Insurance.... who has it and who doesn't?

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Kate260881

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Following on from the vetting post by Starbucks it got me wondering about insurance. I don't insure for vetting purposes as the number of stories I've heard of companies not paying out because its not EXACTLY what is on the contract is unbelievable. Instead I do third party in case anything happens on the road, and self-insure for the vet, i.e. put money in a savings account every month that isn't touched for anything but paying the vet. I think this works out quite well.

I should probably also mention that I didn't pay a huge amount for Penny. If I'd spent a lot I think I would have taken out full insurance to protect against her value.

So just curious what other HHO's do
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I insure both of mine, because a vet bill could be £5000 and it would take me years to save up for that, even if I put away the same amount as the insurance costs. I wouldn't want to be in a situation where I had to PTS because I couldn't afford vet bills for something treatable. I also insure my TB mare who only cost me a couple of hundred pounds - it costs me £100 per year, so I think it's well worth it
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I insure for everything - I don't have expensive horses but they seem to have expensive accidents/illnesses! I recently totted up my insurance premiums versus my payouts and I'm definitely better off having insurance.
 
Mine is insured for everything. I've learnt my lesson from a friend whose horse required an op to remove a bladder stone, but had complications afterwards requiring multiple surgeries. The horse wasn't insured and it came to a horrendous sum of money, more than I could ever afford. I'd rather pay £100-150 a year for that kind of peace of mind!
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I insure my horse not because of it's value - but because of the cost of veterinary treatment. The chances of me being able to put my hands on £5k in an emergency are zero, and if my horse needed to undergo expensive medical treatment I wouldn't have the cash to pay for it. Hence insurance.

My experience of insurance companies is only positive. I am with NFU and they have only every been supportive, helpful, and very happy to pay out on any claim that I have made.
 
My horse fractured his skull in two places within weeks of me buying him. I could not have saved the £1200 it took to diagnose and provide pain relief in that time. My insurance company NFU and PetPlan (now deceased pony) paid out no problem. Wouldn't be without insurance now.
 
Hmmm, this is all maybe changing my view a little bit. Something I'd maybe like to research but is very difficult finding Dutch insurers when you don't speak Dutch :S Really should start taking some lessons. If there was a major expensive emergency then at the moment I would probably get a loan out.

Off to find insurance companies and do research now rather than actual work
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As all the others really, I insure to protect us from th unexpected! OH's mare cost us £4000 in vets bills in the first year we had her, there is absolutley no way we could have afforded that without insurance, and like AmyMay, I have always had only positive experiences with insurance, both SEIB and NFU have been fantastic whenever I have had to claim.
 
I stopped insuring mine when we bought our house which has land and stables so the horses are now at home. I just have BHS gold membership to cover me for public liability. Even though I have had a couple of years with some hefty vets bills, I still would have spent out far more in insurance premiums and the excess. But I have two happy hackers and a mini pony and a retired pony, so they are not pursuing any high risk activities apart from snoozing in the fields and eating!
 
Mine is insured for everything. Some bad news for my friend who has a horse though. She bought a horse in Aug 07 and everything was fine, took insurance out the first day she got the mare home and then the mare had awful troubles and ended up getting glaucoma and losing an eye. The problem with the insurance was that my friend rang her vet in the first 2 weeks and now the insurance wouldn't even pay out for the whole losing an eye buisness!!

I'm not sure what happened in the end though, but Henry my cob will always be insured for everything, just incase!!
 
We insure bot of our boys because of the cost of vets bills.
We use NFU and they've been great whilst they've been dealing with sids fractured leg. The bill is huge already and we'd have struggled to pay it if we weren't insured.
 
i only have bhs insurance due to the fact if you have all insurance and your horse come down lame they some times wont pay out as they say its an old injury that has come back not only has it happened to me but also my friend . so i dont insure for vet bills
 
Just a word of warning re insuring - alot of people on here say they insure for nominal value to get vets fees - a friend has just had a horse destroyed following and accident, horse came from a known expensive dealing yard but was not a high value purchase so was insured for purchase price. Friend now having trouble getting payout as insurance company saying horse was undervalued! (Wouldn't have thought they'd mind as they are paying out less)
 
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Just a word of warning re insuring - alot of people on here say they insure for nominal value to get vets fees - a friend has just had a horse destroyed following and accident, horse came from a known expensive dealing yard but was not a high value purchase so was insured for purchase price. Friend now having trouble getting payout as insurance company saying horse was undervalued! (Wouldn't have thought they'd mind as they are paying out less)

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That is so unfair, but I suppose the insurance company are thinking along the lines of your friends premium being a higher amount if the horse was insured for a higher value.

Mine is insured for everything.
 

I have one horse that I have insured who is worth a bit and I have loss of use & vets fees for her. SHe is only a youngster and I would want her to have every chance of recovery should something happen

My broodmare/pet
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is not worth a huge amount and she is uninsured but I know I have enough to pay for her vets fees up to a point (obviously I have a limit on this which is a bit of a financial/emotional challenge).

My foalie is not yet insured but will be as soon as I can find an insurance company who will give me a sensible quote!

I have public liability insurance separately.
 
Over the years, I have had several expensive vets bills. My premiums have more than paid for themselves. I have probably got about 10 years of paying premiums before it works out more than the vets fees so I think Im doing pretty well.
Would never go without insurance now.
 
Yes, insure for everything, even tho my premium is eyewateringly expensive as it includes LOU for a reasnably valuable horse.

We had a massive vet bill for ours as she had a virus and bacterial infection at the same time and then had her immune system seriously compromised. The insurance paid for everything including supplements and repeat blood tests to monitor her recovery and we were pretty close to the £5k limit.

They literally paid up without question and promptly which was a big weight off my mind, so when the vet was saying, 'well we could try...' I never even had to think twice.

The company is Pet Plan, and I would recommend them every time even if they are RUBBISH at paperwork such as reminders!
 
with insurances if your has an injury or illness and it has the same later on in life they will not pay out for this again they only pay out one
 
I insure both of mine for everything including loss of use. I couldn't afford the vet's fees if something major happened and God Forbid if the unmentionable happened I would want to 'replace' (bad choice of word but you get what I mean I'm sure) the lost horse and could not afford to do that without the loss of use or death insurance
 
I've had my horse insured with NFU for about 10 years now and never made a single claim
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! Wish I'd 'self insured' now with putting the money aside instead of paying, would have about £3k + interest by now I think!!
I've also joined the BHS as a Gold member (public liability cover inc) to get cover for my companion pony as it was cheaper than buying that insurance from NFU.
Still, you never know and I'm not sure I'd have the discipline to keep a 'just-in-case' account, would probably have blown it on a holiday!!
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My sister and I insure all of ours with the NFU, mainly for vets bills (learnt the hard way when sisters horse got colic many years ago) and third party liability.
 
I suppose the key is peace of mind. We had a pony that cost us £1,000 who needed to go to Dick Vet, the first thing they asked was 'are you insured?' £3,500 later we found out why.

Despite that we are going to self insure. We are lucky in that we can lay our hands on money easily so will always be able to do what's right for the animal. On the whole, with 4 animals and another 2 on the way, we know that over time we'll have problems but they'll average out.

If we could not afford to pay out whatever it takes in the event of a disaster we'd always insure to protect the animal and for our own peace of mind.
 
I got my horse for free, but I insure him for LOU, LOA, vets fees and 3rd party.

I couldn't afford to put money away just for vets fees, and I like having the peace of mind. I also chose my insurer carefully (NFU) based on recommendations.
 
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