NFU insurance...anyone else had a silly increase?

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MochaDun

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I just opened my post...my insurance documentation for my next year's horse insurance has arrived..they have increased my premium by £190...I have made no claim, and nothing has changed on my policy. Long letter with endless bullet points supposedly justifying the increase but no justification can account for that in my book so will be shopping around. Their reasons for the increase are increased cost of claims, increasing risk of fraud and extreme weather...so I pay for everyone else's problems and other people's abuse of the insurance system and the force of nature that I have no control over?!
 
Yes, hence why I've just changed!

I claimed on mine almost 2 years ago, so have renewed since the claim, I expected an increase after claiming but not again, particularly such a big increase!
 
I just got my renewal, I sold B a couple of weeks ago and tbh had forgotten to cancel the policy, I was shocked to see how much it had gone up and I have 10 years of mutual bonus and only had him insured for a minimal amount - I was quite releived to call and cancel it today I must say.
 
i will be recieving mine shortly but i currently have a claim for over 3grand so was expecting mine to be rather high, and prob even higher now if it has gone up in general! I currently pay £36 a month and have been with them for 4 years! I think they had a huge increase in claims on the last year as they have been overloaded and have been rather slow in paying up. Wether that has contributed to the increase in price. I will be insuring him for accidental things with another insurance, pointless insuring him really ass all four legs are excluded and his spine ha!
 
mine has gone up by about 150 quid- but i have a big claim they have just paid out for in full (£4000!) no questions asked- payed in full, so i was expecting an increase!!
 
Ha! Well, I am not laughing at you but that'll teach NFU for under cutting every other horse insurer's premiums. Their strategy for many years has just been to get the business on the books by undercutting everyone else in the market's premiums. They have obviously now realised - "****, equine insurance isn't making us any money" so, who suffers - you! They shouldn't be penalising claim free policies. I would go back and try for a reduction to be honest. Claim free risks may well just be just system generated as opposed to having been looked at by an actual underwriter.

I would go back to them and ask for the reasons. If they won't reduce then I would say shop around!
 
LadyT you're right as I moved from another insurer to NFU a few years ago as NFU were so much cheaper so they must have been undercutting for a while as when I first got my horse they were actually more expensive so I guess they did do it to get the business. I will ring them and see what they say and see if there's room for negotiation, am already getting some other company quotes online tonight. I know with insurance the no claim clients help pay for the policies that have to pay out but in 7 years (5 years with one insurer and now 2 with NFU) I've never had to claim for my horse (thank goodness, touches wood, etc) but I can't subsidise a company's burgeoning costs.
 
Quality of service had dropped now as well. They are quibbling about very reasonable claims from two of my friends. They used to be one of the good insurance companies, but would not be my first choice now.
 
A friend of mine insurance has increased too. I was insured with them until begining of the year but I had issues with them and a claim last year and wouldnt insure my new horse with them for that reason.
 
Unfortunately this is the problem - with th big changes in veterinary science (great for horse owners) means insurance bills are much more expensive and hence horse insurance just doesn't make money for the insrance companies.

I worked in equine insurance for nearly 7 years up til last year and we weren't prepared to compete with E&L cos their premiums were stupidly cheap (you get what you pay for) but then NFU were doing similar (ie undercutting premiums) just to get the busines and of course you'll move for less money - anyone would. However, evidently it can't go on forever can it!
 
I was with NFU and paying 40 pounds per month - an increase of 10 pounds per month on the previous year. I'd been with them for 4 years and never made a claim.

I now have insurance with PetPlan and pay 22 pounds per month. I rang NFU to tell them about PetPlan's quote. The best match NFU could offer was 35 pounds per month.
 
I don't understand the justification of 'you've had a claim' for an increase in a horse insurance premium when the companies will then exclude that thing and anything related to it! It makes sense to me that if I claim on my car insurance, the premiums go up, because if I pay for fully comp, I still get fully comp. However, pay for fully comp on horse, claim, and then you pay more for less cover. What a bizzare way to run a business!
 
No,love my insurance company,have had claims and it still hasnt gone up!How the hell they can increase premiums yet exclude conditions is beyond me?I would put this question to them,wait for their answer,then promptly tell them,"I am taking my business elsewhere,and sure as hell will not be recommending you to my many horse owning friends"
 
Our car, commercial vehicle and tractor ins was a lot more this year, and when I questioned it they said that as last year was their centeenary (sp?) they had doubled the mutual bonus to 20%, it's usually 10%.
 
SpottedCat said:
I don't understand the justification of 'you've had a claim' for an increase in a horse insurance premium when the companies will then exclude that thing and anything related to it! It makes sense to me that if I claim on my car insurance, the premiums go up, because if I pay for fully comp, I still get fully comp. However, pay for fully comp on horse, claim, and then you pay more for less cover. What a bizzare way to run a business!
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You can't really compare horse and car insurance. Sure the principle is the same but, when a car is damage following an accident, it can be fixed and it's not going to affect the car later on. Mechanical faults/breakdowns are NOT covered under a car insurance but, if you have vets fees on a horse insurance then that's essentially what you're paying for and the insurance does not continue to cover a condition for the life of the horse (if it did then the premiums would be a heck of a lot more expensive!).

At the end of the day insurance companies are a business and are there to make money. When the average horse premiumis around £300 but the average vet bill is approx £1500 then you can see how, even if you've had several years claim free paying £300 a month, one claim at £1500 can wipe out all of the premium you have paid so your policy is therefore running at a loss to that company. That's how it works really.

Another difference with car insurance and horse insurance is car insurance is a legal requirement, horse insurance is not. It's your choice to insure your horse.
 
marmalade76 said:
Our car, commercial vehicle and tractor ins was a lot more this year, and when I questioned it they said that as last year was their centeenary (sp?) they had doubled the mutual bonus to 20%, it's usually 10%.
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Checked the sums just for when I speak to them and the percentage increase they're trying to apply on my policy is 52%!
 
Mine has gone up by £20 a month with the NFU. I have had a claim and need to stay with them until August when the claim period is over. So I've had to take things off my policy to make it more affordable. It's ridulous how on earth they think that someone can afford £70 a month for a horse insured for £3000 I'll never know!!
 
I had two insured with NFU. One of them ended up using £5000 worth of vets fees. His policy then went up dramatically as you would expect. However, I then got a massive shock when I renewed as they had put up the other policy massively as well. When I called them, they said it was because of the other horse's claims even though this one had never had a days sickness! TOTALLY UNFAIR! Anyway, although I thought the NFU were brilliant, that was a step too far, and I've left them. :mad:
 
Ouch m'duck, that's one heck of an increase!

Just been reviewing our horses insurance. Have saved nearly £200 a month, which will go into a savings account for vets fees, by:

LC had so much excluded there wasn't a lot left, so have cancelled all insurance on him.

LL is so old now that the insurance would pay put very little, so I've cancelled the insurance on him as well.

I wouldn't put either of them through an operation due to wonky back end and age.

Am contemplating Dizzy's insurance. Claimed LoU on her, which NFU paid out, so there's not a lot left that is insurable. Same applies to her re. operations as her backend wouldn't take it.

Grey Mare is covered for the normal things.

All horses are covered for third party liability through our BHS Gold membership.
 
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I have to say I have always though that NFU were fab, and I have had to put alot of claims in (I own possibly the 2 most accident prone horses in the UK!!) but I have noticed a signficant dip in their customer service and how quickly they process their claims. Given that I pay £98 pm for both my horses, I expect that the renewel will be horrific and I will probably go elsewhere. Anyone got any good recommendations? :o
 
I'm having trouble coming to terms with this one, I posted a few days ago about my large increase and got some very helpful advice from other members and have shopped around on line, but not made a decision yet. I have 3 veterans which doesn't help! But when you look into the small print, although I can get cheaper quotes from other companies, they all have larger excesses and lower maximum limits on vets fees so at the moment my jury is out.
 
I have just had my NFU renewal for 2 horses, one 14 and one 4 insured for £2000 each. NEVER claimed anything and been with them 10 yrs was paying £22 and £25 last yr and now both gone up to £36 a month. no claims, ntohing has changed. will be looking round.
 
Yep! Got my renewal through in the post this week and it's gone up a fair bit. The horse in question is being written off though, so I won't be needing her insured for riding/competing and shall be shopping around for a good brood mare/field ornament cover instead.
 
Strange...ive claimed nearly £12k in the last three years, for one horse, and mines not really gone up noticeably.
 
I've have two horses insured with them and my premium has gone up £18 a month which isn't too bad, comparing to the rise in my other insuance policies.

They've paid out 10k for four claims over the last 3 years and apart from having to chase them once, they've been very good and not quibled anything.

I would still recommend them although I wouldn't deal with my local office as they aren't horsey.
 
I have been woth NFU for 7 years, and have just had my renewal through, I have 2 ponies and a trailer insured with them and payment will be 10 a month more than I am paying now.

Think I will be staying with them as so far have always had good service from them, however if it goes up again so much next year I might be looking elsewhere.....
 
Mine too has gone up by £130 this year. I have renewed with them for the past 8 years and never claimed a penny, I called them so they could explain the increase and they said its due to increase in Vets fees etc and also the fact my horse turns 13 this year!? I could perhaps understand the vets fees but not the age thing - surely even 16year old horses aren't really classed as 'veterans' now let alone a 13year old horse!? So at 13 yrs they add a 10% loading charge and then when he's 17 it goes up by 40%!!!! So after an exhaustive discussion I have cancelled my policy and moved to CarriageHouse Insurance who have insured him like for like for the amount I have been paying.
 
Maybe I've just been lucky as my renewal came up in January, but my premium has only increased by about £1 per month. How very odd that policies are going up so enormously! I shall expect a big hit on mine in January then :(
 
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