otherwise it would be in constant pain and it's a welfare issue. In these cases many insurers will consider a death claim/settlement but it does have to be agreed prior to euthanasia and through consultation with the treating vet and possibly a referral vet.

If you chose to have a horse PTS that didn't warrant immediate destruction on humane grounds, without firstly consulting the insurance company then it is very likely you will not be reimbursed for the value of your horse unless the vet can argue a very good case - but this ,as mentioned should have been done before so insurers are put fully in the picture.

As advised to start with though, disposal is usually a part of a death claim so, if the death claim is not being settled the disposal will not be covered either.

To many people have horses PTS without first consulting insurers and then wonder why the insurer does not want to pay up!
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I am under no illusions death of our boy will not be covered and am not expecting a payout under that section, I just didn't know whether the putting to sleep and disposing would come under the cover of 'vets fees'. I didn't think it would, but was just clutching at straws really, and I'm sure I'll know in a few days when they send the settlement to the vet. It's just it has taken a while, and it is no-ones fault, the claim form took about 10 days to arrive (1st lot of snow), then we were away for a week over New Year, then forwarded forms to vet (cue more snow and postal disruptions), then despite sending a stamped envelope for forwarding to the insurers the form was sent back to me. The claim is lodged on the insurers records and they admit to being about 10 days behind, it's just I'm impatient. I only filled in the form for claiming for vets fees, but my vet filled in the section for death as well, thats what made me wonder.
 
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