NFU & Equine First

MyBoyChe

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17 April 2008
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Anyone had a claim go through EF recently. Che had an ear infection back in March and the claim is still not settled. They just seem to be faffing about tbh, needing this, then that, then something else!! Think I may well look to change once this is sorted, combined with the price hike they dont seem to be quite the company they used to be to me. Any experiences/recommendations to share?
 
Dont even get me started!
I have quite a few choice words i could use about equine first but i shall restrain!
I didn't come across them through NFU but through Equine direct. Had lots of problems with them and very slow at payin if at all.
Was very shocked and suprised that NFU who i had always though a good company were using them. At work we use NFU so I have to deal with them but always ask for our claims to stay with them and not go to EF. At work they are looking to move companys due to incrased preimums but decreased service.
My recomendation is to hasle EF quite a bit and dont give up they will eventualy pay but it can be an up hill struggle unless anything drastic has change in the last few months. Thye are very good at 'losing' paper work to so amke sure they have everything too
Good luck!
 
I had dealings with EF when they handled my Equestrian Direct claim (when ED closed down). It took a year for me to get the final payments for my claim, even though they had already agreed the claim...the only reason I got those payments was because I'd involved the Financial Ombudsman!

You need to call EF weekly *at least*, find out who you are speaking to, make a note of every time you speak to them and put things in writing. My experience is that they only have one person dealing with the claims from each company and they are utterly useless.
 
im still waiting for my claim to be finalised. was a 4k claim and there is only a few hundred left. still nothing. And i had my renewal through for him, they want to charge me £600 a year!! And that doesnt include exclusions!
 
after l had insured my horse with nfu everyone told me l was mad as they are so very slow to settle a claim .but l must say when my horse was badly kicked l had a vets bill of £1800, nfu ( local branch ) couldn't have been more helpful. keeping me up dated by phone and they did settle my claim fast.
 
I had a claim 18 months ago. NFU sent my claim to EF, and it took just over a year before Equine First paid out. I had to send THREE sets of vets invoices, as they lost my vets invoices twice! I got the impression that the EF offices are really disorganised, as whenever I phoned up, I felt as though I was being fobbed off, usually being told something along the lines of ....."we have a backlog of claims, and yours is due to be settled within the next 4 weeks" They told me the same thing more or less, every month for a year!

The whole experience was very stressful and time consuming for me. Just before the cheques were sent, I was planning to take NFU (as my contract was with them) to court or get the ombudsman involved, but fortunately I didn't need to.
 
After reading these it has made me feel better as for a very long time it felt like it was just me. But how do companies like this manage to keep going like this? and how/why did a good company like NFU get involed with them. from what i can gather people are leaving them in droves surely they must relise something is wrong??
EF must have lots and lots of wasted paper laying around as i often had to send them yet another invoice because they lost the one i sent and the one from the vet. And they really need to get some new excuese another favourite one of theres was the person you need to talk to is busy/away/in a meeting or on the phonw they will phone you bk they never did! had several heated phone calls with them!
IMO they are the worst company I have ever had dealings with
 
I must be the only one that is happy with them. I send my monthly vets bills to them, and they pay the vet direct, sometimes it is a few days late, but no issues from me? Hopefully, I have just sent them the last one or my claim, but nearing £3k and all paid in good time over the last 6 months. Very happy! :)
 
Oh dear, there's a bit of a theme there :( Thank you for all your replies, I shall make sure I am proactive in chasing them and tomorrow I shall phone around for a few quotes so I can change once this is settled.
 
I had 2 claims go through at the same time, one was sent to EF it took nearly 12 months and numerous phone calls to sort it out, i demanded the claim was to go back into house and it was sorted out with in a few weeks..
I even got a lovely bouquet waiting for me on my door step to say sorry for the delay in dealing with my claim..
 
A quick update, thanks to advice from you guys I have just spoken to Emma at NFU and explained how disappointed I am with the service from EF, she offered to call the file back and deal with it at NFU so lets see! The irony is that apparently they are using EF to help with the volume of work, for quickness!! Bad decision methinks :(
 
I am dealing with equine 1st through scottish equi due to them not wanting to pay out for a claim, equine 1st came to my house and took my statement about the days events.

I sent them all the data they have asked for but havent heard anything back and when i call they are busy
 
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