Horse Insurance

[Katrin]

I was just wondering, how much would you expect to pay per month for horse insurance?

Thanks very much

[Jay]

Hi

I've got my horse insured with E&L - it's fully comp and it costs about £17 per month. Its the cheapest one I could find.

Jay

[hlstarmie]

Hi Jay, i just thought that i would let you know that my freind had an awful lot of trouble with that company. they have a bit of a rep for not wanting to pay out and taking along time dealing with things!
Has anyone else had this problem?
I am now with Petplan so any probs. with them please let me know!

[Jay]

Crikey, I've not heard that about them. To be honest I've never had to claim for anything so I've never really had any 'dealings' with them. I may have a re-think now though and will read the replies to Katrin's posting with interest! Thanks.

[Rachel R]

E&L do indeed have a very bad reputation, I won't say more as I don't wish to be sued. NFU are very good, but watch the claim limits if your horse is not of a high valuue. I know a few people who claimed from Petplan and they were very good too, but the premiums are more expensive.
The most important thing to do is to get a specimen policy and read it very carefully. They do differ greatly. For example: my old E&L policy (which may now be different!) stated that tack was not covered unless it was locked up using a three bar mortice lock - well, my house does not even have one of those, let alone my tack room. The building also had to have no windows, and could not be where six or more horses were kept. My SEIB policy states that tack must be kept in "a locked building" and I have it in writing from them that it is covered in the boot of my car, if for example, I stop at Tescos on the way home and it gets stolen.
Oh also make sure that you are covered for the correct class of use, not all class A's mean the same thing, get a definition.

With regard to cost, it obviously depends upon value of the horse, cover required and class of use. My horse is insured for £1800, for class B use, with full cover, excluding loss of use. This costs £25 per month. Loss of use is the most expensive, so think carefully about whether, if the worst happened, you would want this cover, which is often not 100% of the vaule anyway. Also read the policy on this one, as they have different clauses regarding you keeping the horse in retirement and costs to you.

Hope that was some help.

Rachel

[Vicki]

Ditto about E&L know two people who have had problems.

My horse is insured with Petplan, they are expensive, but have been very fair and quick in settling claims, one amounted to over £1500 and that did NOT include surgery or stay at vets.

My current horse is insured for approximately £4,000 and I pay around £32 per month. One thing to check is the amount per claim, bearing in mind some colic ops can cost £2000 + ,you really need a cover of £5000

The other companies I know that friend's have said are good are South Esses and Kbis.

Regards

Vicki

[Sonia]

I've been doing a bit of homework re horse insurance as hopefully before too long I'll have my own. I came to the conclusion that NFU looked good, the chap I spoke to there even gave me his home phone number in case I wanted cover to start at a weekend.

I was put off E&L due to the high Excess on vets fee of 17.5% of the claim, on a £3500 bill this gets pretty expensive.

Anyhow, I put the major findings on a spreadsheet - I was looking at £2500 horse value, £3500 vets fees and £500 tack.
If anyone wants a copy then let me know

Sonia

[Katrin]

Sonia, I sent you an email this morning. Hope to hear from you soon

Katrin