Loss of Use on insurance premium - is it worth it??

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kikiD

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Hi

I've just had my insurance renewal through the post and looking at the breakdown of my insurance premium, I pay over £100 for Loss of Use.
To be honest, when I first took out insurance, I sort of agreed to everything that was offered to me with it being for my first horse, but now Im looking at how to save some money. Also, looking on the internet it seems loss of use is very hard to claim for.

Is it worth having it? If you do / do not have it then why not? Just trying to get as many view points as possible.

Thanks in advance.
 
persoanlly i don't think its worth it. i don't have it for my horses. from experience its very difficult to get them to agree loss of use- say for example you have an eventer who can no longer event but could dressage then a lot of companies wouldn't pay out. also, most will pay out a % of the 'market value' which they always underestimate (easpecially if you consider that the market value of a lame/ sick horse will presumably less than a healthy one! :rolleyes:
i'd talk to your insurers and find out exactly WHAT is covered, when they will pay out etc...some comapnies are better than others. :)
 
Loss of use insurance covers the sum insured of the horse if it becomes permanently incapable of performing the tasks for which it is insured. Due to the nature of these claims they are often long and drawn out situations as the horse must first be fully diagnosed and if possible treated and only if this is then unsuccessful does it become a claim. Two types of policy are sold:-

•Loss of use due to accidental external and violent injury only such as a kick or getting caught in a fence.

•Loss of use due to sickness, disease and accidents, includes cover for navicular, degenerative joint disease etc.

Generally loss of use is offered at 75% or 100% of the insured value of the horse. In the event of a claim if you wish to keep the horse in retirement you will normally receive a reduced sum varying from company to company. To receive the full 75% or 100% you must choose to have the horse destroyed. Most companies require a current full five stage vets certificate for loss of use insurance which includes sickness and disease, with accompanying X rays for higher values. <<<<< I found this on a website, thought it was quite helpful :)

I personally dont have loss of use on my insurance, I wasnt really sure whether to get it either and was advised by my insurance (NFU) that unless I had competition horses etc then there wasnt really much point.
 
diggerbez said:
persoanlly i don't think its worth it. i don't have it for my horses. from experience its very difficult to get them to agree loss of use- say for example you have an eventer who can no longer event but could dressage then a lot of companies wouldn't pay out. also, most will pay out a % of the 'market value' which they always underestimate (easpecially if you consider that the market value of a lame/ sick horse will presumably less than a healthy one! :rolleyes:
i'd talk to your insurers and find out exactly WHAT is covered, when they will pay out etc...some comapnies are better than others. :)
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Actually this is not quite true, if you insure your horse for eventing and it can no longer event then LOU is payable as you cannot use your horse for what you insured him for. However, if he can still be used for dressage, this will make his residual value higher and this will usually be taken off your pay out. This does not apply if you insure for a % LOU such as 60% or 75% as then it is this amount of the full sum insured (or market value if less) without a residual value. Obviously, you should read your terms and conditions to confirm this info or speak to customer services. Market value is taken as the value of the horse before the illness or injury occurred so it will not be reduced due to this. If Insurers think that the market value of your horse is less than your sum insured then it can usually be discussed although they are usually fairly accurate in my experience- just because you have paid £22,000 for your blind shetland, it doesn't mean he is worth it! ;)

Also, it depends very much on what you use your horse for, if you have a hack only it is very unlikely that he would ever be unable to hack in case of lameness unless it is very severe. Likewise if you have a mare there is always the option to breed (unless your Vet specifies that she is unsuitable for whatever reason).

I would say that for the average horse up to £3000 used for riding club activities I probably wouldn't bother with LOU but if you have a very valuable horse or one used for high risk sports I would do it (although obviously the premium does increase).

Also, not all Insurance companies insist you PTS to get the full amount if you shop around, I personally think that's a bit mean...

Sorry- I'm an insurance bore :D
 
Hi,

You would have to double check this with your insurers, but I think if you have an animal that is injured but not destroyed immediately, then they will not provide a payment for subsequent death of the animal as a result of that injury if you do not have LOU.
 
Whilst not wanting to slag insurance companies off, as at the end of the day, all they want is your money....never lose sight of that!

LOU is a tricky little subject and all depends on your insurance companies terms and conditions. It all looks great in their marketing spiel when trying to win your business but you do have to jump through hoops to actually get it. I am only getting my LOU as I reported the insurance company concerned to the Financial Ombudsman who ruled in my favour. You'd probably be better putting your £100 for LOU into a savings plan IMHO!
 
I've claimed for loss of use before on my mare who had torn DDFTs and can now be used for occasional light hacking only. She was only insured for 60% loss of use and the end payment was only £1200, so we haven't exactly made our money back in terms of how much she's cost to keep over the years! I was with Petplan who were good to deal with and didn't dispute anything, but it still took months to go through the claim, so no use if you need the money immediately for another horse.

I haven't bothered insuring the new horse for loss of use though, as it really increases the premium and to be honest you'd be better off putting that extra amount into a savings account in case the worst happens.
 
I wouldn't at all. Since last November we have been trying unsuccessfully to claim LOU on a horse diagnosed with OCD. Petplan have been diabolical and not even paid out for the vets bills surrounding the incident. They have even had out a loss adjuster who said getting claims like this paid out was a nightmare! I have completely given up on it now and am letting them go through the motions. The horse was only insured for £1,000 and they are on their second Vets opinion now although X-rays etc we all provided at the time. I have paid more than the £1,000 in insurance payments in the last few years and have never claimed before so am wondering what the point is in the insurance at all but thats another rant!!
 
I had this cover too and my renewalwent up massively over the last couple of years so I have knocked it on the head now. My lad is a hacking / fun ride horse so it really was not worth my while having it.
 
it depends... if your horse became a field object or could only hack would you want to replace it?

if yes, could you afford the initial purchase price of another horse? if not, you probably need LOU.

however, unless you compete at affiliated competitions it can become a grey area regarding what your horse was insured for/ could do before the accident and what it can do afterwards.

i had Pilfer insured for LOU to start with as i paid a reasonable sum for him and would have wanted to replace him if he could event at BE anymore.

however, as i now have more than one horse and Pilfer is now 16, i wouldn't be looking to replace him so don't need the LOU.
 
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