NFU have just......

Put my excess up from £120 to £200 per claim
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I have claimed twice in the last 2 years 5k first year 3.5k this year, but have they done this to anyone else????
 
Well I suppose they are letting me know as my renewal is from July........

Should I look for another insurer or stick with them..... they have been more than generous
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I had my renewal at the beginning of may, i have new claimed in the two years i have been with them, and it has only gone up about £12.
so i think that because you have claimed twice they have put it up.
 
Thats quite worrying, I'm in the process of claiming £1600 and my policy is up for renewal in July as well....will be interesting to see what people advise!
Is it worth calling them and threatening to leave to another company??
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ETS: Don't they normally give an option to pay less monthly and therefore a higher excess and visa versa???
 
they told me i would have to pay half of any vet bills that i have! i claim for vet bills for my old horse who was put down as a result! and then had a claim for my new horse who went lame!!! i changed insurance companies!
 
More than generous!! They aren't doing you a favor, you are paying for a service! Kick off, I would that is more than a fifty percent rise and presumably they have excluded the things you claimed for in the past so what is the justification for the increase? Insurance makes me sooo cross
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, sorry not having a go at you
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but I don't know why we tolerate such rubbish customer service. None of these companies would last a week in the states. Britain is just too polite!
 
Mine is still £120 but I don't know what it will go up to next year. I had a £700 claim last year and I'm just about to claim for Cropi's op. If I have to pay a bit more as long as they pay out no probs then I may have a shop around but its worth the extra if there is no hassle??
 
I put in a big claim with NFU (over £2k) and my excess has stayed at £120 for vets fees. Perhaps its because you have claimed twice? Have you upped the value of your horse - that might make a difference? Hope you get sorted. I think NFU are the best around.
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Yes they have! Put exclusions on, trebled my excess in some instances, and put premium up by £150 as my horse is now classed as a veteren. Shocking. You are not alone!
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I would phone up and threaten to move to another company if they don't reconsider. We did this when they increased our premiums by 40% even though we had only claimed for 2 of the horses and they did reduce ithem albeit by not very much.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Put my excess up from £120 to £200 per claim

I have claimed twice in the last 2 years 5k first year 3.5k this year

[/ QUOTE ]

You may not like the idea but an insurance company is there to make a profit & at the least to cover its costs. I do not know what your premiums are but you have received £8,500 in 2 years for injuries/treatments to your horses. I would expect that these payouts have been many times the premium you have paid. They have more than honoured their commitment to you but they have obviously decided that their gamble, & insurance is a gamble, is not a viable one at their present rate so they have adjusted the premuim/excess to reflect this.

If you were insuring a car your excess & premium would have gone through the roof by now & no claims bonus would have been lost. Even with a £200 excess following those mammoth claims they have paid out & proved them to be a good company. I still think you are getting a good deal. If you change companies you would still need to tell them this history & you will probably find the excess will still be there & you will also get exclusions. I would say stay with the company that has looked after you!!
 
Yes I must admit, I am not altogether surprised or upset by this.... just wondered if it was the norm.

I would actually refuse to insure me at all
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I am more than in pocket compared to if I had no insurance.
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Also wondering if now he is 10 I should be checking to see who will be his best bet for the future..... ie who insures regardless of age etc.. But NFU have been good to me, never quibbled and paid very quickly.... so suppose I shouldnt complain
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Yes. They put mine up to £200 as well.

I can't really understand why though. As whatever you claim for his excluded, we're at no more "risk" of claiming for a new injury/ailment than any one else is. I expected my premiums to rise because of my claim, but not my excess.

As others have said, I didn't quibble it as they've been good to me. I insure three horses through them though and was a little put out that my £1018 per year in premiums for all of them has the same excess now on all three horses, even though I've never claimed for the other two......and I've owned one of those for over 4 years.
 
Lets be honest those are two rather large claims you have made...totalling £8.5K! Noone wants to pay out more but from my experience NFU are the good guys vs. many of the other horror stories you hear. If they are paying claims like that on a regular basis fees will have to shoot up for all.
I know from past experience how bad SEIB can be - I made 1 claim in 12 yrs for just over £1K - and got about 20% of it back! Hence I am sticking with NFU.
All the companies have tightened up and increased exclusions / excesses etc. Your car insurance premiums would def. increase if you had made similar claims there.
 
this is one of the reasons i no longer insure any of my ponies..

i just put a little back each month...if the claim is in danger of being over viable then i'm afraid all veterinary treatment is stopped..
 
Are you a member of the BHS, JM?

I keep wondering whether I should just put money aside, seeing as I pay over £1000 a year in premiums for all three. I just worry about the liability side of things.....quite justified since Patches walked into a car last week and caused a rather large dent.
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Insurance Premiums always go up, whether you claim or not. How much it goes up by will partly depend on what you have claimed, but the claims of EVERYBODY means that Insurance Companies have to up their income to cover the amount they pay out.
Does your house Insurance go up a little every year? Did you claim? No? Point made.
 
Thats exactly what I do with my dog.... but thankfully I insured merlin coz he might not be here now (let alone sound) if I hadnt.


As he gets older I expect I will have to stop anyway, but for now, what I have paid out is far less than I would have had to!!!

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It may be that they are putting the excess up on everyone's policies when they come up for renewal. With ever advancing technology and veterinary techniques which are now available, costs are bound to increase. I work in a hospital and the equipment which is used for example for keyhole surgery runs into thousands of pounds. This will also apply to veterinary hospital.
£200 excess is reasonable and NFU have been very good in settling claims. They have already paid my bill to date only 2 weeks after I sent in the form.
 
Hmm, it's tricky, the insurance company possibly will have a 'system' of what terms/loadings or excesses they will apply after claims etc. However it could also be due to the individual underwriter for that case. Unfortunately your policy will be running at a loss for that company with the size of claims you have had so i doubt it will affect them an awful lot if you threatened to leave. it may sound harsh but insurance companies are actually looking for risks that don't claim!

Personally i think them upping your excess though is a bit pointless, Generally an excess increase is more (IMO) more likely to apply to a policy where the policyholder has had frequent small claims as opposed to those that have bigger claims but less of them but all insurance companies differ.

You can always call them an try but personally I wouldn't hold out much hope of them changing their terms. Also remember any other insurance company is quite likely to impose similar terms/higher excess anyway.
 
i claimed £5k from NFU when elly broke her leg and they put my excess up, they wrote to me a couple of months before the renewal date. i stuck with them though because during the claim they were brilliant so i just weighed up the pros and cons because i have heard such bad things about other insurers.
 
blondy..... that more than likely what I will do too
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memo..... they have stated that its coz of the claims, so fair do
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LadyT.... exactly why I shall probably just accept it, I am sure they would be glad to ditch me
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Donkeymad...... No my house insurance has not gone up. Infact I have more than halved it by changing company from the pants one that came with the mortgage to guess who..... Oh yes NFU
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they also insure my car and trailer
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So they actually dont do badly out of me..... err actually no they dont
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They've put mine up to £200 too - can't complain though as I've claimed 3 lots of £900 off them in under 2 years and about to make another large claim for Ty's hocks!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Are you a member of the BHS, JM?

I keep wondering whether I should just put money aside, seeing as I pay over £1000 a year in premiums for all three. I just worry about the liability side of things.....quite justified since Patches walked into a car last week and caused a rather large dent.
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[/ QUOTE ]

That is exactly what I do, have liability insurance through the BHS and have savings should he require any expensive treatment that I feel he could cope with.

In all honesty if he needed any treatment that necessitated a long period of box rest then he would't be treated, given how he reacted last time.
 
Mine went up to £200 with NFU when I made a claim 5 years ago. They said they would reduce it in two years back to £120. They needed reminding but they did do it.
 
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