Who doesn't insure?

sandi_84

sandi_84

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Just pure curiosity here on my part, I insure my horse but I do know people who don't - even people with expensive show horses and I was just wondering is this more common than I thought it was? Also if you don't insure may I ask (nosey beggar that I am) why?
 
Me, I work at a vets so get huge discounts

and my daughters pony was an insurance write off when she was given her so cant insure her anyway

my 5yr old is not insured either and to be honest most but not all of the stuff that would mean super expensive bills, i would not have done
 
I don't.
Will be insuring Foxy who is the only one I ever really leave our own property on with 3rd party next Spring when we start going out again.
 
I don't. Had bad experience with claiming for my TB who had cancer about 15 years ago and haven't insured since. I save £50 a month.They wanted to increase his premium to £70 a month and exclude cancer - he was insured for loss of use too but because he didn't die straight away and I didn't want to PTS straight away I couldn't claim.

Have had one big incident in that time costing £1000. (eye injury that needed two ops). Insurance would have cost me... OMG have just worked it out - £approx £14,400 for the horses / ponies I have had over 15 years.

Current horse is 21 so insurance wouldn't cover much. I have third party by BHS gold membership.
 
Do you all have income protection and death/disability cover?

I ask as I'm from Aus, and that is the one type of cover you are not allowed to compete wihtout, however it doesn't seem like a big focus in the UK - it seems you are more concerned with third party?

I think there may be an element of third party in the standard cover in Aus, but Ive never heard anyone claim on it. I'd add that while some horses are insured for death / loss of use, its not common and neither is insurance for vet fees.

It just seems to me that as a rider, the person most likely to get hurt is you, and I won't put my feet in the stirrup knowing that I'm not covered should I have a serious accident and not be able to work for a while, or god forbid something worse happens.
 
If you have lots of horses, well more than one or two, it gets prohibitively expensive to pay insurance for vets fees, etc. Some people have enough money to be able to pay a large vet's bill anyway and so long as they have 3rd party insurance they wouldn't bother to pay out insurance.

Also,ifthehorse is worth an awful lot of money then again the insurance premiums would be huge. I expect there are policies for the more expensive horse/multipal horses but people I know with a stud for instance say that the only way they are likely to lose all the horses would be a fire, so they put a lot into safety generally regarding good fences, good practices around the yard and fire prevention.
 
Oldies to insure is a small fortune and nothing covered anyway.
Unhandled youngsters if surgery etc required I'd rather pts that put them through the ordeal. If it wasn't surgery required I'd get the money out of horse savings.

When starting to back/riding/handleable they will be covered.

I guess injury isn't so major over in the UK as we have the NHS.

Pan
 
Hackie said:
Do you all have income protection and death/disability cover?

I ask as I'm from Aus, and that is the one type of cover you are not allowed to compete wihtout, however it doesn't seem like a big focus in the UK - it seems you are more concerned with third party?

I think there may be an element of third party in the standard cover in Aus, but Ive never heard anyone claim on it. I'd add that while some horses are insured for death / loss of use, its not common and neither is insurance for vet fees.

It just seems to me that as a rider, the person most likely to get hurt is you, and I won't put my feet in the stirrup knowing that I'm not covered should I have a serious accident and not be able to work for a while, or god forbid something worse happens.
Click to expand...

NHS for injuries.
NICS covers time off work if paid (as standard through employment, voluntary through self employment.)

Pan
 
I posted this a week or so ago on another thread. I don't insure anymore because I was sick and tired of being treated like a criminal by Pet Plan. I have kept a journal of my daily life for over 30 years. Things like worming, vet visits, yearly jabs feature heavily in my writings. I've caught the insurers in 3 mistakes regarding which leg was going to be excluded when I wanted to claim for an abscess in one of my horse's hooves. My journals are a fountain of past information. Then, when I wanted to insure a 6 months old pure Shire colt, they had me jumping through hoops proving to them that he wasn't a "common cart horse." After 3 days of writing a running commentary on all the horses' accomplishments in my foal's 6 generation pedigree, my husband and I decided it wasn't worth the aggravation and wasted time. So, we don't insure. It's bad enough, emotionally, when one's horse is afflicted with an injury or disease. But, to have the added stress of dealing with the insurance company's demands or lack of correct information, just made a bad experience much worse. Now, the only stress is that which occurs within the course of the medical event.
 
Rio is because hes a stallion and god knows what damage he can do and he is miles below his actual value and what i paid for him... but Taz is just 3rd party as not much of him is insurable anyway... i suppose i could go with illnesses but them its getting hold of the insurance company to do it so i just go 3rd party

i have no insurance for myself but im not planning on riding other peoples horses so i dont insure myself... suppose i should really on Rio's insurance but that means changes again :o
 
I used to have some money in an ISA which was for emergency use, I'm also a member of BHS so that covers 3rd party. But my OH lost his job which meant my emergency fund got used.
Sadly my tb sustained a freak injury in the field & was put down, as recommended by my vet, she wasn't insured & if she was I would still have made the same decision but I will admit that finances played a part (about 1% of the decision, so only a tiny part).
I'm getting another horse this week & she has been insured as I never, ever want to think about finances in a live & death decision ever again.
 
PandorasJar said:
NHS for injuries.
NICS covers time off work if paid (as standard through employment, voluntary through self employment.)

Pan
Click to expand...

Interesting, thanks.

We have the equivalent of the NHS in Aus (Medicare), and that covers most medical stuff in the event of an accident (although I maintain private health there and here), that's not really what I'm talking about. I also maintain income protection insurance through my work.

I guess I'm wondering what happens if you are permanently disabled through a riding accident, or worse? You can't ride at any event in Aus without this type of insurance (and it protects you at home as well if you have it through our equivalent of the BHS), as I guess they are trying to prevent event organisers getting sued, and I just haven't seen much of it here.

Its just an interesting different focus, thats all!
 
I don't.

I have upwards of 10 horses of my own at a time, and the population is generally floating, imagine the hassle it would be to change policies every couple of weeks or so? :eek:

Besides, insurance is generally only viable for horses worth $10,000 and up, and then only for mortality, it just isn't worth it.

I have a cap on vet bills.

Public liability covered under the farm policy.
 
I pay for 7 and it is getting to be a joke. Have now cancelled my dog insurances and will be not be renewing the horses this year.

Have BHS Gold and will just use a credit card for big vet emergencies if needed.

Getting sick of being dictated to and paying huge fees.
 
I had always insured my horses for everything but always kept thier value to a minimum as it kept the price down.
After years & years of not having to claim i decided to take the risk myself. If my mare needed colic surgery or another serious op i would find the money or PTS!
Iam now with KBIS i have 3rd party/public liabilty & death cover for £7 a month.
 
I don't as so far touching wood here, my vet bills have never exceeded the excess on potential policies, i put a set amount away each month, I do the same for us humans, as being older I can't find a life policy that goes beyond 70
 
3rd party and medical for me. Like somebody further up, if it was colic/broken leg, it isn't an operation I would put the horse through, so insurance would be a moot point.
I have money for other procedures if necessary.
I am currently with NFU but will be changing to KBIS, as more than half the price for the same cover!
 
3rd party via the BHS only. Both of mine are old men and i wouldn't put them though operations etc. The last renewal reminder made my mind up when i saw how much would excluded. They have a bank account now.
 
I do. I didn't until he was about 10 because I didn't really know about it, and I will considering stopping everything but 3rd party when he becomes a veteran regarding putting him through surgery etc at that age.

It would have taken me 11 years to save up for the treatment he had recently though so I am very grateful for my insurance because there is no way I'd have been able to afford it all. Initial lameness investigation (total nerve block & xrays through entire near hind), steroid injections, referal to rossdales, hospital stays (totalling about 5 days), bone scan, rectal ultrasound, ultrasound guided steroid injections, more xrays and nerve blocks plus two courses of tildren (one of which I had to pay myself as we exceeded the £5k limit!). So yes, very grateful :p
 
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Hackie if you have a good well paying job here a lot of those companies pay sick pay equivalent to your wages if you can't work. Earning a decent amount you'd probably have some savings too or access to credit cards which you could use if you have to. People on low paying jobs don't get sick pay most of the time, but being relatively poor wouldn't want to pay the extra for income protection insurance either. Most people I know choose going out and having fun (or owning a horse) over insuring for things that hopefully won't happen. Insurance is expensive. If you've limited savings and no partner to support you the government pays a meagre amount of welfare benefits if you can't work. IME those in low paying jobs cross their fingers and take their chances! People insured through the BHS have a small amount of personal accident cover as well as public liability insurance.
 
I insured only one horse - my first, because my father insisted. Not sure what she was insured for though.

Since then I've not insured any of mine. I've been lucky as I seem to have had a pretty good healthy bunch with only minor bills.

I will be honest and say that if I was ever in the very expensive to treat situation I would have the horse PTS.

In NZ we have ACC - Accident Compensation Corporation and we are all covered by it for personal injury. We don't have compulsory car insurance but it is advisable to have third party just in case you cause a crash. One way to make people drive carefully.
 
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