Rescue ponies and insurance

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gerbera

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Hi, I have the chance to take on a rescue pony but I'm just wandering how insurance works? Is it straight forward to insure a pony as legally they still belong to the rescue centre. They also mentioned that they keep the passport, which I understand but then as guardian of the pony should I not have the passport, especially when it comes to vaccinations etc.?

I have never loaned a pony or had a rescue and it suddenly occurred to me if it's difficult to get insurance for them?

Thanks for your help :-)
 
I presume this is not one of the major rescue charities (as you should indeed have the passport as a keeper)?

I was gifted a horse, and it did provide an issue with the insurance, as to the value of the horse. I would call a couple of the better ones (NFU, South Essex, Pet Plan) and ask them what the procedure is. I am sure it is possible, but putting a value may be a problem.

If it is just for 3rd party cover then BHS membership may be better, or have a look at the new Harry Hall club (which is cheaper if you do not wish to compete affiliated).
 
I've always been given the passport when I've fostered rescue ponies from the RSPCA. As you say, as the 'keeper' you should always have the passport. It's also needed for vaccination records etc..

I didn't insure my ponies beacause the RSPCA covered any vet bills. It should be easy to to insure them if you want to, though, similar to if you were loaning a horse.

Is this a small charity?
 
I have a pony from a rescue centre. He was insured easily with petplan, but you, as the keeper must have the passport.
 
I currently have my two horses with Petplan, so would use them. They are a registered charity but not one of the big ones like RSPCA etc. I would put the value at the £500 mark, but would not expect the value of the pony back if something were to happen as I will only be paying a very small token to take the pony on, I'm not sure how much the value matters in these situations, I really haven't a clue?

Red-1 said:
I presume this is not one of the major rescue charities (as you should indeed have the passport as a keeper)?

I was gifted a horse, and it did provide an issue with the insurance, as to the value of the horse. I would call a couple of the better ones (NFU, South Essex, Pet Plan) and ask them what the procedure is. I am sure it is possible, but putting a value may be a problem.

If it is just for 3rd party cover then BHS membership may be better, or have a look at the new Harry Hall club (which is cheaper if you do not wish to compete affiliated).
Click to expand...
 
You need the passport and loan agreement to insure, the passport should stay with the animal and the charity will be aware of this, or should be if they have any idea of what they are doing, you need the passport to record vaccinations, for the vet to see that it is signed out of the food chain and to transport it home, as for the value the owners need to put a token valuation on it as part of the loan agreement and if anything happens the payment will go to them not you, you get vets bills paid as the keeper, this all needs to be agreed before you take it on and should be in the terms and conditions set by any decent charity even if they are only small.
 
Thank you everyone for your advice. I didn't realise a lot of charities paid the vet bills. They are a bona fide registered charity and have been running for a while. Maybe I misheard? It was something that just popped up in conversation but I forgot to go back to that point and ask more questions. I will ask when I speak to them again and will go over the loan agreement with a fine tooth comb obviously.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
If it's a bona fide rescue, you will get the passport.
Check again with them, if no passport then don't have the animal, there are many more out there :)
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^^ this.

I have one from HAPPA, I've had her for many years - I insured with KBIS with a nominal value (suggested by the insurance co) of £500. It was noted on her policy that she was loaned from the charity.

Unfortunately we have had several significant claims over the years, but never had an issue getting the cover.
 
I don't think the charity pays the vet bills in most cases. It's usually the loaner of the horse who pays those. The RSPCA fostering mentioned is different, because there's no agreement for the fosterer to keep the horse for any length of time, they're simply looking after it for the RSPCA until a permanent home becomes available.
 
I did think it was foster agreements. If charities paid the vet bills for every pony/horse they rehome they'd have no money left to care for their current rescues.
 
^^^ Sorry if I confused the issue of responsiblity for vet fees by referring to fostering above. The RSPCA paid for any vets fees for my foster ponies, but if I had gone on to rehome any of them permanently, then I would have become responsible for them.

It might be an idea to clarify how much treatment the charity would expect you to undertake on a rescue, eg a surgical colic or major trauma requiring months of box rest.
 
Tiddlypom said:
^^^ Sorry if I confused the issue of responsiblity for vet fees by referring to fostering above. The RSPCA paid for any vets fees for my foster ponies, but if I had gone on to rehome any of them permanently, then I would have become responsible for them.

It might be an idea to clarify how much treatment the charity would expect you to undertake on a rescue, eg a surgical colic or major trauma requiring months of box rest.
Click to expand...

I thought it must be fostering Tiddlypom!

This is my fear, a friend has sent me lots of potential loan ponies to look at, but I have not wanted to look at any of them and the reason for that is my daughters pony got colic, which the vet was called out for straight away and I was obviously insured. I keep my horses at home and found her with mild colic when I went out to feed breakfast, it didn't cross my mind and I believe my vets that it would escalate the way it did, but as the day went on she suddenly deteriorated. She was pts to sleep in the early hours of the morning at Rossdales equine hospital. The worse day of my life, a truly awful day. This has really put the wind up me, I've owned horses for 20 years and never had a horse with colic. I don't want to get a loan pony because of my fear of this happening again and big decisions having to be made if I cannot get hold of the owner for any reason. However, I would feel happier getting a rescue pony, I would hope everything would be black and white regarding decision making if anything like that were to happen to me again. Even though I was insured I still owe quite a lot of money for things I was not covered for, which leaves me with nothing for buying a new pony with and it just so happens that a ridden rescue pony has come up, which we can provide a home for, which I would love to do.
 
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