NFU renewal has gone up an extra £30/month!!!!!

Alchemy

Alchemy

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Okay apologies firstly for a small rant .. but OMG really they now want £85 a month so if I pay monthly its over £1k a year!!! to insure a horse that just hacks out! okay he is 19 and for the last 9 years I have paid approx. £600/year to insure him even though last year I reduced his value to £500 and knocked my tack off the policy. In this time I have claimed once for £480 for 30mins at NEH for a couple of x rays on his hock ( he wasn't even lame on the leg, I just wasn't convinced he was 100%- glad I did as found out he had a screw in the cannon bone) now wish I hadn't bothered to claim for it. Also have claimed for a years worth or prascend tablets as he has early onset of cushings- I think I may have started him on this too early but he has looked a bit better on the tablets.

So I haven't really claimed for anything major! They now have me backed into a corner as I didn't want to put him on a veteran policy just yet worried that if something bad was to happen that would be the end :-( but there is no way I can afford £85/month, no other insurance company will take on a veteran on full policy so looks like I shall bite the bullet and go onto a veteran policy but I am certainly thinking about moving perhaps carriage house?

After 11 years NFU can go whistle if that's how they treat long standing customers

Any recommendations for good veteran insurance companies?-

Sorry for the long rant wine and cheese if you made it this far :-)
 
put the money in a savings account instead. Over 10 years you will have £10k. If during that time you get a 3 or 5k bill before you've saved 3-5k, get a credit card to cover the cost and then make a monthly payment plan to pay the credit card off ASAP, including the savings lump sum you've accumulated so far.
 
My own opinion, put the monthly premium in the bank and go third party only. Veteran policies are very restrictive. As I say, just what I would (and do) do.

Edit, seen above great minds and all that!
 
i dread renewal. Had my mare since July. Nov diagnosed with PSD so have had 3.5k so far in vet bills and just opened up a new claim as she is in hospital with peritonitis! i am v glad i was insured .....
 
We have moved all of our policies (house, farm, vehicles, tractors etc) away from the NFU. We have found them terrible to deal with and they rank the premiums up every year despite not having claimed and being loyal customers. I would not recommend them to anyone.

Personally, I would forget the insurance and put the money into a separate account for any emergencies.
 
I moved to Animal Friends last month from NFU and saved myself £100 a month. Cover is the same for all 4 except my veteran who is now only insured up to £2k of vets fees and third party at £14 per month. Most of him is excluded anyway so very happy with the cover given, his NFU policy was £48 per month!
 
I am sure Petplan lets you insure up to age 20 and for all vet bills up to £5k. At least they did when I took it out for my late mare.
 
Give them a call and put your horse on their veteran cover. Same thing happened to me when my boy was 19 and they were happy to increase my premium by an extortionate amount and turns out all payouts were limited due to age so I was seriously over insuring him and any payout would be limited to that of the veteran cover and it's much cheaper. So I swapped him over.
 
Good lord! That's insane. I don't insure any of my horses for vet fees. I just pay as I go along. Have done it like this for many many years and it's saved me an absolute fortune.
 
I agree with the savings account. That's what I have done since cancelling policy with NFU 4 years ago. I also have a emergency credit card If ever need it. Thankfully not needed to dip into anything yet. I just hate the thought of giving a company my money over years and never making a claim. If it's there in the bank If I need it for vet etc & if I don't ever need it it's still there building up into a nice pile of dosh :)
 
Try kbis you only have to do veteran once horse is 21. I pay about £30 per month I'm looking at insurance today so just did an aprox quote for a 20 year old for value £500 fir 3k vets 2 million liability but no accident for yourself you'd be £30 a month. If you register on there site you can play about with numbers ie if you increase value you can increase vets bills hope that helps the important thing is they pay out!!also try scottish equestrian as they are also fab to pay out and there excess is only £140 per claim
 
Thanks everyone :-) at the moment just deciding whether to

a) just put him on the NFU veteran @ £26/month
b) just stop insurance and pay into a bank account each month
c) join BHS Gold so I have liability as I do still hack him out
 
also should point out at the moment I am paying £55/month!!! and that is with no tack or anything else apart from light hacking and perhaps one local show a year seems a bit steep! or I may just be out of touch
 
I dont have a veteran but am with carriage house and have claimed a couple times with no troubles.

I know a few people who keep money aside for veterans as they feel if something was to happen that needed paying 1000s for then they would probably go down the PTS route due to their age. Also most veteran insurances is for accident only and not illness.
 
NFU were a joke, I was with them years and never claimed yet every year they hiked up ridiculous amounts until I got sick of it one year, cancelled with them and went to SEIB who were much cheaper, I got better cover and they were so helpful. I had to make a claim with them only a couple of months into my contract with them (sadly as I wish I'd managed to get something out of NFU after giving them about £5k over the years!). SEIB were fantastic throughout my claim, they paid vets fees very quickly with no fuss and then paid out for loss of use at the end of it all again with no fuss at all and very very near the full figure. I would absolutely use them again. I only insure mine once I think they're a decent value (say over £6k) otherwise I just pay for my own vets fees.

NFU also couldn't have cared less when I called to say I wouldn't be renewing, they were very offhand and not bothered at all!
 
Alchemy said:
also should point out at the moment I am paying £55/month!!! and that is with no tack or anything else apart from light hacking and perhaps one local show a year seems a bit steep! or I may just be out of touch
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No, that is steep! I would be calling them and asking them to read out all the details they have on my horse - there might be an error somewhere. I pay £58 a month with NFU for a younger horse insured for a reasonably high value (not massive, but above the 5 stage vetting needed threshold) and insured to go out and compete. Seems there is something wrong there somewhere.

Ginger is insured with Petplan at £19 a month (veteran).
 
My insurance went up when my horse hit 16 yet the cover went down. I had never claimed anything in nine years for her. I ended the insurance (for her and our 11yr old horse too), joined the BHS and will cover my own bills with a credit card if need be until I have saved more up. It feels good!
 
I just do BHS gold membership for public liability, and pay the rest myself, after NFU hiked my payments right up - and added back in a horse that had died a year before!
 
I'm with nfu, just had my renewal through and my combined monthly bill is £75pcm. That's for a rising 4yo who's insured go compete and a rising 17yo cripple on a normal policy. She's insured for £500 and still gets the full £5k vets fees etc.
 
My lot are with Scottish equestrian, £28 a month full cover and five thousand vets fees. Even my retired warmblood.

Two of my horses have had two claims each this past few years and my monthly bill hasn't gone up.
 
I've insured with NFU for the last 12 years and really rated them, until this year's shock renewal which was nearly £2500 for 2 horses for the year - it was about a 55% increase and I'd only had one claim (albeit a reasonable size). Shifted to KBIS and I'm now playing £1300 a year for 3 horses on equivalent cover. What was most disappointing was NFU's attitude when I phoned up to query it, they really CBA to even discuss it with me so I cancelled on the spot. I guess I no longer fit the demographic they want!
 
I am with PetPlan, mines just gone up £3/month and I was cribbing at that!!

I would definitely be moving.

Whilst I agree that having no insurance works out better, 1k per yr = 10k in 10 yrs, horses have an awful way of surprising us. If you were unfortunately hit with a vet bill next year you would only have 1k....
 
I've just had something similar.

Had my KWPN insured with NFU for the 10 years (claimed once for a bout of cellulitis and lastly for the arthritis in his front legs) I owned him until he sadly had to be PTS last October. I told NFU and sent the passport back as requested.

Then 3 days ago I recieved a letter telling me that my premiums were going up from £67 p/m to £93 p/m (he would have been a 15yr old by this point)

I phoned up NFU and told them again that he was put to sleep last year and there was a mistake. They agreed and said they would cancel it.

The following day I recieved a letter saying that they are sorry for my loss, but sorry I would not be receiving a LOA payout (insured at 5K) or any help with disposal costs.

After 15+ years with NFU I was so dissapointed with their service.
 
I have heard others complaining about this company's hikes. Benji is now 22 and been insured with Petplan since he was a yearling. He's covered for illness up to the age of 25. To be honest though I don't know whether I'd put him through an op if needed in the next 3 years anyway. I've been happy with their service over the years, he's not insured for much and my premium is just under £30 a month.))
 
Hmm my renewal (after losing the mutual bonus due to changing the policyholder) is £27 per month on Veteran, vets bills £3k, 2.5million 3rd party, tack for a thousand, horse £500. He is 23, has wobblers, we've made three veterinary claims (inc wobblers) and two tack claims in 11 years.
 
Squidge90 said:
I've just had something similar.

Had my KWPN insured with NFU for the 10 years (claimed once for a bout of cellulitis and lastly for the arthritis in his front legs) I owned him until he sadly had to be PTS last October. I told NFU and sent the passport back as requested.

Then 3 days ago I recieved a letter telling me that my premiums were going up from £67 p/m to £93 p/m (he would have been a 15yr old by this point)

I phoned up NFU and told them again that he was put to sleep last year and there was a mistake. They agreed and said they would cancel it.

The following day I recieved a letter saying that they are sorry for my loss, but sorry I would not be receiving a LOA payout (insured at 5K) or any help with disposal costs.

After 15+ years with NFU I was so dissapointed with their service.
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That is awful :-( and very insensitive. Like others say its their attitude that really is shocking
 
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