is horse insurance worth it for oldies?

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Merlin11

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just got my renewal through from NFU and they want £1150 for two 17 year old horses at grass who do the occasional hack. also with their new conditions on the policy most of their legs won't be covered anyway! have heard good things kbis so may try them - otherwise i will be putting away a monthly sum and hoping for the best. to cap it all i haven't claimed in the 7 years i have owned horses - would probably have about £5K now if put in the bank instead! has anyone been grateful that they had insurance for an older horse and how much did the claim cover? OH wants to know what we are insuring against if we take out another policy! I am not bothered about death or loss of use cover - just want to cover vet fees more than say £1000.
 
Go and get a quote from KBIS, my 20yo is insured with them (took out the policy on 1st march this year) and he got choke mid march. Vets bill was £900 and KBIS paid 75%. I have vets fee cover up to £1250 per year. It's not the best level of cover, but for oldies it's better than you'll get elsewhere I reckon! The policy is about £300 ish but I pay monthly and it's £25 a month, much better thank finding £900 to pay the vets :o

I'd say if you do go without insurance, sods law will strike and you'll need it! xx
 
Hi there
I am an equine underwriter for an insurance company and I would say its down to personal preference. Our company does a veteran package which the minimum cover is £500 sum insured, death (accidental only), Public liability (important), Theft/straying, legal protection and vets fees (accidental only) £3000 per annum (£100 excess) for £120 per horse, which I know isnt the best cover out there for veterans its great for the real oldies and people really looking to continue cover for PL whilst covering some minor claims.

TBH though I covered my 22 year old horse till she was 19 (still riding her) then at 20 just stopped insuring her as I retired her and picked up the PL under my household insurance as she does not go off the premises.

I take it the NFU are covering for illness and disease as well at that price!!!

Again you have to way up the pros and cons.
Good luck!
 
thanks for replies - i have PL cover with BHS gold membership so not concerned with that. They are covered for illness but only a minimal sum assured for death.
also nfu have brought in conditionas that if say a horse sprains one leg they will not cover that leg again for a sprain or the one opposite! the same goes for various over injuries/ailments.
 
The NFU seem to want to get out of horses. If you read page 7 of the policy book you will realise it is not worth insuring any horse with them anymore. Have a look at an old thread I posted, titled NFU insurance.

My premium went to £1100 for a 17 yr old and a yearling and the only thing left to claim for the old boy was tail ache. Vet looked at policy and said not worth it.

I moved the filly to KBIS and put the £80 a month I was paying to NFU in a sealed box at home. Lets face it, colic is the biggy and most older horses will not survive full blown surgery, I speak from experience.

I am not slating the NFU they have looked after my horses for 25 years and paid me in excess of £18,000 in vets and loss of one of the horses. I would think I have paid them around £12,000 in premiums over the years, and always had a super service. I like the peace of mind to be able to say to the vet - do whats needed - he is insured, but the NFU's new policy wording will not allow that anymore.
 
In my opinion it's not worth it and after speaking to the vet he agreed and told me i'd be better off paying into a savings account or another type of account with a good interest rate. That way the money is there if it's needed
 
Thanks for replies. Got a quote from KBIS for £760 for the 2 of them. This is up to £3500 cover (NFU was up to £5000 but cost 50% more and their new conditions exclude most of their legs!). Will need to check KBIS conditions but don't think they are so excluding! It is tempting just to put some money aside though instead. As they get older it gets more difficult to decide what to do. I read that the average claim is about £1700 so probably still worth insuring against.
 
Pet plan will insure for full vet fees up to 25, never had a problem with them myself & have a few friends who've claimed for oldies too no trouble. Might be worth getting a quote.
 
Thanks Little Legs. I have been with petplan before but they put up their premiums and that's why i moved to nfu. However, just got a quote from them and they can do both for around £522 for £3500 and £500 excess. £5000 cover would be around £850. Also there is the free gilet which may or may not arrive according to other threads! Need to think about this.
 
Whatever you do make sure that you have public liability cover, that is absolutely essential, as claims can run to millions and occur through no fault of your own (a straying horse getting on to a road for example).
 
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