To insure or not to insure?

[LaurenBobby]

Interested in whether people insure their horses or not? I currently do insure, but wondering weather to ditch it and go with someone like harry hall for their external injuries only, with the one club membership so public liability etc included. This would be £115 per year total.

I currently pay £23 a month, 3k vets fees cover, public liability. No permanent loss of use/death cover as I paid a very small amount for my horse as he was off a friend and a project. If I lost him I would probably want a break from horses for a while, so would have time to save up for another. Has been scoped for ulcers before and had steroids in stifles. So those will be excluded.

I personally wouldn't put a horse through colic surgery (not sure if it would be covered anyway, and deffo more than my current 3k limit), or any other big risky surgery.

Anyone else with harry hall?

 

[hopscotch bandit]

I got to the stage where I was paying £58 per month for a horse with six exclusions. So said no thank you and decided to pay anything myself. Anything major like colic surgery would be a no due to her age. I reckon since Oct 2016 I've paid out about £3K of my own vet bills for one thing and another. And from 2004 to 2016 I've had about £22K through insurance so its been worth it.

My vet is really good and lets me pay a little amount whenever I can afford it, normally all my bills are paid within about 6 - 10 weeks paying whatever I can afford whether it be £15 a week or £40 a week. I think now its easier just to pay off your vets bills by paying a bit when you can via online banking and then crediting your account with a couple of hundred pounds to cope with the unexpected.

 

[Pippity]

I don't. Insurance was looking to be around £800/yr, with a £3k vets fees. I have no idea whether I was filling the forms in wrong, but it seemed excessive for a cheap 7yo cob doing nothing very much. Instead, I put £5k into a savings account, and add what would have been the premium to it each month. If I need it for vets fees, it's there; if I don't, I can spend it on other things. I have BHS Gold membership for public liability.

 

[Widgeon]

If everything goes to plan I'm acquiring a new one in a few weeks - and when I got a PetPlan quote it was £650 per year for a healthy 9 year old native type. So I'm planning to insure with KBIS catastrophe policy (£300pa) and then use savings to pay for anything not covered under that. I'm fortunate in that we do have fairly healthy savings, and if I need access to a credit card I'm sure I'll be able to get it. I also have BHS Gold membership for public liability.

 

[Widgeon]

I currently pay £23 a month, 3k vets fees cover, public liability.

I should've asked, who is this with? Seems very reasonable!

 

[ycbm]

People wanting to insure for public liability - check your house insurance if you have any. It's been included on every policy we've ever had. One excluded drag hunting, but our current one has no exclusions.


.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Years ago you had various sections on the policy of what was covered under your banding and what wasn't. I remember hunting and non riding club eventing was included in the higher banding only. I don't think many people realised that and would only get caught out when needing to claim. I'm not sure if insurance still has these bands for competitions now or not. I know hunting and eventing was always considered dangerous but eventing when run under riding clubs wasn't. Not sure why that was!

 

[LaurenBobby]

Widgeon - wow that seems expensive! I haven't heard of the catastrophe cover Ill have a look at that. I also have an emergency credit card. My current insurance is with Horse-Insurance (underwritten with E & L. I know I know! But all the others seem so eye wateringly expensive, and I know a few who have had claims with them no problems.)

Thanks ycbm, I didn't realise that!

 

[vhf]

I've switched to WHW cover with the external accident vet cover option. No bells or whistles, but I paid £130 for the year, which covers both horses. The £50 a month I'm saving (given I've a 17yo, and a mostly-excluded already 6yo) is going into a horsey rainy day savings account.

 

[blitznbobs]

The question you need to ask yourself is how disastrous would a 3k vet bill be to your life? If it would be an annoyance and mean tightening your belt for a few months then don’t insure. If it would be the end of the world and mean you’d lose your home etc then insure all the way. I don’t insure but then I wouldn’t put a horse thru a lot of what people do in the name of vet medicine... the older I get the more likely it seems that I am willing to say enough is enough... but it depends on personality, disposable income, your own knowledge and how many animals you have to which choice you make.

 

[Littlebear]

I would not insure a horse unless I didn’t have savings ready to use in an emergency.
I personally just dislike the way horse insurance works, I have the money aside for whatever they need and am more in control when I do want anything investigated and treated.
Obviously if you would end up in dire straights if a tragedy happened then it’s worth having.

 

[Hack4fun]

I have not insured as it is really expensive for three of them and one is mature so most non-accidental things are excluded. There is a very strong case for public liability insurance and my house insurance covers me well for that.

 

[milliepops]

The question you need to ask yourself is how disastrous would a 3k vet bill be to your life? If it would be an annoyance and mean tightening your belt for a few months then don’t insure. If it would be the end of the world and mean you’d lose your home etc then insure all the way.

yup this is my approach. I have 2 insured at the moment, I have credit available but it would be expensive to use and I have no savings so don't want to take the chance really. One is my competition horse and I would throw everything at her to keep her on the road. I don't want to be in the position of not being able to do a treatment just because I couldn't afford it. so she has top whack vets fees (though sum insured is fairly low and I don't have LOU etc). The other is in foal and so I like the safety net of knowing there's a financial back up if we have need for it.
The others are either unproven or in gods waiting room and so I wouldn't intend to spend much on them at this stage.

I have had multiple claims on previous horses incl operating under GA and none would have been covered by the catastrophe-type insurance, so at this stage they don't do it for me.

 

[LaurenBobby]

The question you need to ask yourself is how disastrous would a 3k vet bill be to your life? If it would be an annoyance and mean tightening your belt for a few months then don’t insure. If it would be the end of the world and mean you’d lose your home etc then insure all the way. I don’t insure but then I wouldn’t put a horse thru a lot of what people do in the name of vet medicine... the older I get the more likely it seems that I am willing to say enough is enough... but it depends on personality, disposable income, your own knowledge and how many animals you have to which choice you make.

Very good point, I have a credit card with a limit around that, and don’t get me wrong it would take a while to pay that amount off but I wouldn’t be starving.

I also don’t really like the way insurance works, I’d rather be in total control

 

[Bellaboo18]

I don't insure (apart from public liability) but I have healthy savings. For me welfare and my conscience would make me call it a day before finances would.
I'd say £23 is pretty cheap for peace of mind though if you haven't got savings.
It's a tough one!

 

[SpringArising]

I don't. I put the money into a savings account instead. I CBA with the faff of forms and filing for a claim etc.

 

[LaurenBobby]

I don't insure (apart from public liability) but I have healthy savings. For me welfare and my conscience would make me call it a day before finances would.
I'd say £23 is pretty cheap for peace of mind though if you haven't got savings.
It's a tough one!

Half of my point is tho is it peace of mind if they exclude some big things 🤯😓

 

[Bellaboo18]

Half of my point is tho is it peace of mind if they exclude some big things 🤯😓

🤷‍♀️ I know. It is really hard cause who knows what's round the corner!

 

[LaurenBobby]

🤷‍♀️ I know. It is really hard cause who knows what's round the corner!

Crystal ball would come in handy eh 🤪

 

[rara007]

I have no savings and am still paying off for the last lot of (standing) surgery. I insure. It’s eyewateringly expensive!

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Does anyone know the answer to my question on Post 7 as I am curious?
When my present horse is no longer with me I would like to buy another one to compete on but not sure of the insurance criteria anymore. Do they still have bandings? I remember NFU Mutual were very reasonable at the time.

 

[Peter7917]

I don't. But then I would have no issue with calling the hunt should something bad happen, I wouldn't spend out thousands on fixing a horse. I wouldn't do all these lameness work ups etc, I would just chuck them out in the field for a year and see what happened. Would never put a horse through colic surgery or prolonged box rest.

 

[Peter7917]

double posted

 

[milliepops]

Does anyone know the answer to my question on Post 7 as I am curious?
When my present horse is no longer with me I would like to buy another one to compete on but not sure of the insurance criteria anymore. Do they still have bandings? I remember NFU Mutual were very reasonable at the time.

Yeah do you mean the class of use? I had to increase mine when my horse started competing at higher levels.

 

[Tarragon]

The question you need to ask yourself is how disastrous would a 3k vet bill be to your life? If it would be an annoyance and mean tightening your belt for a few months then don’t insure. If it would be the end of the world and mean you’d lose your home etc then insure all the way. I don’t insure but then I wouldn’t put a horse thru a lot of what people do in the name of vet medicine... the older I get the more likely it seems that I am willing to say enough is enough... but it depends on personality, disposable income, your own knowledge and how many animals you have to which choice you make.

This is my attitude also.
I only insure for 3rd party, through the BHS gold membership.
I have two native field-kept ponies and I am pretty sure that if faced with a big medical procedure or something that would require a complete change in management I would not go ahead with it. Though, obviously, I won't know how I will actually feel until I am faced with it!
The worst thing that has happened to me is when a previous pony I owned had had her hind leg shattered in a field accident (presumably from a kick) and whilst it was horrendous, I do remember feeling relieved that the decision to PTS was the only option.

 

[Louby]

I was toying with idea of not renewing my insurance as I wouldnt have colic surgery and claiming death isnt as straight forward as it seems but Im so glad I did!! After not having the vet apart from routine jabs, shes decided to turn into a walking disaster and I have 2 claims going at the mo, could have been a 3rd but I just couldnt do it!!! Vets fees are expensive and add up quick, we are lucky to be able to afford it if something happened which is why I was thinking of not renewing but Id rather keep my savings for our future. We are looking at a possible op now and Im sure we will meet the £4k limit on one claim. All this because she sadly took a beating in the field

I'd consider myself pretty realistic when it comes to PTS, quality of life, field ornament decisions etc but what exactly do you do when your healthy horse gets injured in the field and will hopefully come right, you cant just not treat them and treatment adds up so quickly.

Im expecting exclusions next year so it may not be worth having her insured then, we will have to see.

 

[teddypops]

Does anyone know the answer to my question on Post 7 as I am curious?
When my present horse is no longer with me I would like to buy another one to compete on but not sure of the insurance criteria anymore. Do they still have bandings? I remember NFU Mutual were very reasonable at the time.

Petplan do the different groups, I don’t know about the others.

 

[maya2008]

I am also debating this. I paid nearly £3k in insurance last year for 5 horses. Insurance paid out roughly what I had paid them for an operation for one, and she had to wait an unnecessary two weeks for that operation as they were faffing with paperwork.

Insurance has gone up this year because of that claim, and every time I call the vet I know that whatever I called them for, even if it only cost a few hundred, will now not be covered in future. So being insured (with NFU at least) encourages you not to call the vet... I would rather call the vet for a minor colic episode and err on the side of caution, than wait and see in the hope of still being covered in the future. My youngest horse reacted to her second vaccination. I informed the vets as it is important they know for future jabs, but I know that phone call will mean she would not be insured if she needed treatment in the future for a vaccine reaction.

So realistically, if I can save enough for a nest egg, I would be better off putting £200 a month in a savings account. It cost us £1500 to have one pony pts and to replace her this year. If the money is mine, when the older ones die I will be ‘covered’ for the cost of their death and for replacing them. As it was, I paid insurance for that pony for 15 years (with only one claim ever) and had to cover the cost of her death and replacement from my savings anyway.

 

[EmmaC78]

I don't insure except for pubic liability. On balance for me it seems a better option money wise to just put the money in a savings account.

 

[sodapop]

I've got one uninsured horse because he won't tolerate box rest so he can't have surgery etc plus he is retired after costing almost 5k in vets bills with a torn DDFT. My other horse ran up a bill of £1600 after being attacked by another horse, he didn't return to work well and after further tests bilateral bone spavin was found- this bill would have been much more if I had investigated further. Another horse has just sustained an injury in the field and bill will be at least £300.