Massive insurance hike after claim

[TwyfordM]

Have had my renewal through from Kbis after my first ever claim last year (they probably paid out a grand total of £200 after excess and they fought tooth and nail to not even pay that)
My premium has gone from £290 to £423 this year and the list of exclusions makes no sense at all
She's excluded for laminitis, cushings, colic and liver. All pre existing from before I opened this policy and all fair enough (has cushings, lami on 4 different occasions over 9 years and several bad colic almost ending in surgery and liver enzymes flagged at last colic although now fine)
The claim for last year was because she came in lame on the back end and covered in bites/kicks after a group of horses got in her field overnight, she remained slightly lame and uncomfortable for a few weeks after and I called the vet who gave her some pain meds after being unable to find anything. Had a month of box rest and bute and still no improvement and just not right although far from badly lame, it was a very minimal hind end lameness and she was reacting to back being touched so took her to vets for full work up and x rays of spine. Cause was found to be a fracture of one of the Vertebrae in her neck with several surrounding Vertebrae being misshapen but no cause found other than a possible rotational fall or crash into fence etc on the original night she went lame. This was the cause of the lameness, she came home on several more months of box rest. Came sound even though vets said she may never come sound as it's an unusual injury so no saying how long/if it will heal. She's been back out in the field, back to normal and she's a companion anyway apart from inhand shows if and when she's ready but it's no big deal to me, she's an oversized pet essentially (albeit a spoilt brat that lives the life of luxury!)

Exclusions that have been added are ataxia (comment from vet on first visit was "looks slightly ataxic")
Both hind limbs bar open wounds

No mention of neck/spine

I'm going to call them about renewal as I'm not happy with the exclusions as they aren't based on the actual cause just the initial symptoms but just wanted to know if anyone had experienced similar and any recommendations for other companies

 

[SusieT]

To be totally honest I'm surprised its not higher. You are unfortunate enough to have a lot of conditions that on a purely risk based issue are likely to cause your horse to be more likely to need vet care. A horse with a neck injury is highly unlikely to have ataxia covered.

 

[be positive]

There is not much left to insure and another company may well exclude just as much if not more, in this case I would put the money away and be sensible about what treatment I would put the horse through if anything serious happened, if accidents are likely to be an issue then look at accidental injury policies rather than a full vet cover especially if she is not actually working.

To any insurance company she is a high risk and the premium will reflect that risk, I am also surprised it is not higher.

 

[popsdosh]

Exclusions that have been added are ataxia (comment from vet on first visit was "looks slightly ataxic")
Both hind limbs bar open wounds

No mention of neck/spine

I'm going to call them about renewal as I'm not happy with the exclusions as they aren't based on the actual cause just the initial symptoms but just wanted to know if anyone had experienced similar and any recommendations for other companies

I wonder what you think the most likely cause of Ataxia may be? They most likely suspect she may be wobbler hence the Vets comments.

 

[ycbm]

Sorry, but having owned one I think it's perfectly reasonable to exclude hind end lameness and ataxia for any horse with abnormal neck vertebrae.

 

[TwyfordM]

I wonder what you think the most likely cause of Ataxia may be? They most likely suspect she may be wobbler hence the Vets comments.

The word ataxic was thrown around at first due to the cause being unknown, was more a case of being unsure of where she was placing back feet than a lameness as such, so more of a nervous system issue although i appreciate it comes with its own issues I'm just confused about the write off of both hind legs, a tendon injury, fracture in a leg would be totally unrelated to the Injury in her neck. I do also appreciate the fact that she's had a fair amount of issues although all of the previous problems have been covered by myself as she had colic and laminitis before I got her so was a pre existing thing before I took out insurance but both are very black and white where as there seems to be a very large grey area that extends from neck to back legs now.
Wobblers was also thrown about in conversation but given that she's made a full recovery and is perfectly sound and aware of her back feet again they disregarded it completely. Honestly the only thing she's really covered for is eyes, respiratory system and heart now, but I'm not in the position to find the money for a large vets bill at short notice so its tricky. If she was to have a serious colic or laminitis episode again I would call it a day. I might just put the money away but it just worries me something is going to come up in the meantime and it'll be sods law she pokes herself in the eye the minute I cancel the Insurance

 

[LaurenBay]

I think I would cancel the policy and put some money away each month into a bank account and use that for vets. That is what I do for my retired mare.

 

[milliepops]

I think I would cancel the policy and put some money away each month into a bank account and use that for vets. That is what I do for my retired mare.

Same. I am also surprised that the premium is not higher, tbh. My retired horses are not insured and I'll take the approach of patching them up if I can at my own expense, or calling it a day if they require expensive treatment for anything now. One of them has had her fair share of payouts from KBIS over the years The competition horses are insured instead.

 

[SpringArising]

I think I would cancel the policy and put some money away each month into a bank account and use that for vets. That is what I do for my retired mare.

Same here. You're chucking away a load of money each month for companies who fight to the death before they pay out, and even then it's not usually the full cost.

It's far less of a headache to put the money away yourself and use that if and when you need it.

 

[frostyfingers]

I had an exclusion put on my previous horse for CoPD when he’d been treated for a lung infection. Granted, it was a bad infection and took a while to clear but I was unhappy with the exclusion and took it up with the insurer. I said he’d never had or been treated for a cough in the time I’d had him (4 years) so they asked for written verifation from my vet to that effect and removed the exclusion once they’d spoken to him. It was all quite amicable but I have to admit to being slightly annoyed that they’d just stuck it on there.

 

[ester]

The word ataxic was thrown around at first due to the cause being unknown, was more a case of being unsure of where she was placing back feet than a lameness as such, so more of a nervous system issue although i appreciate it comes with its own issues I'm just confused about the write off of both hind legs, a tendon injury, fracture in a leg would be totally unrelated to the Injury in her neck.

Ataxia is a symptom, not a cause, being unsure of where she was placing her back feet is ataxia so I don't see it as a word thrown around but an accurate description of symptoms.

It also seems perfectly reasonable to exclude ataxic issues or with the hind end post investigation because mishapen vertebrae could easily cause the same problem again even if she is fine now. They would I expect argue that if she were to get another neuro episode this could lead to one of the injuries you are stating.

I would no longer insure the horse and get a 0% credit card if possible. I stopped insuring mine when he was 21, with one hoof and his genitals excluded (he'd had treatment for suspect squamous cell carcinoma) and premiums were high because of his age. Although he had some further problems age 24 it has been the right decision.

 

[Nasicus]

Only problem with the 'cancel insurance and save money each month' approach, is that you risk screwing yourself if she injures herself/needs treatment before you've built up much of a security net. Try looking at other insurers, give them a call and be honest with them, and see if they can give you a good quote/less exclusions.
KBIS did go a little silly with exclusions on my filly, so I spoke to NFU, was honest with them, and came out with much better cover at around the same price.

 

[ester]

Which is why people suggest 0% emergency use credit cards instead at least initially while you save up.

 

[Theocat]

Your original premium sounds cheap to me - your new quote is much more in line with what I hear people paying.

I didn't think premiums did increase for animal policies as a result of claims, because it would put people off claiming. I thought exclusions were in place of that, as an alternative way of managing the risk to the insurer. Lots of exclusions (although they all make sense to me) AND an increased premium sounds a bit much; you'd think it would be one or the other.

I'd also cancel and save money.