Insurance question please???

Holidays_are_coming

Holidays_are_coming

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My mares behaviour is getting worse, I've owned her for 3.5 years and even when she tries me out she has never been like this we had vertical rears this am coupled with bucks straight after she wanted me off! I've called the vet as I'm really worried about her now, I'm certain that it's not her ulcers and I know I may have to have her scoped to prove it as the insurance won't cover them. But if I have her investigated and they can't find anything can I claim off her insurance.

Some vibes would be great as I'm really worried, she is usually such a sweet mare!!!
 
Generally speaking insurance companies don't pay out for behavioural problems. They pay for illness or injury. If you need them to pay for the investigations, make sure you have their agreement before the tests starts.
 
I'd ring the insurance company up to make sure. But thinking of you and her and hope you can get her sorted very soon.
 
Yes I would say you are spot on. I would try giving her a cup of linestone flour in her feeds for a few days and then feed chaff immediately before riding and see if there is a difference within say 3 days. An improvement will point to ulcers. Alternatively try 7 Rantacidine tablets in her feed for a few days and the chaff or Fast Fibre before riding.

My WB bucked over his ears and attacked us with teeth , hinds and striking out or rearing - he had mild ulcers but was eventually diagnosed with chronic sacro illiac dysfunction and was in dreadful pain - hence the behaviour. Good Luck.
 
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Rather than second guess all this, why not book her into your vets for a loss of performance workup. If they scope for ulcers, even if there is nothing there, the insurance company will not pay if there is an ulcer exclusion on the policy. If the vets were to suspect something else and that needed scoping for diagnostic purposes, then they would be more likely to pay - same principle as if tendon injury to a specific tendon is excluded, that doesn't mean all diagnostic scans are excluded.

I would just book into a good performance horse vets for a loss of performance workup and take it from there.
 
From what I understand (not personal experience, but observation) some of it will depend on how your vets address the situation. Presumably after they assess the horse they will have some ideas about areas of suspicion and the best way forward, although you may have to run the options past the insurance company before you proceed. As above, a more comprehensive work up can actually be easier to claim on than doing things piecemeal.

Voice your concerns to the vet though before they start any investigations and make sure they know the terms of your policy and your own wishes.

It's worth having a chat with the insurance BUT be very careful what you say and speak only about concrete issues, don't say you suspect x or the horse has had y problem. I had this even with a personal insurance claim - a throw away comment to my GP got misunderstood and passed along to my insurance carrier and caused all sorts of confusion which, luckily, a specialist was able to disprove. (He also told me it happens all the time! A good reason to personally read all the paperwork relating to your case.)

I'm not saying be dishonest - quite the opposite. But I do think sometimes people make the mistake of thinking insurance companies are as invested as they are in getting to the bottom of issues and caring for the horse as an individual, which is not their business.

Sorry, that went a long way from your question! I'm not dissing insurance companies, they are only doing their job, but I have now seen a few situations where, if the diagnosis is not very specific, it can get quite confusing!
 
Holidays_are_coming said:
Sc I'm starting the ball rolling by getting my vets out, they don't have the facilities to do a loss of performance work up, so she would need to be referred but they need to see her first!
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It is a million times cheaper to self-refer. I did this, and it meant that my first visit to new vets cost normal price not the £175 they charge for referrals. What you do is ring the practice you want to go to, and either register direct with them, or simply say you want a second opinion (which was what I did). They then asked me to get my usual vets to ring and say they didn't mind (so as to avoid stepping on anyone's toes) and I simply took the horse there for loss of performance workups. This saves £££ for actual diagnostics.
 
Yasanchristal, I have put her on gg and I'm waiting for some granules to arrive! She has perfect ulcer management and lives out now with adlib hay (I'm not saying it isn't ulcers but it's very unlikely) & she isn't showing her usual colicy signs!!! Good why can't they talk sometimes
 
Friends mare got very like this a couple of years back, initial thoughts were unlcers but she scoped clear. The insurance company was dubious about a claim as it appeared to be behavioral so after discussions with the vets they scanned her ovaries and found them to be massively enlarged. She was put on regumate and for a while her behavior improved but it didn't last. She had both ovaries removed under a standing procedure 2 years ago now and the change in her is remarkable. She no longer want to kill everything that comes near her and she is a different mare to ride. It might be worth scanning her ovaries as spring is here and they are all coming into season now!
 
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