NFU - yet more general exclusions - time not to bother?

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cyberhorse

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Just wanting to pick everyone's brains about what they are now doing re: insurance. We have just had our renewal from NFU and you guessed it it has shot up, but what concerns me is that it now has more generalised exclusions than ever!

We have never made a claim and only once had a vet for one horse to give an antihistamine shot for rolling in nettles (just to be on the safe side). We are now expected to pay the best part of £1700 to cover the two horses. They have no specific exclusions but the general ones cover the same injury in ANY leg or ANY body structure (not just the same limb) and the sodding colic one (many horses I know have had a mild episode before massive one needing surgery). If we claim on a leg they'll also then exclude the limb itself. Hence they just won't be covered for vet fees, loss of use or loss of horse in anything they can wangle under these now really broad terms.

So is it really worth it anymore? Do I wait until something happens and then cancel my policy straight after, or do I just drop it to loss of horse/use save up the rest, or even drop it altogether and put all the money in a savings account and join BHS for the public liability? The horses in question are worth approx £4000 and £2000 (the latter is not insured for loss of use). I'd be interested in what others are now doing with the rising cost of insurance and greater exclusions. My OH would just not insure and pts if anything serious cropped up, but I don't think I could go along with that if something could be done for them.
 
im with petplan and they are good - decent policy etc too and resonable (33 quid a month)

However... if it shoots up this year and exclude stupid things, im tempted to cancel it....

I said when i took it out "i only insure for colic and breaks" however if she breaks something and has to have colic surgery then she would be pts....

so ask yourself what your insuring for?
 
Was talking to our local NFU agent recently as I have a young horse insured with them because they used to be relatively inexpensive - he said that they are basically wanting to get out of horse insurance but as it is something that so many farming families are involved with they don't want to say that outright, so they are just making it very difficult and more expensive in the hope that we will look elsewhere !! I, for one, certainly plan to!
 
They are an absolute nightmare!! I moved fom NFU last year having been with them for years, they wanted another £20 a month for my premium, with no past claims!!

Loss of use ramps the premium up hugely, do you really need it? Could you reduce he sum insured?

I'd definitely shop around, I'm now with KBIS and they seem quite efficient. You could stop paying for insurance and join the BHS, but you have to be strict re saving to cover any vets fees!!!
 
Cyberhorse, have a look at a thread I started titled NFU. Lots of info on there.

The NFU actually told me they want out of horses and they are certainly achieving it. Page 7 of their policy document beggars belief.
 
yes i am with nfu and premiums just shot up 50% and policy has as you say more exclusions now - have shopped around and am thinking of going with petplan - they are 50% cheaper and don't seem so tight on exclusions but time will tell - have also thought of just puting money in a bank account - will see what exclusions petplan come back with and then decide. it is all so time consuming though.
 
I moved my yearling ISH to KBIS when my NFU renewal came through earlier this month.

Had my horses and truck with NFU for 25 years - can't fault them, they have looked after me well, I have paid them plenty but I have had far more back in tragic circumstances at times.

This years premium for a 18 year old ex show hunter insured for £1000 value and 5K vets plus the yearling with same value and cover came in at £1100.

I questioned the premium for the yearling and was told because the 19 year old had a current claim (broken down) and had been subject of previous claims over the last 8 years, they had to load my premium for both horses.

I argued the point there is a big difference between a yearling growing on in the field and a ex show horse that has competed all over the country.

They did not want to know. Both horses belong to me and are therefore high risk because one of them has cost them a small fortune.
 
I stopped insuring a couple of years ago and put the money aside. I now have £2000 in Premium bonds! Easily accessible money but definitely tucked away.

I think it depends on how much your horses are worth and whether you could cover the costs if necessary - apart for that there are other good insurers out there who give more favorable quotes.
 
I cancelled mine this year after 10 years with NFU. They quoted £1,800 for my 2 and that was purely for vet cover ( as well as the extras they make you have ).

When you think that the vet cover is only for £5,000 max and the last time I claimed there was about £700 that wasn't covered including my excess, they would pay out roughly £4,000. My husband & I weighed it all up and decided to put the money aside for emergency vets bills rather than pay it to NFU.

I have however joined BHS to get public liability cover which is still feel is a necessity.

When the dogs' renewals come up this year I probably won't renew those either.
 
I've just cancelled mine after many years following the whole 'barefoot trimmer thing'.

I want to be able to make care decisions about my horses myself - not be dictated by an insurance company.

I have a savings account now instead.

Otherwise I would use Petplan as they have always been fair with my old boy.
 
Our 23 year old mare was insured with NFU, the main reason for keeping up cover was in case she needed colic surgery. Several years ago she had a (luckily mild) colic whilst on box rest with a star fracture of her tibia. We called the vet and she was treated. Renewal was due a couple of weeks ago and I asked the vet if the fact that this colic would show up on her history (which NFU ask for) would mean they wouldn't pay out again for anything colic related and she said in her opinion it was very likely. She said a lot of clients were now putting money aside rather than insuring as insurance companies applied so many exclusions now, so this is what we are doing.
I have public liability through WHW membership.
 
Maybe if I had a horse worth several thousand i'd think about insurance but having 5 horses/ponies that tbh aren't worth that much combined I opt not to insure.
If I had paid out insurance for them all over the decades it would run into tens of thousands. The biggest vet bill I had was to remove a large ovarian tumour. Luckily I have a fab vet who carried out the op. If the only option was Royal Vet College then she would have been pts. As much as I love them all I have to be real about what may happen and how much it would cost. So far my vet fees are a tiny fraction of what insurance would have cost.
 
I moved from NFU due to their exclusion policy and long processing times for claims. I had my horse treated for mild colic a few years ago. No surgery was required.

Despite no recurrances NFU insisted that they would exclude colic from my policy. Even if I got a letter from the vet explaining that it had been more than 12 months since the colic episode they still wouldn't remove it.

I'm now with AMTrust who were really helpful and when I explained the situation they were happy to remove the colic exclusion with a letter from the vet.
 
Babybear said:
I moved from NFU due to their exclusion policy and long processing times for claims. I had my horse treated for mild colic a few years ago. No surgery was required.

Despite no recurrances NFU insisted that they would exclude colic from my policy. Even if I got a letter from the vet explaining that it had been more than 12 months since the colic episode they still wouldn't remove it.

I'm now with AMTrust who were really helpful and when I explained the situation they were happy to remove the colic exclusion with a letter from the vet.
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When my Tank was a colt he had a virus. He kept lying down. We had the vets out 4 times between Christmas and New Year. The final bill was £800.

I made the rookie mistake of phoning the NFU in the beginning to ask for papers and said, "I THINK my horse has colic."

It took a year to get the exclusion removed that they'd slapped on after that initial phonecall - this was before I'd even made a claim!

I should have taken the hint then :p
 
It's certainly made me think whether it's worth carrying on insuring at all. We have 4 horses insured with NFU, all just for nominal amounts ranging from £2000 - £6000. They are all insured for considerably less than their full values, we just mainly insure for vet fees. However because insurance companies slap exclusions on for everything we never go through the insurance.
We pay just under £200 per month and over the last 10 years have probably claimed around £3000 in total so maybe we'd be better putting that money into an account for vet fees. Food for thought!
 
Babybear said:
I'm now with AMTrust who were really helpful and when I explained the situation they were happy to remove the colic exclusion with a letter from the vet.
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Aren't AMtrust simply E & L reamed? In which case I wouldn't bother. Utterly useless and total waste of money.
 
My insurance for my two costs about £1000 a year. My OH wants to go to BHS for third party, insure for death/theft only and put money aside each month for vets fees. I have only claimed once in 20 years, touch wood!
The final straw was an exclusion on mynew boys policy for any problem with his eyes as the vetting certificate stated he had slight pigment change in his left eye (the vet assured me this was cosmetic only).
 
I do BHS gold membership ,put money aside and have a credit card if major disaster struck I could use that if I needed until I got something sorted.
 
christine48 said:
It's certainly made me think whether it's worth carrying on insuring at all. We have 4 horses insured with NFU, all just for nominal amounts ranging from £2000 - £6000. They are all insured for considerably less than their full values, we just mainly insure for vet fees. However because insurance companies slap exclusions on for everything we never go through the insurance.
We pay just under £200 per month and over the last 10 years have probably claimed around £3000 in total so maybe we'd be better putting that money into an account for vet fees. Food for thought!
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I thought that even if you don't go through insurance they can still refuse a claim if you haven't notified them of any veterinary history beyond routine call outs ?? In which case you could in theory make your insurance void.
 
cambrica said:
I thought that even if you don't go through insurance they can still refuse a claim if you haven't notified them of any veterinary history beyond routine call outs ?? In which case you could in theory make your insurance void.
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That's very true, all the more reason I suppose not to insure. Whatever we do it seems to be a no win situation.
 
christine48 said:
That's very true, all the more reason I suppose not to insure. Whatever we do it seems to be a no win situation.
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Exactly that. Plus the world has gone insurance MAD. I've even been advised to get my tortoise insured :confused: Car/house/myself and thats where I draw the line.
 
cambrica said:
Exactly that. Plus the world has gone insurance MAD. I've even been advised to get my tortoise insured :confused: Car/house/myself and thats where I draw the line.
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Oh which company were you recommended for tortoise insurance? My dog keeps trying to eat mine so do you think they'd be covered for that - disposal by rottweiler? :D :D
 
I used to use NFU, they paid out when my mare got a soft wire injury to heph paston and chiped a bit of bone......then when it came to renewal they excluded the paston so phoned up saying she is back in full work and my vet would write a letter but no they wanted a 5 stage vetting and then then they will think about it........changed to E&L when we brought brothers horse as they offerd a deal on multiple horses.......then 5 years later after both dad and i ringing up to make sure the same mare was entitled to have joint injections they tried to wiggle out of it saying she was too old, managed to get them to pay it......but they have been fab with my lami, paid out every time. My other three are with Scottish equestrian as was told by a friend they are really good.
X
 
I think it all depends whether you need the money from a loss claim to replace the horse or not whether insurance is worth it.
I've been with KBIS for years and can't fault them (think it was my fault Adorable A went with them!
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) and they've always been very good. Usually I only insure for death as I would need that money to help me replace something; the only ones that have vet cover are those out on loan (just one of those for now) all insured for £2000, cost me around £460 for the year for all of them.
 
AmTrust were great with both my boys and didn't load my policy beacuse of all my bad luck with the first one!
Both now retired and uninsred though as too many exclusiong and LOU calims to be insurable really. My BD membership covers me/them for liability etc.
 
I moved from NFU last year when my premium doubled. I went to KBIS and I have been really pleased with them, George had colic (mild) 3 years ago but they didn't exclude it :). In Jan he was diagnosed with COPD and KBIS have so far paid out £1500 for his treatment without a quibble, and the claim is still ongoing, but I was dreading his renewal premium. It came last week and had only gone up £10 a yr to £375 and I was expecting them to exclude his entire respiratory system, but they have just excluded lower respiratory disease which I was pleased about.
 
well i decided not to renew my insurance this year-its a waste of time. i worked out ive only had to pts one horse due to inoperable tumours and another who had a hock injury from the field which cost £300 so id rather keep my money in the bank and pay my vets bills if and when they come.!
 
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