Insurance question

[Caramac71]

We are looking to buy a horse and have been offered one with a month's trial.

If we decided to go ahead with this, how would we go about insuring? If I took out a policy, would I be able to cancel it after a month if it didn't work out or would I be tied in for the full year?

If I took out the policy as a "loan" and it worked out, would I then just change it to a sale?

And can anyone recommend insurance companies please as I've got a couple of online quotes that are higher than I was expecting!

Thank you

 

[chestnut cob]

I would imagine the owner would retain their own insurance, and you would just need to have rider insurance?

 

[PorkChop]

Afaik yes you can cancel after a month, however remember full cover doesn't kick in until after 14 days. I am not entirely sure if you would need to have a "new policy" if you ended up buying.

We have a pony on loan for the summer and have taken out a policy with Petplan, when I got quotes they were all of a similar price and those that were much cheaper had exclusions. Also Petplan offered the first month free if I took out the policy before 8pm on the same day as my quote.

 

[chestnut cob]

They won't pay out in the first 14 days of your policy anyway so there is little point in having it - speak with the owner about them continuing their insurance, and you reimbursing them for the cost. That way, if anything does happen, the owner can continue vet treatment. I knew someone who loaned out a horse which went lame; the loaners kept the horse for about 2 months, claimed for some treatment as they had their own insurance and owner hadn't kept hers. After this, horse was still lame so they took it back to the owner, who now couldn't get insurance as the horse had a pre-existing condition.

So from the seller's perspective, surely they have more protection if they maintain their own? If the horse goes lame, are you really going to claim on a new insurance policy for a horse you are trialling? In reality, I doubt it. You need rider insurance, and the seller's own insurance should cover vet bills and 3rd party.

 

[ihatework]

I would reccomend you agree the seller maintains their current insurance policy for the period of the trial.
If needs be you can always give them 1 months worth of premium.

 

[Caramac71]

The owner doesn't insure her horses, otherwise I would have just offered to pay her premium for the month

 

[Zero00000]

Insure the horse 14 days before the trial. take the insurance out as a loaner, then if you go ahead and buy, change your details to the owner.

 

[Caramac71]

Insure the horse 14 days before the trial. take the insurance out as a loaner, then if you go ahead and buy, change your details to the owner.

Can I just cancel if we dont go ahead though, or am I tied to the full year?

 

[PorkChop]

Can I just cancel if we dont go ahead though, or am I tied to the full year?

There is usually a fourteen day cooling off period, you can cancel the policy at any time in these first fourteen days with no charge.

You can cancel you policy at any time after this though you may not receive all of the outstanding balance for that year, each insurance company is different.

 

[Zero00000]

Insurance companies usually offer a short term insurance, give a few a call, and see what they can offer.