Seriously need to rethink my insurance options

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Viva

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I really need to rethink my horse insurance. Have had all renewals in together, and it comes to £2436 a year for 3 of them.
I know insurance is expensive and has increased, and I know I made 1 claim on 1 of the policies 3 years ago, but I'm sure there must be better options out there. I keep thinking about cancelling and saving the money in a separate account, but can never quite bring myself to do this, just in case!
 
I am need of some inspiration too! Just got my NFU insurance renewal through! And it has increased by £120 a year! With no claims and no changes to the Policy!
 
Who are you with? And what do you need for all of them? As my boy's older I went down from a £5,000 policy with a £150 excess to a £3,500 vets fee cover with a £500 excess (kept away in a separate account) and have BHS gold for 3rd party. Saved me £23 a month
 
I've found having the BHS gold for third party helps lower the premiums for the horse policies. Also thinking of giving up the insurance on the older one (19) as it doesn't cover much anymore...but worried about the law of sods if I do that!
 
One of them is with NFU, and that one is £100 per month. That is the one I claimed on previously. Although he is 15 now, he has been with them for 10 years and I haven't ever changed the policy, despite meaning to each year. The other 2 are with KBIS , and their prices have shot up this year, one of them is only 18months old, so just crops grass all day!
It is just typical, I was on the verge of cancelling the NFU one, then he came in lame and there was talk of tendons, and I was thinking 'here comes a claim' but after 2 vet visits it turned out to be an abscess and I paid the £200 bill myself anyway.
 
Join bhs as a gold member. You then get public liability for up to ten horses. You can then remove this from your premiums. Look at the value you insure for ie your 15 year old I'd insure him for a value of £500 . So you will have to mover insurers. As they will only allow you to reduce the value by a certain percentage of your purchase price I think it's 20%. So when you call up your next insurer say he cost you £500.
Then look at your other twos value. I bought my horse for £8k but can't afford those premiums I really need vets bills and a proportion of her value back for another horse if she dies I have insured her for £4500. Remember if value is over £5k they want a five star vetting cert. hence another reason I insured just under £5k. There is not real advantage to you in disclosing a five star vetting report as most have something on them then you get an automatic exclusion on for it. It only reduces your policy by a few pounds a year. When I had three horses two were insured for £500 and one for £2000. They were worth a lot more but what I really wanted was vets bills insurance. Look at Scottish equestrian they are fab at paying out x
 
:O OP. We have 3 plus tack and trailer covered for £70 a month with SEIS. No third party or personal accident, as this is through BHS Gold, and we increased our excess to £500 to get the premium down a bit. This is with several large claims in recent years. They are great at paying out, never had any issues. Highly recommend them :-)
 
careful you if you under insure you invalidate the whole policy...................this is being caught up by insurance companies now
 
OP - your options are
1) shop around and see if you can get the same cover for less - might save you a bit
2) cut down what you're insuring - higher excess, reduce value, make sure the activities you're insured for you actually do! BHS for third party and get that off all three policies etc - again will probably save you a bit
3) just have BHS and carefully work out what plan B looks like - if you go into the field tomorrow and all three have had a fight and all been vet treatment - (friends, savings, interest free credit card etc - if this is a realistic option for you then go for it) - you'll probably save in the long run but be prepared for luck not to be on your side year one!!
 
milos said:
Join bhs as a gold member. You then get public liability for up to ten horses. You can then remove this from your premiums. Look at the value you insure for ie your 15 year old I'd insure him for a value of £500 . So you will have to mover insurers. As they will only allow you to reduce the value by a certain percentage of your purchase price I think it's 20%. So when you call up your next insurer say he cost you £500.
Then look at your other twos value. I bought my horse for £8k but can't afford those premiums I really need vets bills and a proportion of her value back for another horse if she dies I have insured her for £4500. Remember if value is over £5k they want a five star vetting cert. hence another reason I insured just under £5k. There is not real advantage to you in disclosing a five star vetting report as most have something on them then you get an automatic exclusion on for it. It only reduces your policy by a few pounds a year. When I had three horses two were insured for £500 and one for £2000. They were worth a lot more but what I really wanted was vets bills insurance. Look at Scottish equestrian they are fab at paying out x
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I am sorry but you are giving bad advice. You are advising OP to commit fraud? As in telling OP to claim she purchased horse for £500 when she did not? That is Fraud. And if you have a vets cert and do not disclose issues then this is also fraud by omission and probably straight fraud as most companies will ask if you know of any pre existing issues.

Plus if you commit fraud to gain an insurance policy not only is it a criminal act, it also invalidates your policy.

OP, you CAN lower your policy price. I have a high excess of £500, separate 3rd party with BHS, and I have lowered the horse's amount. I did lower it by more than 20% this year, truthfully and without fraud, by stating a reason why my horse is worth that amount less. In my case it is simply that my horse has turned 10 years, which knocks some value off, and he is not currently competing to his ability as I have a bad back, so he has a gap in his competition record. They accepted this no issue. I have also downgraded what activities he is insured for, as we are not doing much.

My company is Shearwater. They have been great, and my policy is half £ now what it was 3 years ago.
 
I have a £500 excess on vet fees which makes it a lot cheaper. Not all mine are insured either, only the main two my daughter and I ride are insured as they would need replaced fast if they died. The other ones wouldn't be replaced if they died or at least it wouldn't be urgent and I could save up.

I wanted vet fees for massive disasters covered and purchase price as well.
 
Agree with Red 1. OP please don't follow Milos advice that is insurance fraud. If you have had a vetting carried out but say you didn't in order to avoid exclusions they can void your policy as you have intentionally provided incorrect information on the material facts. Fair enough if it was a clean vetting with the new consumer insurance act they probably couldn't void it but they definitely could for fraud if you have lied to avoid the exclusion.

You can insure for below the market value or purchase price.

Some companies offer a discount for multiple horses. may be worth looking in to?
 
Seems more logical to me to quit the insurance and put 2k every year into a savings account: that way you'll be making interest on it too!

For me personally insurance is over rated these days - but I do have a 24 year old so the cost would be considerable!

Just wanted to add that I completely support the need for third party insurance: and BHS is a great one.
 
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