NFU won't offer insurance if you'd claimed in past

[DZ2]

I’ve claimed loads from NFU for one of my horses, close to 12k.
When I asked for insurance for my new horse (this time last year) I was never asked about previous claims with other horses. It was also a new policy as the old one had been in my parents name so everything was done from scratch.
Did you ring the main number on their website?
You tend to get a better response and price if you ring a local branch, not the main number.

This was the main line. I called local office today; weirdly they didn't mention this company policy and took me through the quotation. They did ask however if I had incurred any vet fees on any horses in past 3 years, to which the answer was yes (this was again for different horse) and this pumped the quoted premium to £1200 (to insure 4-year old with £2K value and no illness history). This is almost triple of what PetPlan/SEIB/KBIS had quoted online for similar level of vet fees, so needless to say I won't be taking NFU offer...

 

[timbobs]

I’ve found NFU to be a bit funny - they wouldn’t give me a quote for my previous horse because I only paid a token £1 for him. 🤷‍♀️

 

[Carrottom]

I have my house insurance with NFU and this gives me 3rd paty cover when riding. I had to confirm this recently when my lad moved his quarters out and dented a brand new van door. I didn't claim but spoke to them just in case.

 

[ponyparty]

Jeez, they won't touch me with a barge pole then if I get another horse. I've had 4 or 5 claims with them so far in the last 1.5 years, I've actually lost count! Premiums are expensive, but excess is only £145 and at renewal premiums only went up minimally. Every claim has been paid out no quibble (not that there should have been any quibble, all straightforward really) and they've been a delight to deal with. Worth the money for my horse, who seems to attract illness and injury like a magnet. But if I got another I bet I'd have to go elsewhere.

 

[whiteflower]

This must be a new thing as only a year ago I added a new horse to my policy after having a massive claim including MRI etc just a few months previous. I do however have my yard insurance with them.......interesting.....

 

[Laafet]

This must be a new thing as only a year ago I added a new horse to my policy after having a massive claim including MRI etc just a few months previous. I do however have my yard insurance with them.......interesting.....

Not a new thing, they did it to me 8 years ago. Even then my local office were saying that they were being told to not push the horse side of things so much. I had always dealt with them direct rather than the main NFU site and they were quite open and honest about that sort of thing.

 

[Sasana Skye]

Weird and not my experience at all...When I bought my second horse 3 years ago I rang NFU for a quote and they gave me one, I decided to go with KBIS in the end for my second horse just because they have a good plan with my vets, and the quote was slightly cheaper, but the man on the phone did try and convince me to go with them. I already had my first horse insured with NFU so they knew I had claimed over £5,000 since taking the policy out. I do have my tack and trailer on the same policy but what I pay (almost £1,100 a year/£89 a month now) isn't exactly paying their wages.

 

[whiteflower]

Not a new thing, they did it to me 8 years ago. Even then my local office were saying that they were being told to not push the horse side of things so much. I had always dealt with them direct rather than the main NFU site and they were quite open and honest about that sort of thing.

If not a new thing there must be a reason they are happy to take on some customers, no quibble who have had past claims and arnt interested in dealing with others. How strange...they certainly haven't tried to dissuade me from getting my insurance with them and have been amazing with payouts and their customer service has always been good even when I've had to bring up an issue.

 

[Laafet]

If not a new thing there must be a reason they are happy to take on some customers, no quibble who have had past claims and arnt interested in dealing with others. How strange...they certainly haven't tried to dissuade me from getting my insurance with them and have been amazing with payouts and their customer service has always been good even when I've had to bring up an issue.

Well as a very loyal customer I would love to know why they chose to treat me like they did. I have never had a problem since getting insurance but hey ho.

 

[criso]

One of the ways that NFU differs from other insurers is they have local offices. They may be interpreting guidelines on who to take on in different ways. I don't think they want to actively encourage horse insurance except maybe as part of multiple products and some regions may be more proactive in implementing this.

With me they did this by quoting almost 3x what some of their competitors wanted rather than an outright refusal.

 

[whiteflower]

Well as a very loyal customer I would love to know why they chose to treat me like they did. I have never had a problem since getting insurance but hey ho.

I would ask them !! Sounds really strange !

 

[The-Bookworm]

Maybe that's something new?
I know they altered their wording to remove a lot of things.
I am an existing customer so the renewal went up-a lot then came down.

 

[numptynovice]

I worked for NFU years ago and they have a call centre which does over the phone quotes and also a network of local offices. The call centre just takes very straightforward, low risk cases and has really strict criteria (at least it did in my day). Local offices did the bigger stuff and had more flexibility and different rules. You are likely to get a different response depending on if you phone the call centre or a local agent.