Insurance question. My new horse passed 5* vetting, but slightly pigeon toed

[sun*flower]

Hi,

I’m a very new and a very novice horse owner.

I’ve recently bought our first family horse after passing the 5*vetting. The only comment that the vet wrote on the certificate was that she had sharp molars and slightly pigeon toad.

I’m now looking into insurance and wondering if I have to declare that she was and passed the vetting. My concern is that insurance companies would put exclusions on front legs because of her slight pigeon toeing and the problems they may cause.

Am I wrong in thinking this?

Thanks.

 

[splashgirl45]

it would be a shame if it meant the front legs were not covered, i bought mine as a 15 month old and she was slightly pigeon toed, she never had a soundness problem and was pts aged 24....i have never bought an expensive horse so didnt have vettings. so didnt have a problem with insurance.....i know these days it is frowned on not to vet but this was many years ago and it was pretty normal for us as we generally bought horses through word of mouth..

 

[Cortez]

Being pigeon toed is not a medical condition. I'd get the sharp teeth seen to ASAP 'though.

 

[Upthecreek]

Most insurance companies will request a copy of the vetting.

 

[scats]

I’m trying to remember if my insurers asked for a copy of the vetting. I think they did.
Insurance is all about risk. Although being pigeon toed is not a medical condition, in the eyes of an insurer it is a risk of further problems developing. As it has been noted by the vet, it wouldn’t surprise me if they try to exclude them from anything other than external injuries.

 

[Puzzled]

We’ve bought a show jumper once...vet cert said ‘slightly pigeon toed’ the insurance company wouldn’t insure it for anything that was as a result of its pigeon toes!! If it wasn’t a vet that was local to you I’d forget she was ever vetted!

 

[sun*flower]

I’ve read that some insures don’t require a vetting certificate if the horse is valued under £5000. I paid less that this. Why would I need to show a certificate if they didn’t require it in the first place?

 

[Shay]

It would amount to fraud if you did not declare I'm afraid. Your vets have an obligation, should you claim, to declare the certificate. If you used a different vet from your normal one you probably have a fighting chance of the passport system not working as it should and spotting it. But otherwise - collating data is what insurance companies do!

But if you did not intend to declare the vetting for insurance purposes - why vet at all? Now you have done, failing to declare it risks a claim being denied. And if you are refused a claim on the basis of fraud from any insurance company you go on an industry wide risk database which will affect any insurance you take out, possibly for the rest of your life.

 

[meleeka]

I wasn’t asked for the vetting paperwork so If they don’t ask you, you don’t need to declare, unless a claim happens to do with being Pigeon toed (v.inlikely obviously!) and it will probably be on your vet records. It’s not a medical condition and only out there in case you want to show for instance.

Do get the teeth done ASAP though.

 

[Tiddlypom]

When I insured horses (I no longer bother), I was always asked to provide the insurance co with a copy of the vetting certificate from the outset so that they could study it in minute detail to decide what to exclude. These would be less than 5k horses.

 

[teddypops]

There is usually a tick box which asks if you have had the horse vetted.

 

[Red-1]

As other posters have said, it is committing fraud if you do not declare the 'fault' found on vetting. Somewhere on the application will be a clause to tick saying weather you vetted and if there is any pre-existing condition.

Insurance fraud could make your car insurance seriously expensive in the future, plus some employers would be none too happy! Likely the fraud would not be discovered until you tried to make a claim, whereupon you could be found out.

I feel for the vets TBH. They dare not omit a conformational fault in case the horse goes lame later then their client takes them to the cleaners because they did not point out the conformational fault that caused the horse to go lame.

 

[sun*flower]

Hi, thank you all for your replies.