NFU - Should I change?

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Gorgeous George

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I've been hearing bad things about NFU lately :( which is a shame as I've never had any problems with them. Also people always say they're expensive so I thought I might look at changing when mine comes up for renewal, do you think it would be worth changing or just stick with them?

I got quotes from Petplan and KBIS but they were hugely more than NFU and covered less, i.e. they won't insure my tack because the tack room doesn't have a mortice lock and bars at the windows :( - it has a double glazed window, steel reinforced door and mega padlock and an alarm!

The other thing is that when George reaches 15 (a few yrs to go yet) I think NFU will no longer cover vet fees for illness - is that correct? Is Petplan the only one that does?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks for your help :)
 
I've never managed to get a quote from NFU - personally have found the service of my local office to be terrible when you call them, incredibly disorganised and not really interested in a one horse owner.

I'm with Amtrust Equine who are fab. Quite expensive but seem to be worth the money. My horse is now 15 and Amtrust will continue to insure him until he is 20, as I started the policy before he turned 15. The only company who will insure after the age of 20 is Petplan, so when mine gets to 19, I have to change to them. I didn't go with Petplan this time around though as in all honesty, I really didn't like the sales girl on the phone - she was pushy, rude and only interested in getting my credit card number rather than talking me through the policy. So try talking to Amtrust :)
 
I'm with nfu and having issues at the moment and thinking about changing once everything is all sorted.

So will be watching this post to see what everyone says on the subject.

Sorry not much help but I've been waiting around 2 months and they havent confirmed if they will or wont cover my horse for a bone scan :-S
 
Can't fault them! They have just paid out for my mare's ks operation which came to just under 5k and I only sent them the vets invoice 2 weeks ago. Oh, and their premiums are always the cheapest.
 
mine was insured with nfu until this year and i only stopped because it went up and the policy was changed so that she wasnt insured for anything she had before even if i hadnt claimed for it.....so decided that as she is 19 it wasnt worth paying for limited cover.... however i would go back to nfu if i got another horse as i was very happy with the service, and i did get paid out, without any problems, for quite a few claims totalling in all about £3000, and some of these were in the last couple of years so mine was insured after the age of 15....:D
 
I insured my boy with NFU, when he was having treatment they were fine paid the vets bills without problem, then my boy had to be PTS and then they let themselves down.

I got the report from the vet for a mortality claim, after 2 weeks i hadn't heard from them so i phoned to be told there was a 12 working day backlog, 4 weeks later i get a letter saying they are passing the claim onto their consultant vet, this takes another 2 weeks for their vet to contact mine and send his report back. Don't forget during this time my horse was on bute twice a day and still not paddock sound, i had been informed over the phone that to PTS would negate my claim (had he been hopping lame and really unhappy i would have done without a second thought, but he would wander round the paddock grazing and was happy to mooch about)

Eventually after 9 weeks my vet decided enough was enough and phoned NFU and got permission verbally over the phone to PTS, and he was told by keeping Harvey alive i could have had a negative affect on my claim! (thats not what i was told).

After having Harvey PTS, i went to cancel my monthly premiums only to be told my claim would stop if i did this, after the claim was complete they would work out how much i had overpaid and refund me, so i carried on paying £42:00p a month for 2 months after he had died. I received my cheque from NFU for the amount he was insured for, 4 weeks later i am still waiting for a cheque for my overpayment for my premiums!.

I won't even go into the 3 times I phoned the claims dept and came off the phone in tears due to the attitude of the staff I spoke to, there was no sympathy or empathy at all, it makes me wonder if they know what it is like to own or lose a horse.

I know everyone will have different experiences, but for me and the treatment i have received i personally will never insure with NFU again.
 
i'm with them and they have been ace. they are in process of paying out 3k of vets fees including a bone scan and have paid towards his box rest as well.
 
I've been with NFU for years and think they are very good- I have had to make a fairly big ongoing claim which they paid with no fuss or questions.
I have found them easy to get hold of and helpful on the phone- never tried my local office though.
 
I'm with NFU and within the last 18 months made 5 claims totally over £10000! (lots of bad luck!). apart from taking about 2 months to process each claim they paid up with no questions.

The will insure your horse fully up until the year your horse is 18 on the renewal. Then they will continue full cover at an increased premium until they're 20.
 
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