Need another plan of action if vets don't pay up!

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Parkranger

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My horse is going in to the vets in a few weeks to have his hocks checked - vet is 90% sure he's got hock spavin and is bilaterally lame (sp)

I did get the vet to check him in October but not treatment was carried out but this will obviously come up on the claim. What do you think the chances are of the insurance paying up for exploratory work?

He's been insured with them for 2 years and it wasn't something he had when I brought him, so I'm thinking the odds are good. He's freeing up again now that he's being ridden regularly so vet suggested use bute for 6/10 months to get the hock completely fused and then revisit if it hasn't?

Any views on this?
 
Depends if you have had an annual renewal, if so and the insurers are aware of the october work, they will have been put on notice and depending who you are with may have excluded further injury / work.

Best to check your policy - Hopefully you will be fine!
 
Sorry when did u renew is what i meant.
And if you would PM me the ins company i can tell you if its likely! Used to work at the vets as a claim advisor!
 
You should have up to 12mths from the onset of the condition to submit a claim so you shouldbe fine (this should be irrespective of the date the policy renewed).
 
I hope they do pay out, but insurance companies will try and get out of paying if they can!!! my pony was insured for just over 2 years with the same company on a good policy that covered him with vet bills untill he was 25 years old i made no claims until a few weeks ago, when the vet treated him for laminitis(he had never had this before) 3 days later he died in his sleep, the insurance company would not pay out unless i had a post mortem carried out, I refused as i didnt want them to open him up and make a mess, it would have taken up to 2 months at a cost of a few hundred pounds which they wouldnt pay for either!!! so i ended up covering all the costs incl vets bill and cremation myself. If they dont pay will your vet let you set up a monthly direct debit payment plan?
 
I don't think you need to worry in a case like this. Contact your insurers tell them the details and there should not be a problem. If the symptoms started in Oct 2007 they are likely to date the claim back to then which means you can claim for any vets fees for treatment form the initial date. they will though end the treatment date in Oct 2008 (or when you fees limit runs out whichever is the sooner). Claims for hock spavin are generally pretty straight forward and exploratory treatment should be covered along with the bute etc that you are given by the vet.

Check your working though - you do not say the age of your horse - some policies will not cover degenerative conditions (which this is) on horses aged 14 or over. You don't say who you're insured with but (barring one insurer who will try say it was pre-existing!) it should be fine. If they try and tell you they won't settle as it's pre-existing then this is a load of cr*p. if there were no problems until now you had no reason to believe this horse was going to develop spavin.
 
Thanks Lady T - he is 12.

I do actually have a 5 stage vetting from when I brought him. Didn't turn up anything spavin related - but also didn't turn up his blindness ;-)
 
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