Veteran insurance

[Lindsay57]

Hi
I'm new to this so please bear with. I am a retired woman thinking of taking a 20 year old TB on loan. I was wondering about insurance as he is a veteran. Please can anybody give me some pointers as to what is requires.
Many thanks

 

[Winters100]

Hi, great that you are thinking of taking on a loan, and I am sure that he will be lovely.

I don't know anything about loaning, but I would start by asking the owner for a draft contract. It may be that they prefer to keep insurance in their name, and have an existing policy. Also check what you will be responsible for - if he has an illness or injury which needs ongoing treatment do you hand him back? In which case I am quite sure that the owner will want the policy in their name.

I suppose that even if the owner insures against vet bills in their own name then you will want some sort of 3rd party liability cover. I have read here that BHS Gold Membership includes this, but others would know better.

Good luck with this, and I wish you many happy times with the horse

 

[Lindsay57]

Hi
Thank you so much for your helpful reply. Lots of useful advice. ?

 

[teddypops]

Petplan veteran insurance gives the best cover.

 

[Lindsay57]

Fab! Thanks for that. What a helpful lot you are on this forum!! ?

 

[Northern Hare]

Hi there! I had my horse on what turned out to be a 20 year loan - from when he was an 8yo to 28yo when we sadly lost him last year.

Anyway, I took on the insurance and for many years he was fully insured with vets fees, but then he moved across to PetPlan veteran plan with limited vet fees cover and high excess. I have a feeling that at the time the oldest he could move across onto the Veteran Plan was at 19 years old, so worth checking.

However for the last few years he was insured only for Third Party cover - this is the essential bit in case the horse escapes onto a road and causes an accident, or he kicks someone etc. You can also get third party cover by taking a BHS Gold Membership.

In all the time I had him, I only attempted to claim for vet fees once, and that was rejected! Nowadays the insurers require you to send the full veterinary history from the vets with your Claim Form. Unfortunately the yard he was on full livery at the time had had the vet out to him for to some stiffness when picking out his hind feet.

The yard didn't ask me first before getting the vet and it turned out they then added their own horses to the vet visit but left me with the call out fee!! But of course that went into his veterinary history, so the insurers then refused my unrelated claim, on account off the fact I hadn't declared this other stiffness problem (even though I didn't claim for it!!).

That was a lesson learnt - you have to declare everything even if you don't claim for it - which then often results in an exclusion when you renew the policy.

I would see if the owner of the horse has a policy in place already - and if they want you to take on the insurance, then you could see if the insurers would be able to add your name to the existing policy as the loaner - that way it would avoid you Jacob to take our a new policy from scratch and they'd have the full history etc.

 

[Lindsay57]

Thank you so much for your very informative response and I am so sorry you lost your boy. Heartbreaking!! Your experience does show what a minefield the world of insurance is!!
As it happens the loan has fallen through but thanks to all the help I've had from this forum I now feel better prepared for future ventures.
Thanks again.