Insurance renewal and exclusion - I'm shocked but is this uncommon?

[suzi]

Bought horse in Feb for SJing and insured him through SEIB.

In April / May he was treated for a sacroiliac injury (he slipped over pratting about in the field). He had nerve blocks and a scan to diagnose, an injection into the joint and then some exercises to stop the joint stiffening up. Total cost of £1200 which I claimed on insurance.

Renewal doc came through on Saturday. Premium up £150 so now £570 for the year. Exclusion is worded as follows : any claim in relation to the pelvis or hindlimb lameness.

Was shocked by the level of premium increase (blamed in the letter on rising vets costs - but the level of cover has stayed the same £5k per incident so in theory less value their) but more shocking to me was the extent of the exclusion........is this common? Is it worth trying to get them to be more specific??

 

[overtherainbow]

I think it is rather common unfortunately. I have no idea whether it will change anything but surely its got to be worth having a phone call to ask

 

[Annagain]

Not uncommon I'm afraid. I was in a similar position after I claimed for a foot problem - even though the vet said it was caused by trauma and unlikely to have any lasting effects. He offered to help me fight it but I got a bit of inheritance and opted to start my own insurance fund instead. I pay into it monthly and so far *touches wood* haven't had to dip into it for 2 years so am better off at the moment at least.

 

[suzi]

Have to say I am seriously considering 'self insurance' though I will be calling them to see what they have to say and will get some other quotes to.

 

[Goldenstar]

I self insure.

 

[Chestersmummy]

A horse that I once had was treated for colic and the next time I insured him any condition relating to colic was excluded.

 

[derynw]

same problem and same insurance company. Our boy had lump on his forehead that didn't seem to cause any problem but then seemed to get itchy so had it all checked out - appears he had somehow got a small fracture which wasn't healing. Anti-biotics etc and now seems to have healed up nicely. Claim made but under excess at moment but probably very small claim for further x-rays to check is healing OK. Renewal came with exclusion of - SKULL ? Have yet to phone them to ask if they can be a bit more specific as this will exclude anything even if from external trauma not related to original injury. Plus increase in cover fees of course.
Dear beasty is only insure for £2500.
Appears that insurance co's are discouraging people to claim or let them know of any small incident. These companies say they are experienced in horse problems but I seriously think they aren't. Also when vets know the animal is insured are they doing procedures that are not essential when a bit of time and tlc can give same results.
Independant insurance fund on its way.

 

[Holidays_are_coming]

Phone the insurance company, SEIB tried to exclude all colic and gastro problems for my mare when she had only had ulcers, I called them and they changed it to just ulcers.

 

[littlescallywag]

Cancelled mine with same company as when renewal came through it had gone up over 90 pounds and had exclusions on his legs , I've never claimed since I've had horse so couldn't work out why, except fact he's hit 16.
So now I self insure, try to put what was my premium (45) away each month, if I can't I put at least half of my premium in bank.

 

[LiveryList]

I am with petplan and my mare had a misdiagnosed abcyss in her left rear hoof (the vet originally she'd broken her stifle and treated her as such x-rays et al!) which resulted in a paid claim for £700. When i got my renewal through they had put a exclusion on her whole left rear leg (!!!???) and something else random to do with a fever. I rang Petplan to check and they said they generally excluded the entire limb from the following years policy but if anythign else happened the vet could justifyto them it was nothing to do with the original injury (i.e if she fell and broke her leg i could still claim). The other exclusion they had apparently mis-heard me on the phone so they checked their records and my call and removed it and called me back to confirm it had been removed the same afternoon. Always worth ringing to check exclusions and the extent of them as you would probably get the same reply as i did from petplan about subsequent claims. Interestingly though Petplan do not raise your insurance premium if you claim?!

 

[lannerch]

Certainly premiums have gone up with or without a claim particularly going by threads in this forum with nfu

 

[lannerch]

Sorry posted too soon was also going to say I have a 16 yo horse insured with seib and his legs are certainly not excluded whilst anything to do with the splint bone on his off fore is ( fair enough I had a claim on this 5 years ago ) I would ring seib talk to them and see if they can be more specific in the exclusion.

 

[Capriole]

It seems quite baffling that they say they put premiums up as vet charges have increased, yet the amount of vet fee cover remains the same.

£5000 cover is still £5000 cover, even if you get less treatment for your money out of that £5000...I dont know how they work that one out

 

[glenruby]

Also Increased premiums for less cover does not make sense. If you damage your car and claim you don't get a premium hike AND exclusion from further claims.?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

This exactly the reason we no longer insure.
We were with a different company but mare had colic after eating nettles to excess. The bill, even for Sunday callout, came to less than the excess but we notified them as per the agreement and got back an exclusion. If you make a claim, they ask for medical history so even if you have not notified them of minor incidents, if a vet has treated the horse the insurance company will know about it.