Veteran insurance. Worth it??

[Sandstone1]

I have a little companion pony. Hes 25. Not worth anything in monetary value but hes mostly a pet and companion. Just had his insurance renewal through and wonder if its worth continuing as hes on veteran plan which is pretty much accident only. He already has a few exclusions anyway for cushings etc.
I have bhs membership so covered for third party. I just dont know if its worth having as due to his age I would not put him though any major treatment and I am happy to pay for basic treatment myself. What do others with older companion ponies do?

 

[dorsetladette]

mine are all listed on my harry hall vet fees insurance. Its around £20 a quarter and covers £1500 for field injury (external and visible) I wouldn't put any of mine through major surgery, so I think this is enough for me to feel comfortable.

 

[Winters100]

I always feel that insurance is a very personal thing. All insurance premiums are calculated to ensure that the majority will pay in more than they get out, so I would say that in general insurance is only worthwhile if you envisage expenses that could be a problem for you. In your position, given you would not want the pony to have any major treatment, it sounds as if you will almost certainly pay in more than you claim, so I think the only reason to insure would be if you feel it gives you peace of mind.

 

[meleeka]

I’ve always had an emergency credit card for my oldies. I felt the limitations of a veteran policy made it pointless.

 

[Bearsmum]

I cancelled mine for my old retired boy: would not put him through major surgery, policy had quite a high excess & I have savings/ credit card for the any issues arising

 

[spotty_pony]

My boy (23) still has a veteran policy but he is still in work and I like the fact he is covered should he have an accident in the field etc.

 

[Annagain]

I stopped my insurance when the boys (my horse and my share horse - I paid insurance as I did most of the riding and dreaded breaking him) hit 17 when the cover plummeted and premiums rocketed. Both had exclusions that were likely to be the things that cost money again too so it didn't seem worth it. I paid £100 a month into a savings account for them and would only have dipped into it once but I decided to get a 0% credit card instead. I paid that off at £80 a month (over 30 months) and still paid into the savings. In the end I used some of it to buy my new boy but I still have a pretty healthy sum set aside. I set myself some rules - I would only use it for things that insurance would have covered, not routine or small stuff but at the same time I make it clear to vets that they should treat them as insured and not skimp because they're not.

If you have decent a credit rating, a credit card for emergencies or even applying for one when you need to works well as you often get 0% on purchases made in the first 3 months with up to 30 months to pay them off.