Spend £30 more to save £120??

muckypony

muckypony

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I'm buying two miniature shetland colts (3 months at the moment) and I want to insure them for vets bills as I know I would never be able to afford them myself if something drastic happened.

I had my pony insured with PetPlan who were fantastic at paying out for numerous vets bills of the same illness in her last year, so I wanted to insure with them as they had been so good.
I got a quote online and phoned up as well. They will charge me £160 a year per pony which includes: sum insured, death, theft and vets bills for £3,500 with a £500 excess BUT I have to have a two stage vetting to be able to insure them, this will cost me about £150 each. This is because they are less than 12 months.

To me, the insurance is a very good quote, but the vetting is so expensive and I would like to avoid having to vet them as I have fallen in love and will buy them anyway!

So, I then looked elsewhere. Most other companies are much more expensive (SEIB, NFU etc) but I got a quote from KBIS.

KBIS quoted me £190 each and for this I get: sum insured, death, theft and vets bills for £3,000 with a £275 excess and I do not have to have them vetted.

So, technically, KBIS is £30 more expensive per pony but will save me paying out for vettings, thus actually saving me £120 each... The disadvantages with KBIS is that I don't know how good they are - does anyone use them? The disadvantages with PetPlan is that I have to get a vetting a spend lots of money now and the excess on vets bills is almost twice the price as KBIS but I know they are good...

I am thinking of insuring with KBIS for the first year as it saves me the vetting, but then insuring with PetPlan next year as they will be over 12 months old then so not need the vetting and I will know they are good at paying out.

What would you do!? I'm in such a dilemna!
Thank you for getting this far!! :D
 
Why do they want a 2 stage? And I would drop the death and sum insured, which will / should make your quotes cheaper.
 
amymay said:
Why do they want a 2 stage? And I would drop the death and sum insured, which will / should make your quotes cheaper.
Click to expand...

The death/sum insured part is compulsory for them both; I can drop the sum insured to a minimum of £250 only.
I'm not sure why, they have just said it is compulsory to have a 2 stage :confused:
 
Not only would taking out initial cover with KBIS save you £30 per horse but their excess is lower so you'd pay out less in the event of a vets fee claim. Although the maximum payout is lower compared to Petplan.

You can always take out with KBIS now then when that policy expires take it out with Petplan if you still get a cheaper quote for premiums

ETA: I think death benefit is compulsory on any equine insurance policy...as far as I know. I also think they require a 2 stage as the horse is a young age, they want to make sure there aren't any birth defects etc that could result in a claim. Making sure your horse was born with all 4 legs!
 
I've just claimed through kbis. My horse had to go to hospital after a swollen fetlock that he kept going lame on. I've never claimed before and couldn't believe how easy it was, I got a cheque from them in the post a week after my vet signed the form and sent it off, so no complaints there.
I pay a little bit more each month and have a lower excess of £135 though. If you have a big excess of £500 you may find you won't ever get to claim unless its for something very major. My bill was just under £500 for a home visit, bute, then a hospital visit where they had him all day, 4 separate inspections as they couldn't find the lameness, and X-rays.
So I'd think about your excess as well.
It seems rather silly to have a 2 stage vetting on a Shetland unless they are very valuable ones.
 
KBIS are superb - best insurers I've ever dealt with. Their customer service is fab, and they pay out very quickly. Couldn't recommend them more highly.
 
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