Insurance Renewal

[ru-fi-do]

I have just been looking through my insurance paperwork and direct debits and realised they haven't sent me my renewal that was due last month. Last year we had two claims one for a kick on her hock that had to be scanned, nerve blocked and physio and one for liver investigations including scans and 2x Biopsy's. I have rang them today as as it stands she is not insured, they have put my excess upto £500 and ruled out her whole OH leg and anything related to the liver. OK fair enough but a friend claimed for her pony's suspensory ligament that cost £1000 more than my claim and they haven't written the leg off and her excess is £200.

I spoke to NFU and they said that they probably wouldn't cover her as she is classed as a high risk having made two claims in the past year. Its so annoying when I have paid into insurance all these years, never claimed until now.
Does anyone know wether getting her 'MOT'd' by the vets make any difference to insurance quotes?
Tomorrow I need to have a good ring round so any suggestions would be very much appreciated, I can't relax knowing she's not insured!

 

[allijudd]

did you ring the nfu or see your local rep....if the first one definatly do the second...they can wangle other things for you and negotiate rather than tell you what they would do...

also you may find that it helps with the nfu to change your car insurance aswell...gives you more bargaining power...

 

[ru-fi-do]

I rang them, but there is an office local to me so perhaps I would be better off nipping in and speaking to them then, I would like to go with them as I have only ever heard good reports about them.

 

[laura_1983]

Would you not be better switching insurance companies to somewhere that doesnt ask about history of horse etc? Iv never had to claim for any of my horses so i dont know how all that works with different companies, they may well want details of old insurer!

Im going to see a new horse 2moro and have been looking at prices/getting quotes. Petplan and Insuremyhorse are the 2 iv found with good cover at a decent price, though i think petplan may ask for new horse to be vetted as he's 13.

 

[ladyt25]

Do you know why your insurance company did not send you your renewal? They are supposed to invite renewal and have documents sent to you 21 days before your renewal date for you to then decide if you wish to carry on with the policy or not. Did you ask why they hadn't sent it?

There isn't really a reason why you shouldn't be able to get cover elsewhere but obviously the same exclusions are likely to apply. Was anything actually diagnosed with the liver though or just a precautionary test to rule this out for something?

 

[ru-fi-do]

I rang them and asked why I han't received them and they said they would look into it and they would call me the next day, the following morning I got the paperwork

. I can appreciate them writing the leg off etc, although she didn't have a problem with her whole leg it was the scar tissue causing the problem, I just thought the £500 excess was a bit steep, I'm quite happy to have her re vetted if it helps for insurance purposes.

Her liver enzymes were really high and didn't come down for 2 months thats why she had the biopsy's, they found that her liver was smaller than average and sitting in slightly a different place than normal, but it shouldn't affect her in anyway.

 

[ladyt25]

Personally I would have excluded the hock but only the hock and possibly any illnesses connected to poor liver function but that would be dependant on the veterinary report.

Insurance companies work in different ways, it might be that following 2 claims they automatically up the excess or if you have made frequent claims maybe? Soem have set procedures and others place terms/apply increased excess based on individual policy merits etc.

I would still be very angry that they did not send me my renewals and effectively left my horse without cover!

 

[ru-fi-do]

Thanks for your comments LadyT, do you work in insurance?

 

[ladyt25]

Sadly I do (for my sins!)

Think it is easier to underwrite policies if you know about horses yourselves, therefore not every cut or graze gets excluded!

You will find mostly with horse insurance companies the person doing the renewl has horse experience but it is not always the case (that's when it can get frustrating) and also i think some companies have set rules about what is to be excluded and what excess should apply for what reason. I am quite lucky in that I basically make the decision as to what terms apply to the policy and I think I'm quite fair although you do have some policies where you do have to realise enough is enough when people claim for every tiny graze their horse may get (I'm amazed how expensive cotton wool - from a vet - is!!!) Unfortunately it is the few people who submit 'dodgy' or unecessary claims (you wouldn't believe sometimes!) that makes the rest of the genuine claimers suffer, as insurance premiums increase as a result. We have actually paid out claims (after excess) of about £2 - no joke!