Insurance

Shantara

Shantara

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I've never insured a horse for vets bills before (only had public liability) and I'm looking to insure Serenity! Can anyone recommend one? I am not good at this kind of thing and it's baffling me!
 
Be aware that many companies will want you to have a vetting, as it is double suspicious for them if you have owned a horse for X amount of time and suddenly want to insure.

NFU, KBIS and Petplan are good insurers but you pay £££s for them.

At the other end Harry Hall and some others offer basic 3rd party liability and catastrophe insurance, that would not require a vetting.

I have mine with the Insurance Emporium, they offer some cover but historically may not have been as good at paying out. They are a lot cheaper though and many people have said they pay out no bother. I do a joint insurance thing, where I pay a %. It helps cut down on people claiming for rubbish.
 
Agria are who I'm with now as they're the only horse insurers who offer lifetime cover. They also didn't need a vet cert even for 5k+.

I was with Insurance Emporium before and found them very good for paying out too.
 
Expect to have to show all the horse’s vet records while she has been in your ownership, and to get her vetted before cover will be offered.

Ins companies are rightly very wary of owners who suddenly decide to insure a horse that they’ve owned for a while for vet’s bills.
 
Why do you now want to insure? It does look suspicious so they will want access to vet records or a vetting.


One of mine is with pet plan, the other is with some random insurer from a broker. It's so expensive I think theyre about £80 a month each just younger happy hackers insured for £6k and vets fees.


If you're used to self insuring then Harry Hall would be a good cheap policy for a bit of a buffer. Agria is also cheaper but I do think most people don't understand the terms, you pay the excess plus a large percentage of each claim often paying more than they do each time.
 
I insure Mr D with Agria and they have paid out promptly - I have had to pay 25% of his fees and the excess but they were so quick paying both the hospital for his op and my vets for the diagnosis and care at home - it would not be worth claiming for a small bill but his was large.
 
Thank you all for suggestions, I'll look into those :) I tried pet plan, but it was just too expensive. As JFTDWS said, she's just come back off loan, where she had a nasty accident in the field and cut her hoof. Thankfully they had her insured, so it didn't cost them much. I wouldn't have bothered, but since the loaners had suggested it, I thought I'd look into it. Also, I have my dogs insured which saved my bank balance when my malinois slit her wrist!
I didn't anticipate having her back so soon, so I'm trying to weigh up the cost of insurance vs the potential cost of an accident as cost is part of the reason I had to loan her in the first place. It's a quandary!
 
Over the years I’ve been with NFU, Petplan, SEIB and Carriage House (now part of KBIS. The first three I’ve had significant veterinary claims with and all have been absolutely fine and fair to deal with. Carriage House is a bit more limited in its policy cover and I probably wouldn’t choose them again although I’ve not made a claim on that insurance so don’t know how easy they are to deal with.
 
Shantara said:
Thank you all for suggestions, I'll look into those :) I tried pet plan, but it was just too expensive. As JFTDWS said, she's just come back off loan, where she had a nasty accident in the field and cut her hoof. Thankfully they had her insured, so it didn't cost them much. I wouldn't have bothered, but since the loaners had suggested it, I thought I'd look into it. Also, I have my dogs insured which saved my bank balance when my malinois slit her wrist!
I didn't anticipate having her back so soon, so I'm trying to weigh up the cost of insurance vs the potential cost of an accident as cost is part of the reason I had to loan her in the first place. It's a quandary!
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I’d suggest getting a quote from whoever your loaners were insured with, that way they will have the horses history.

Otherwise I’ve been very impressed with The Insurance Emporium. I maxed out one claim recently, no quibble. 2 smaller claims on 2 other horses, no quibble. And maxed out elbow pinning at Langford on a spaniel, again no quibble. Premiums have risen but not exponentially (and obviously exclusions applied).
 
Shantara said:
They were with Petplan unfortunately! It was going to be almost £700 a year and I just can't afford that. I'll check out Insurance Emporium now, thank you :)
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I have to say that’s cheap. One of mine is £120 a month and the other £69 a month. That’s with reducing horse value as much as possible and having a fairly high excess.
 
What value are you putting on her?

I self insure now, so don’t know if it’s still possible, but back in the day you could insure a £1k value horse for £5k worth of vets fees to keep the premiums down compared to insuring the same horse for a greater value.
 
I might have to continue just with 3rd party :( I just can't afford that sort of price.

I bought her for £600 as a 10yr old, she's 18 now so I just put £600 still.
 
If you are struggling financially I suggest putting a ceiling on what vet fees you’d stump up for, say £500, and if anything occured that was going to be be over that, then call it a day.

That’d cover most single call out colics or bumps and scrapes that need a bit of stitching.

Hopefully she’ll be grand, but don’t bust yourself if you just can’t do it.
 
Shantara said:
I might have to continue just with 3rd party :( I just can't afford that sort of price.

I bought her for £600 as a 10yr old, she's 18 now so I just put £600 still.
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Tbh she’d probably fall into veteran category that would bump up the full cover price.

Have a look at KBIS catastrophe which is £300/yr or potentially just look for external/accidental cover - realistically are you wanting to operate or put her through long investigations?
 
I think you may be right. I didn't insure Neddy because he couldn't do box rest and he was generally a pain to do much with. When he was diagnosed with arthritis I helped him as much as I could, but he was actively working against me and then it got rapidly worse. I probably could have kept him going with pain meds, but he would have been so unhappy and we fought every time I had to give him medication of any sort. It utterly broke me to say goodbye, especially as he was just 19.

Serenity, on the other hand is such a darling to do anything with and is just happy to go along with whatever, so I'm thinking if anything happens, she'll have more of a chance at recovering. I'll have a look at KBIS, thank you :)
 
Given her age, and your circumstances, I'd probably self-insure too. I don't insure mine, partly because I wouldn't put them through anything very long term or intense, and partly because I'm prepared to put them down if I needed to (within reason - I have funds to pay for any reasonable treatment they might need). But, if you're starting from limited funds, that's a bit of a gamble on getting a couple of good years before you encounter any big bills. And you'd have to be able, and disciplined enough, to put away the equivalent of the premiums each month.

There's no right or wrong answer - but don't feel that you have to insure her to be doing the best by her. There are many roads to Rome and all that.
 
Thank you, you've given me a lot to think about :) It's so tricky to know what to do! It might not have been so bad, but the doggo is on life long meds now, so that's an extra kick in he funds!
 
Shantara said:
Thank you all for suggestions, I'll look into those :) I tried pet plan, but it was just too expensive. As JFTDWS said, she's just come back off loan, where she had a nasty accident in the field and cut her hoof. Thankfully they had her insured, so it didn't cost them much. I wouldn't have bothered, but since the loaners had suggested it, I thought I'd look into it. Also, I have my dogs insured which saved my bank balance when my malinois slit her wrist!
I didn't anticipate having her back so soon, so I'm trying to weigh up the cost of insurance vs the potential cost of an accident as cost is part of the reason I had to loan her in the first place. It's a quandary!
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Can you take over the current policy? It would save a lot of hassle. Sorry, just seen you cant. I'dgo with the insurance emporium. They have never asked me for anything, just keep her value low.
 
agria. i have horse and three cats insured with them. lifetime cover they are amazing. margo had only been insured for a month when diagnosed with lymphoma - she had chemo (sadly it was unsuccessful) they never queried paying. benson broke metatarsal bones in his paw - he had only been insured for a few days and they were amazing. can't recommend highly enough. they do multi pet discounts as well
 
speak to the girls at agria jay is 27 and he is covered to go out competing at county level shows (activity level 4). he has life time equine cover. excess is £420 over the year and 25% of cost of treatment. he is insured for up to £6500 worth of treatment per year. slightly less that £50 per month. i do get is slightly cheaper as have a multi pet policy. but highly recommend - as i said earlier they have been brilliant with the cats as well
 
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