Insuring for vets fees - is it worth it?

[Brownmare]

I have always insured my horses for vets fees til now. Up to a few years ago I only had one horse on livery so it was a no brainer. Then I started renting my own land so needed 2 for company but only one was ridden so I only insured that one. Then last year I accidentally got a third horse (as you do ?) so I now have one retired companion who is uninsured, one unridden youngster who is insured for accidental external injury only and my ridden horse who is fully insured but with several exclusions from previous problems. Looking at how much I am paying per year for incomplete cover for 2 horses I am thinking it isn't really worth it and I might be better off banking the insurance money as a nest egg for future vets fees. But then I am nervous about how I will afford it if an expensive surgery is needed in the next couple of years before any significant savings are built up.....

So what would you do?
(I should mention that I have separate public liability insurance and I wouldn't drop that)

 

[milliepops]

I insure the ones I would want quick access to a big pot of money and not the others, who I would let go in the event of a bad injury or colic etc. I've been glad of it in the past so this split sits well with me. Currently have 2 insured - competition horse and foal and 4 not covered by anything other than PL. When the exclusions start to stack up I think it's worth revisiting things. it's a very personal decision.

 

[meleeka]

I always had my riding horse insured, until he got too old for standard insurance. I have a credit card if needed so am happy that any veterinary treatment would be decided purely on prognosis/whether it would be appropriate to put them through it and not cost.
I think once you have more than one the cost is rarely worth it and you are better off putting the money into a savings account.

 

[Gingerwitch]

I was reducing my head count and had done 5 to 4 and then 3 but have just gone back to 4 due to being left my friends horse. I have never insured. I put £250 away each month and this is used as my emergency fund and my horses do not go without any treatment and I am in control of the time.

 

[Firefly9410]

It depends on your mindset. You talk about a big expensive surgery so does that mean you have thought about it and would like to have the opportunity for any of your horses for any condition? If so insurance might be best because what if several things happened in a short time frame. I voted PTS if I cannot afford it but this is not the whole picture and makes me look mean. Box rest is not in my horses best interests it has too much negative impact on quality of life. There is always either turnout or exercise of some sort even if that means things are slower to heal. So the reality is I will not be doing the big expensive operation where box rest after is needed. More minor things I can afford to treat. I honestly believe that with good management most horses will never have anything major go wrong until perhaps near the end of their lives and that is the thing that finished them off. So do you have sufficient control over how your horses are managed or are you severely restricted by livery yard rules and stuck with a situation where the risk of something going wrong is greatly increased? Because I know it is not as simple as saying Move Yards if things are not great there.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I have 'voted' savings credit card but in reality I would be loathe to fund any surgery/other expensive treatment which would entail prolonged box-rest /less than 99% recovery rate. I am more interested in quality than quantity of life for my animals. My horses are kept at home, so we have full control, within the limitations of the property, of all aspects of their management/care.

 

[Brownmare]

It depends on your mindset. You talk about a big expensive surgery so does that mean you have thought about it and would like to have the opportunity for any of your horses for any condition? If so insurance might be best because what if several things happened in a short time frame. I voted PTS if I cannot afford it but this is not the whole picture and makes me look mean. Box rest is not in my horses best interests it has too much negative impact on quality of life. There is always either turnout or exercise of some sort even if that means things are slower to heal. So the reality is I will not be doing the big expensive operation where box rest after is needed. More minor things I can afford to treat. I honestly believe that with good management most horses will never have anything major go wrong until perhaps near the end of their lives and that is the thing that finished them off. So do you have sufficient control over how your horses are managed or are you severely restricted by livery yard rules and stuck with a situation where the risk of something going wrong is greatly increased? Because I know it is not as simple as saying Move Yards if things are not great there.

This is exactly my dilemma. The tb in my avatar did a suspensory and had multiple scans, PRP and 6 months of box rest plus another 6 months of careful rehab to come right (at which point she broke her leg in the field and was PTS but that's another story!). If I'd have known at the start what I was going to put her through I would have PTS straight away, or maybe tried a year of Dr Green first so I would never put another horse through that again.
My now-retired gelding came in one day with a massive hock and vets said it was either infected or a bone chip and recommended immediate surgery to investigate and flush the joint. They found a bone chip but it was buried too deep in the flexor tendon to be removed. He had 6 weeks box rest and multiple scans which showed the chip working it's way through the tendon to settle at the edge of the joint capsule. It could probably be removed now but there is no point as the tendon is scarred, the joint is permanently distended and he is 2/10 lame but comfortable enough and happy on 24/7 turnout. Surgery cost my insurance 2.5k and made bugger all difference to the outcome but would I have the confidence to say no if something else like that happened? And at least he is no worse off now so ?

 

[Goldenstar]

I voted for credit card/ savings it’s not quite how I do it but for years I had an account at the BS that I built up to 10k and any time I used it I built it straight up again .
Now I can just pay a bill if I need to .
But in truth I don’t like insurance I think it can cloud judgement and lead to over treatment particularly in young horses .
And when the worse happens it’s between me and my horse my choice, no external influence that’s important to me .

 

[milliepops]

possibly also depends on the horses you have. I am always slightly baffled when people say they want control over when to PTS and not be stuck with what the insurance company say. Mine are such low value animals the payout on death would be peanuts anyway therefore if I want/need to PTS I will do, what the insurers think is of basically no consequence to me. I really only want it for the vets fees cushion.

 

[Flicker]

I do, because I like to keep as many options open as possible. But in reality, I pay most vets fees myself. I’ve claimed more on the cats’ insurance, because one is the neighbourhood psychopath and the other is a hypochondriac.

 

[conniegirl]

For me it is entirely horse dependant.
My current lad is 18yrs old, i paid £1500 for him and when i had quotes for insurance all around £1500 with £500 excess and a few exclusions.
I’d not put him through major surgery, as much as i love him.

My last horse was 4, worth significantly more and has a premium of £800. Insurance did pay out significant vet bills for him unfortunately

 

[scats]

Depends on the horse. Current two mares are both insured. Claimed for Polly so she is now not covered for a few things but at the moment I feel it’s worth continuing with her cover.

When I had Tobi, we’d had so many issues that he was barely covers for anything. I had decided that he wouldn’t be put through anything that required a stay in hospital or prolonged box rest. Or really, anything that couldn’t be easily treated while he was living out. I cancelled his insurance but always had a fund there for if I needed it.

I always have a credit card for emergencies, too.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I grew up in a time when all these modern treatments for injuries just didn't exist. If a horse had a serious wound or infection the vet was called. Otherwise they were treated and turned away to recover. Broken bones meant a bullet although I do remember a little pony locally who broke a hind cannon, he was put in plaster and healed. However the leg wasn't straight but he went back into work anyway. Colic would be treated with a colic drench, might get a vet if not responding (I always called a vet to my animals) and if too serious again a bullet. In my time at the RS we only lost one horse and that was to a partial dislocation of a hind pastern.
My sister and I are great believers in Dr Green, rest for as long as needed but then we have never been more than locally competitive. We were lucky enough to have a Riding Club on our doorstep and spent most of our time there. Times are very different now, horses are more expensive so makes sense to insure for some.

 

[Firefly9410]

This is exactly my dilemma. The tb in my avatar did a suspensory and had multiple scans, PRP and 6 months of box rest plus another 6 months of careful rehab to come right (at which point she broke her leg in the field and was PTS but that's another story!). If I'd have known at the start what I was going to put her through I would have PTS straight away, or maybe tried a year of Dr Green first so I would never put another horse through that again.
My now-retired gelding came in one day with a massive hock and vets said it was either infected or a bone chip and recommended immediate surgery to investigate and flush the joint. They found a bone chip but it was buried too deep in the flexor tendon to be removed. He had 6 weeks box rest and multiple scans which showed the chip working it's way through the tendon to settle at the edge of the joint capsule. It could probably be removed now but there is no point as the tendon is scarred, the joint is permanently distended and he is 2/10 lame but comfortable enough and happy on 24/7 turnout. Surgery cost my insurance 2.5k and made bugger all difference to the outcome but would I have the confidence to say no if something else like that happened? And at least he is no worse off now so ?

Whereas when mine came in from the field with a huge hot hock and big limp I did not even call the vet. 10min cold hosing twice daily followed by liniment application for about a week significantly reduced the swelling. I did three days box rest then walked out half hour for three weeks which also helped the swelling and lameness was improving the whole time. When the swelling was small enough to see where it originated from I got out the vet book and narrowed it down to some sort of tendon or ligament injury or a bone chip. Decided I had no need to know which as it would not affect the treatment I was prepared to do. Tried field rest unsuccessful due to fields bullies chasing causing relapse so went to box rest with rehab walking essentially an extremely slow fitness programme taking nine weeks to get to one hour of walking and trotting 50/50 daily then half hour roadworks or arena 20min daily only walk and trot all winter then back to normal (which is light work). The thing that felt like a bony lump went away completely after about a year. If my treatment had been unsuccessful (if soundness was not improving at all or if full soundness was proving elusive) I would have considered diagnostic like portable xray or ultrasound and treatment like bute or injections to the joint or physio. What would have been the point of my paying eg £300/yr for insurance for ages to have had a small payment to cover treatment (or not because it turned out unnecessary) and then an exclusion on tendons or something after.

 

[Misty 2020]

Nope my horse isn’t insurance for vet bills. My horse would never cope with surgery so I would pts or retire. But I do save money every month and I do have a emergency vet fund if needed. My horse is extremely healthy never needed the vet out as a emergency.

 

[Firefly9410]

For me it is entirely horse dependant.
My current lad is 18yrs old, i paid £1500 for him and when i had quotes for insurance all around £1500 with £500 excess and a few exclusions.
I’d not put him through major surgery, as much as i love him.

My last horse was 4, worth significantly more and has a premium of £800. Insurance did pay out significant vet bills for him unfortunately

I had no idea insurance could be so expensive!

 

[ihatework]

I insure strategically.

If they are a younger working horse I would want to do in depth lameness work ups on or operate on then I insure.

Once they have a number of issues then I tend not insure, they have a vet budget, strategic intervention and they take their chances.

 

[JennBags]

Quite a few years ago, I cancelled the insurance on my old boy and within 2 weeks he got an injury in the field which cost me the best part of £2k!
My big horse was insured and I needed to claim on it for tendon sheath surgery, after which he was more lame than ever. Had he not been insured, we may have taken a different approach and he may have come sound and been rideable again.
My current ridden horse isn't insured, and whilst I'm about to start some investigatory work, I have funds so I'm not worried about having the money to pay. I do think that if you're not insured your vet takes a more pragmatic approach but when you're insured, they throw everything at it.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I am always slightly baffled when people say they want control over when to PTS and not be stuck with what the insurance company say.

But if people insure because they can’t afford to replace the horse without the payout, they may either have to wait for the insurance co to authorise PTS or treatment, or go ahead without authorisation with the animal’s best interests at heart and risk getting no payout.

To get a payout, you do have to jump through the right hoops. I much prefer the freedom of having just me, the vet and the horse in the loop. If I want to ask the vet ‘Is that a fly bite or could it be a sarcoid?‘ I can, without the horse forever being excluded from sarcoids after one single conversation.

 

[paddy555]

But if people insure because they can’t afford to replace the horse without the payout, they may either have to wait for the insurance co to authorise PTS or treatment, or go ahead without authorisation with the animal’s best interests at heart and risk getting no payout.

To get a payout, you do have to jump through the right hoops. I much prefer the freedom of having just me, the vet and the horse in the loop. If I want to ask the vet ‘Is that a fly bite or could it be a sarcoid?‘ I can, without the horse forever being excluded from sarcoids after one single conversation.

Mine are not insured. I always tell the vet they are not insured and that I am in charge of the treatment. We then discuss all possibilities and come to an agreement as to what is best for that particular horse in those particular circumstances. That might be the most expensive treatment or it may simply be field rest type treatment. I always decide in the interests of the individual horse.

I also like the freedom of me, vet and the horse and being able to ask the vet questions and get little things looked at without having that part excluded.

Another point to consider is how far you are from a horse hospital. If you have colic, want to operate and there is a hospital pretty close insurance maybe worth it. It is is 3 hours up the road it may not be feasible.


my dog however is insured for a large amount of vet's fees. I can stick him in the car instantly and drive to a specialist hospital if needed pretty quickly. He will have more chance of survival being knocked out for major surgery than a horse.

 

[Goldenstar]

But if people insure because they can’t afford to replace the horse without the payout, they may either have to wait for the insurance co to authorise PTS or treatment, or go ahead without authorisation with the animal’s best interests at heart and risk getting no payout.

To get a payout, you do have to jump through the right hoops. I much prefer the freedom of having just me, the vet and the horse in the loop. If I want to ask the vet ‘Is that a fly bite or could it be a sarcoid?‘ I can, without the horse forever being excluded from sarcoids after one single conversation.

This is exactly how it is .
If I want a set of xrays to check foot balance I can I don’t need to be concerned it will effect treatment in the future .
The sarcoid example is a good one .

 

[fankino04]

I've always insured all my pets as would hate to have to pts through not being able to afford treatment, about 5 years ago the dogs insurance went stupidly high so we chose to just add the money into a savings account instead as we had a credit card as back up incase something happened before the fund was high enough, for some reason I wasn't comfortable doing this with the horse until a few years, I took out another credit card with a fairly high limit on it as her emergency credit card, without the available credit line I wouldn't cancel insurance.

 

[milliepops]

But if people insure because they can’t afford to replace the horse without the payout, they may either have to wait for the insurance co to authorise PTS or treatment, or go ahead without authorisation with the animal’s best interests at heart and risk getting no payout.

To get a payout, you do have to jump through the right hoops. I much prefer the freedom of having just me, the vet and the horse in the loop. If I want to ask the vet ‘Is that a fly bite or could it be a sarcoid?‘ I can, without the horse forever being excluded from sarcoids after one single conversation.

I understand that, that's why I said it depends on your horse. A friend came to the end of her horse owning years through exactly that issue when her young horse was written off as a wobbler but not paid out for.

whereas my gang would be irreplaceable to me, but market value would be almost nothing and therefore my sum insured has varied between £500 and not a *great* deal more... it is not worth the hoop jumping to me as I'll pick up a horse for next to nothing when I need a new one 2k, say, wouldn't really get you much more than a free horse in this market anyway. It is 100% worth it for the vets fees cover though.

ETA
I've also insured horses on permanent loan from a charity, so have no market value anyway, still worth it for the vets fees

 

[teddypops]

But if people insure because they can’t afford to replace the horse without the payout, they may either have to wait for the insurance co to authorise PTS or treatment, or go ahead without authorisation with the animal’s best interests at heart and risk getting no payout.

To get a payout, you do have to jump through the right hoops. I much prefer the freedom of having just me, the vet and the horse in the loop. If I want to ask the vet ‘Is that a fly bite or could it be a sarcoid?‘ I can, without the horse forever being excluded from sarcoids after one single conversation.

I had a pony pts at Christmas as he had hurt his neck. Vet treated him on the Sunday, was a bit better on the Monday, tues am he was so much worse, and he was pts. I filled the insurance forms out and sent them. The insurance paid the vet bill, paid for death of pony and disposal. Didn’t speak to company, didn’t wait for any approval and certainly didn’t jump through any hoops. My vet is very sensible and wouldn’t put a conversation about a ‘possible sarcoid’ on a history but maybe I’m just lucky. I have never had a problem getting my bills paid and I’ve never involved the insurance company in my decisions. I know what I am and am not covered for. I think it’s very easy and straightforward to be insured.

 

[J&S]

No to vets fees insurance. I would rather have the money ready and waiting if needed. I'm not in favour of GA's, specifically for colic, and as only have an elderly retiree and a companion pony (who I am very fond of but would put a limit on how much I would spend on her) I would rather just stick to 3rd party/personal liability.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Both mine are insured purely because they are youngish and both ridden. I’ve only had B for three years and he has had two claims already which have together exceeded what I have paid out for both him and DP for the 7 years I have had him. Once they reach an age where I wouldn’t want to do exploratory work, colic surgery etc then I will cancel it but for now and for piece of mind I am happier they are fully insured.

 

[HashRouge]

My two are not insured, but that is due to age/ health concerns. One is 27, so she is hardly going to need extensive lameness work ups/ diagnostics and she wouldn't be put through colic surgery. They other is younger (17) but also retired and had reached the point where almost every part of his body was uninsured (he's had repeat bouts of colic, ulcers, navicular, hock spavin and SI problems, which didn't leave much insured!). I have enough savings to cover anything unforeseen that comes up, and the 17 year old is the picture of health now that he is retired (*touch wood*). If I had a riding horse again though I probably would insure it, primarily because I know how expensive lameness diagnostics can be if it is something complicated.

 

[blitznbobs]

I don’t insure any of my animals - I have quite a lot .. I just pay the bills . Whenever I do a rough calculation over the years I’m well up in money terms and that includes one lot of colic surgery and 2 dogs that have needed surgery but I can afford to pay the bills when they come along so it’s a no brainer for me

 

[doodle]

Yes I have always insured for vets fees. I have had much more back from the vets than I have paid in premiums. I have never had to jump through hoops or had difficulty in them paying out.

 

[Megan V1]

I don't insure any of my animals. If one of my horses needed transfering any distance or long term box rest I would not put them through it anyway but PTS. I have six horses who live as natural a life as possible, they live out 24/7, unrugged, unshod and unridden and it would be no quality of life for them to be contained for any length of time. My dogs have never been insured and as one is 15 the other 11 and have only ever had routine vaccines, flea and worm treatment I must have saved a fortune by not insuring them. My cats live in the stables and don't even have vaccines, they are treated for flea and worms when I catch them. Saying that my sister's last two dogs would have cost her a fortune if she didn't have insurance as both have had very expensive, long term illnesses that have been covered by her insurance for years to keep them alive and relatively well.