NFU, What a bunch of amateurs.

[Mike007]

I went to reinsure my 7yo today . Mortality and public liability. Quite a simple task I had thought.But I hadnt recconed on the NFU stupidity!. The "problem" was that when I first insured him he was a green Irish horse ,straight out of a field and I insured him for what I paid. He has now developed into a nice bold jumper and I wanted to increase his value by £1200. Aparrently I need a letter from a judge. I thought at first they ment a showing judge but oh no! They meant a lawcourt type judge. I asked what the hell does one know about the value of a horse. I pointed out that in the event of a claim ,the first thing they did anyway was to appoint a loss adjuster to determine the horses value!I was then told I could get a valuation by a riding instructor.I asked what qualifications must they hold ? They didnt have a clue. They then suggested I get a letter from a ponyclub DC and was I a ponyclub member. I havent been a ponyclub member for nearly 40 years. They didnt know it was for children
I told the woman in the end that I wouldnt bother and that I just wanted public liability . Apparently they dont just offer that. The woman actually seemed surprised when I didnt renew the insurance.

 

[MrsMozart]

Barking mad.

 

[Holly Hocks]

I've been waiting since 1999 for NFU to phone me back with my insurance quote.....I bought the horse, went into the office to sort the insurance out and mentioned that they would want to exclude the superficial flexor tendons as they had been injured in the past. All details were taken and I'm still waiting for the phone call with a quote.......do you think they might call soon?

 

[Silmarillion]

And people think the company I work for are bad for paperwork (pensions, totally different, but I've had moaners). NFU want everything written down, certified by three different people in ten different languages, and vetted to its eyeballs... every year.

Hence why I don't use NFU!!

 

[ladyt25]

Oh dear! I guess it must depend on which office you call - some maybe don't know anything about the horse insurance side I guess? Seems very odd though, they really shouldn't be taking calls/enquiries for horse insurance if they don't know anything. It does make them look very daft! Maybe it was a new person who had no idea? That's why i always think you need people who know about horses to work in horse insurance - it is quite a specialist area!

 

[MiCsarah]

When I increased the value of my pony, my instructor had to write them a letter. It was actually pretty simple to do. Have never had a problem with NFU, they have paid out for my £5k vets bills with out any fuss this year. Shame they keep putting their prices up though

 

[Pedantic]

Haven't you realized yet, they don't want your business.

 

[ladyt25]

When I increased the value of my pony, my instructor had to write them a letter. It was actually pretty simple to do. Have never had a problem with NFU, they have paid out for my £5k vets bills with out any fuss this year. Shame they keep putting their prices up though

You really shouldn't have to provide a 'back up' valuation though unless you exceed their criteria for a vet certificate etc in which case they request a vet cert to state the horse is in good health. it's up to you what value you put on your horse at the end of the day. However, when you come to (ie for deathe/loss of use), if you have put a substantial value on your horse THEN they may ask for a support letter to confirm the horse was/is worth what you had insured it for.

To be honest, insurance companies do annoy me when they don't stick to their own criteria (i used to work in horse insurance for many years). I have had my horse with petplan for 17 years - no claims. I decided as he was older i'd reduce his value but include vets fees and understandably they requested a 2 stage vet cert. Fair enough. i got one, so £100 odd quid and duly sent it off. Now, anyone knows a 2 stage vetting is a basic health check on THAT DAY and is not about the history of the horse's health. The vet had put no issues and Petplan were not happy with that so THEN wrote to me to request his veterinary history - mainly so they could find SOMETHING wrong. All they found was some previous nailbind issues so they excluded that. I was fuming - I could have saved myself £100 odd if they'd just requested the history instead in the 1st place of they weren't going to accept the vet cert - even though this is all they actually ask for!!!!!

 

[irish_only]

Sorry Mike but I just laughed out loud at your post.
On a more sensible but bizarre note, one of my visiting mare owners wanted to insure the foal and contacted the NFU, can't remember the full details but I think the NFU would only insure it for the value of the stud fee I advised her to contact a different office and hey presto she was able to insure the foal for the value she thought, no questions asked.....

 

[SonnysHumanSlave]

How weird!

I'm jumping ship this year, too much bad press for them on here.

 

[DiggerandWill]

I made a claim to NFU for vets fees recently, the first since taking out the policy in Feb 2005. I sent the papers by recorded delivery and it was received by them on 19 August. Chasing it 4 weeks later I was told that it takes 6 - 8 weeks to process claims and there was no way of finding out if there might be any queries that would need more info from vet etc and cause further delays. She said there is a huge backlog but of course they won't pay the interest that's accumulating on my credit card as I've had to pay the vet. Not impressed with the equine side at all.

But a complete opposite experience with the NFU canine side as I've made two claims for my dog this year and both dealt with very promptly, the last one took only 5 days to receive the cheque (sent on the same day as the equine one). Top marks for NFU canine. But nil points for their Equine department.

 

[Herpesas]

I told the woman in the end that I wouldnt bother and that I just wanted public liability . Apparently they dont just offer that. The woman actually seemed surprised when I didnt renew the insurance.

I went to the BHS and got Gold Membership for my liability this year - saved me £100!

 

[Kayfm]

NFU were the best a few years back. Ive been with them for over 2 years now. Im dreading
my renewal which is coming up soon. Prices are hiking and sooooo much and like others, have read a lot of posts about them on here. I think that I might start looking around.

 

[devilwoman]

I've been waiting since 1999 for NFU to phone me back with my insurance quote.....I bought the horse, went into the office to sort the insurance out and mentioned that they would want to exclude the superficial flexor tendons as they had been injured in the past. All details were taken and I'm still waiting for the phone call with a quote.......do you think they might call soon?

They are probably busy with other callers, but i'm sure they will call you soon !!

I've recently changed to KBIS, so far (although haven't made any claims) they have been very helpful on the phone with any queries i've had, and the premium was very reasonable. May be worth a call

 

[MiCsarah]

Well my horses price was going from £1450 to £4500 so I could kind of see why they asked as thats a £3k rise in price.

 

[oscarwild]

I was with nfu with my last horse and when I needed them when my horse fell ill I got nowhere and ended up paying the bills myself which I'm still paying off. After 6 weeks they phoned my vet for more info and I think 10 weeks later my horse was pts as he went downhill.Another 4 weeks later they asked me to send them all my vet history from vets since I had owned him. I told them that I had him pts which they had already been told and out of the blue 3 months later they asked me for the info again. I wouldnt use then again thats for sure.

 

[Merry Crisis]

I think that NFU are good with farm animals, my ex had a bullock break its fore leg last night moving it. It was shot, valuers coming tomorrow morning and full compensation will be paid as it was just under 30 months. I wouldnt insure a horse with them though as I dont think that its their priority.

 

[Mike007]

In fairness I had my previous horse with NFU ,and when I lost him they were fantastic.It seems like an entirely different company now.I would never have even considered going anywhere else,but this lot seem such a shower!

 

[ebonyallen]

Don't get me started, they really are a bunch of idiots !!!!!!!!

 

[Tiffany]

I've always insured my horses and my lorry when I had it with NFU. I've always found them to be very friendly and professional and they settled my recent claim very quickly and sympathetically.

I'm sure like all Companies, they make mistakes and some staff are better than others.

Personally, I've no reason to complain about NFU

 

[Cinnamontoast]

In fairness I had my previous horse with NFU ,and when I lost him they were fantastic.It seems like an entirely different company now.I would never have even considered going anywhere else,but this lot seem such a shower!

Same here: they were fab when my last horse was PTS but then wanted silly money to cover my new boy, so off I went.

 

[Zimzim]

I've had no problems with NFU, they were great when my youngster had to be PTS after an operation earlier in the year and the claim was sorted in a resonable amount of time, they were very friendly and I couldnt fault their service. I have my new horse insured with them, and I got discount because Im an existing company and my dog is insured with them too. Every time I've spoken to them they've been great, answred all my questions etc. Sorry some of you havent had great experiences with them, but I think that could be with any type of big company really.

 

[mrussell]

Well Ive had 6 different horses insured with NFU over the past 13 years.

In my experience they are either VERY very good OR absolutely AWFUL.

My most recent experience falls into the latter category. I claimed on 28th June, my horse was PTS on 4th August, my cheque came 5th October.

I have rung them every week throughout the claim process.

They got behind over the summer and so started using a 3rd party to help process their backlog. The 3rd party told me that my claim was authorised on 15th July but that NFU didnt clear the payment until 30th September. They then went on to take further payment for a policy for the dead horse and its taken me 2 months to get them to acknowledge that shes gone.

That said, they did atleast pay so, frustration apart, the vets are happy.

 

[Black_Horse_White]

I've had lots of claims even a PTS. I've had no problems at all with them. Only the odd call to chase up but all settled pretty quickly. Only when they past it on to equine first did I have a problem. I did have a price increase but as I have an on going claim I've stayed. I really think others will start to slowly put up their prices too, I think it's inevitable these days.

 

[Finlib]

Quote 'I was with nfu with my last horse and when I needed them when my horse fell ill I got nowhere and ended up paying the bills myself which I'm still paying off. After 6 weeks they phoned my vet for more info and I think 10 weeks later my horse was pts as he went downhill.Another 4 weeks later they asked me to send them all my vet history from vets since I had owned him. I told them that I had him pts which they had already been told and out of the blue 3 months later they asked me for the info again. I wouldnt use then again thats for sure. '
__________________
I too was asked for a complete vet history to include every single visit from the day he was born including all routine visit for vaccinations teeth etc ( I bred the horse)
The total bill was for £345 which included x rays and workup for an on going lameness which turned out to be a deep abcess.
I had to pay the first £145 so final amount they were to pay was £200.
I only insure 3 of my 5 horses as 2 are elderly( mid 20's so little availible for them).
I have BHS cover for 3rd party I pay £100 per month for the 3 and this claim for £200 took from May to October to settle they have finally agreed tom pay!!!
This is the first claim I have made for 6 years and have had insurance with them for 20 years and have made only 2 claims ever.
I am seriously considering dropping insurance altogehter and keeping BHS gold only
I am paying £1200 a year if I saved that money I would have pounds in the bank
It just is a bit scary not having the safety net of insurance after all the years of having it

 

[Herts05]

I've been with NFU for 8 years and have 3 horses insured with them. always had good experience when I've had to make claims from them. Exceptional service a few years back when a motorist collided with my horse when I was riding her - and then tried to sue me! NFU sent a guy round to visit me to take a full statement and said not to worry as if if did go to court they would back me fully as it clearly wasn't my fault.
I had read lots of stuff on this and other forums about the hike in insurance premiums this year and so had begun to call around for other quotes. I managed to reduce my premium by joining BHS for Gold membership so that saved me money (suggested by a lady at NFU call centre). When I spoke to other companies it became clear that my saddle which is kept in a secure tack room with steel doors, barred windows, CCTV camera pointing at the door and with 24 hour video recording was not covered!. Also, that my colt who is due to be gelded at the end of the month was not covered for the operation!
Long story short, when I considered everything I decided to stay with NFU.
BTW, I was told that if I wanted to increase the insured value of my colt I too needed a letter confirming his new value, but it just needed to be from an experienced person and so the Stud Owner where he is now was considered to be okay - so I think its a misinterpretation of the rules by the person that the first poster spoke to. It may be worthwhile calling back.
Remember also that all calls to the NFU call centre are taped, so if there is any issue you can always get them to listed to the call again and make a decision.