Insurance query - small words please

[Widgeon]

Apologies for asking a question that has doubtless been asked many times before, but my little brain is in a bit of a muddle. I need to phone my insurers but not sure when I'll get the time to do it.

My horse insurance renews on June 05. In November 2022, we started blood testing horse as he was piling on weight in a suspicious way. Insulin was pretty high so dieting was implemented. We tested every month until March, at which point it became apparent that we had a problem. We plan to treat with ertugliflozin. Including callouts and blood testing I'm expecting the whole lot to cost in the region of £700, plus the £350 ish that I've already spent on blood tests. Assuming we can get hold of the drug (there have been supply issues) I think we'll probably be treating until about August.

So....if I open a claim now (i.e. May) can I keep the claim ongoing into next year's policy? Surely a condition with an ongoing claim can't become an exclusion? How does this usually work? And will my premium for next year skyrocket? My only prior claim was much more straightforward as it occurred smack in the middle of the policy year!

ETA - I will contact insurers ASAP but I can't stop chewing this over in my head and worrying about it - sharing stuff here is helpful for stopping that.

 

[SO1]

I believe if you open a claim now it will be from the time you started investigating so it should cover you from one year from November.

 

[Barton Bounty]

Yeah you should be fine for the claim. Are you staying with the same insurance?

 

[Widgeon]

Yeah you should be fine for the claim. Are you staying with the same insurance?

Well....I assume I will have to if I want them to keep paying out? I was thinking about switching but I'm not sure I can face the administrative nightmare that might ensue. Probably easier to cough up the inevitably vast premium for another year. (I'm exaggerating a bit - they're not too bad really).

 

[Barton Bounty]

Well....I assume I will have to if I want them to keep paying out? I was thinking about switching but I'm not sure I can face the administrative nightmare that might ensue. Probably easier to cough up the inevitably vast premium for another year. (I'm exaggerating a bit - they're not too bad really).

Mine didnt go up too much with a claim and they didnt exclude colic either. Fingers crossed yours wont go up too much

 

[Sossigpoker]

Well....I assume I will have to if I want them to keep paying out? I was thinking about switching but I'm not sure I can face the administrative nightmare that might ensue. Probably easier to cough up the inevitably vast premium for another year. (I'm exaggerating a bit - they're not too bad really).

You don't usually have to renew for them to continue to pay out. They will pay out for the period stated in the policy (usually 12 months). So if this issue started in Nov-22 , they will pay until Nov-23 and you don't usually have to renew. But give them a call to double check. This is the case for SEIB and KBIS at least.

 

[w1bbler]

It's 12 months from when you started investigation/ treatment, they will ask for a date when you first noticed the condition & the 12 months starts from that date,
I had a horse that started treatment a few weeks before renewal, I can't remember the exacts circumstances, but I ended up getting a refund of my new year's renewal when horse was pts as the claim was all based on the previous years insurance

 

[AmyMay]

Presumably you’ve notified them of the ongoing investigations, so I can’t see that there‘d be an issue.

 

[Widgeon]

Presumably you’ve notified them of the ongoing investigations, so I can’t see that there‘d be an issue.

Not yet because it's only the last few weeks that we realised we had an actual problem rather than just an excess of autumn grass! But I need to notify them this week, given what we now know.

 

[Widgeon]

It's 12 months from when you started investigation/ treatment, they will ask for a date when you first noticed the condition & the 12 months starts from that date,
I had a horse that started treatment a few weeks before renewal, I can't remember the exacts circumstances, but I ended up getting a refund of my new year's renewal when horse was pts as the claim was all based on the previous years insurance

Very sorry to hear that. But I'm glad that at least the insurance paid out for you.

 

[maya2008]

It will be from last November, as shown by your vet records (which they will likely ask for). Yes claim, Ertugliflozin isn’t cheap! What is the reasoning for using it until August only? We were told the idea is to use it until can get the levels low enough through exercise alone, then trial taking pony off it. Ours is so far gone I think she may have to stay on it. Not so bad at 10.2hh but the cost for anything bigger is huge!

 

[Widgeon]

It will be from last November, as shown by your vet records (which they will likely ask for). Yes claim, Ertugliflozin isn’t cheap! What is the reasoning for using it until August only? We were told the idea is to use it until can get the levels low enough through exercise alone, then trial taking pony off it. Ours is so far gone I think she may have to stay on it. Not so bad at 10.2hh but the cost for anything bigger is huge!

So, reasoning around ertugliflozin - basically I'm hoping we won't need it for long (6 weeks maybe); horse has no clinical signs of a problem but we need to get his insulin down and stable so he can have a steroid jab for an arthritic hock (he's on daily Bute atm to keep it comfortable). If it wasn't for that I wouldn't be considering it. Insulin levels responded well to dieting (went down from 180 to 60) but then it started to rise a bit again, back up to 73 at the last test. So dieting clearly isn't enough on its own - I need help. He's slim and fit and we regularly do 10 mile fast hacks. It's pretty frustrating really. He's an Irish cob so I think it's just his genetics, triggered by piling on weight in last autumn's grass flush. I find the whole thing quite fascinating, when I'm not worrying about my own horse or how to pay for it!

ETA I'm sorry your little pony is looking like she's going to need it for ever.

 

[maya2008]

Fascinating - ours is 35 without the Ertugliflozin (on straw/low sugar haylage diet) but she is symptomatic and sore. Drops to 10 on it, giving a visibly much happier pony. This has been creeping up on us for years though - and she is old. So £100 a month for the next however long isn’t the end of the world.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I don't know if you will be able to claim on that condition because it first started in November last year, you normally have 90 days to notify your insurance of a claim at the start of any symptoms, you should have put a claim in when it first happened.

 

[Widgeon]

Fascinating - ours is 35 without the Ertugliflozin (on straw/low sugar haylage diet) but she is symptomatic and sore. Drops to 10 on it, giving a visibly much happier pony. This has been creeping up on us for years though - and she is old. So £100 a month for the next however long isn’t the end of the world.

So interesting! Mine may well have been toddling along quite happily with horribly high levels for years - he has zero symptoms so goodness knows what his bloods were doing when we weren't checking them. I wonder whether it would have caught up with him in old age too. At least you know you can give your pony a comfortable happy last few months.

 

[Widgeon]

I don't know if you will be able to claim on that condition because it first started in November last year, you normally have 90 days to notify your insurance of a claim at the start of any symptoms, you should have put a claim in when it first happened.

It's a tricky one because we didn't know it was a problem back then. We thought he'd just over eaten. It took several months of testing for the vet to decide that it was a problem that needed treating.

 

[AmyMay]

I don't know if you will be able to claim on that condition because it first started in November last year, you normally have 90 days to notify your insurance of a claim at the start of any symptoms, you should have put a claim in when it first happened.

That would be my concern. I’ve always notified my insurance company of the possibility of further investigations as soon as an issue has arisen.

 

[Widgeon]

That would be my concern. I’ve always notified my insurance company of the possibility of further investigations as soon as an issue has arisen.

I've had a dig through the paperwork and I can't find anything about that. I've had a previous straightforward claim where I didn't notify them, just sent all the evidence within the policy year and it was fine.

 

[Sossigpoker]

I don't know if you will be able to claim on that condition because it first started in November last year, you normally have 90 days to notify your insurance of a claim at the start of any symptoms, you should have put a claim in when it first happened.

That depends on the insurance company.
The insurer will see from the clinical history when the symptoms first started.
Mine was seen between May and August for various loss of performance issues , didn't put claim in for x-rays until around Aug and it was fine
Sometimes you can have what seem like unrelated smaller issues and it doesn't become clear that they're a part of something bigger until a bit later.

 

[Sossigpoker]

It's a tricky one because we didn't know it was a problem back then. We thought he'd just over eaten. It took several months of testing for the vet to decide that it was a problem that needed treating.

Which insurance company is it?

 

[Widgeon]

Mine was seen between May and August for various loss of performance issues , didn't put claim in for x-rays until around Aug and it was fine
Sometimes you can have what seem like unrelated smaller issues and it doesn't become clear that they're a part of something bigger until a bit later.

Yes exactly - that's similar to what happened here. I've given them a call and checked, and this particular insurer (SEIS) is happy to pay claims on any eligible conditions / treatment provided that the claim goes in within 12 months of the start of treatment. This was the approach they took last time I claimed and to be fair to them, they were very good and straightforward to deal with.

 

[ExRacers]

That would be my concern. I’ve always notified my insurance company of the possibility of further investigations as soon as an issue has arisen.

 

[sunnijo]

Fascinating - ours is 35 without the Ertugliflozin (on straw/low sugar haylage diet) but she is symptomatic and sore. Drops to 10 on it, giving a visibly much happier pony. This has been creeping up on us for years though - and she is old. So £100 a month for the next however long isn’t the end of the world.

Hi
My horse has been diagnosed with ems. 2 years ago he had an attack of laminitus and we nearly lost him, he's only 8.long story short, since then we've been trying to manage him with diet and exercise but he has gone down with laminitus again and his glucose levels has shot up to over 120 and the vet has suggested this new drug ertuglizflozin. Did you get yours from the vet? As he's said he will give us a prescription to buy ourselves but can't find anywhere to buy it from.

 

[criso]

In terms of changing insurers halfway through a claim, I wanted to do this but most prospective insurers would not insure me as a new client with an active claim with another company, only E and L. I was able to take out catastrophe cover and previous insurers continued to pay out. The following year I could have moved back to full vets fees but decided with so many exclusions, catastrophe cover made more sense

 

[Widgeon]

In terms of changing insurers halfway through a claim, I wanted to do this but.....

That's really useful to know, thanks.

 

[Widgeon]

Hi
My horse has been diagnosed with ems. 2 years ago he had an attack of laminitus and we nearly lost him, he's only 8.long story short, since then we've been trying to manage him with diet and exercise but he has gone down with laminitus again and his glucose levels has shot up to over 120 and the vet has suggested this new drug ertuglizflozin. Did you get yours from the vet? As he's said he will give us a prescription to buy ourselves but can't find anywhere to buy it from.

Hi there, yes I did get it from the vet. Which country are you in and is there a reason your vet is reluctant to source it themselves? If UK I would have a word with your veterinary practice and ask about that. Alternatively you could give eVetDrug a call and ask if they can source it for you - they may be able to help. It's quite expensive but it is very good and well worth tracking down.

Sorry you're struggling with your horse, it has been a dreadful season for laminitis.

 

[sunnijo]

Hi there, yes I did get it from the vet. Which country are you in and is there a reason your vet is reluctant to source it themselves? If UK I would have a word with your veterinary practice and ask about that. Alternatively you could give eVetDrug a call and ask if they can source it for you - they may be able to help. It's quite expensive but it is very good and well worth tracking down.

Sorry you're struggling with your horse, it has been a dreadful season for laminitis.

Thanks for your rep!y. I am in the UK. My vet can get it but seemed to think it may be cheaper if I got it? I will have a look at evetdrug
Thanks