Insurance - anyone successfully negotiating a better price with NFU

C

CrisO

Member
Aug 22, 2005
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London
I'm insured with NFU and have had to make 3 biggish claims with them in 2 years.
This year they have put my policy right up because of the claims.
I would like to stay with them as they've been brilliant but i've been getting quotes and i can get it much cheaper.

Unfortunately NFU don't give you the option to opt for a higher excess so that option is out.
The weighting is on the vets fees so reducing the amount insured for won't help.

I have been completely honest about prexisting conditions which i would expect to be excluded with new insurance companies.

So my question is had anyone had any luck in going back to NFU, telling them what you have been quoted elsewhere and getting a better quote or are the quotes not up for negotiation
 
i have tried to negotiate with the over insuring the little ponio with them, their quote didn't seem competitive and they kept trying to get her on angel's insurance (even stating that angels exclusions may apply to appley when i don't actually OWN appley!). they did not budge. appley is with petplan now!

let us know how you get on!!

julia
x
 
Petplan were even more horrendously expensive!

A friend did find that her claim history with NFU seemed to carry through to the new horse - almost as if they regard you as an accident prone owner not one that is unlucky to to have an accident/illness prone horse.

MIKH yes they are brilliant and that's why i'm so torn but my premium has gone up from about £400 to £600.
Do I stay with them and hope that I have an accident free year at the end of which they will review and probably reduce it again?
Or avoiding the dodgy one we all know about, there are other insurance companies out there that people have had very good experiences with.
 
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just to add, angel still is with NFU and will stay with them, despite premium rocketing and stuff. i did not want to have appley dragged into angel's ailments on the policy!
 
One of mine is with NFU and I have to say come renewal I will be going elsewhere. To me they have become very expensive my premium has gone up each year and only ever had one claim with them.
 
So your insurance went up with them - mine has gone down again for the 2nd time due to the mutual bonus.

I made a claim last year and am about to make another which is probably going to be fairly big - emergency call out - antibiotic injection - five days of antibiotics and danillion.

Have you tried calling them and saying you will move to another company - SEIB are meant to be good.
 
Yes I got my mutual bonus but that was nothing compared to the weighting on the vets fees they added.

I told them I was going to look for quotes and their attitude was well that's your choice.
I also asked if I could increase my excess but they said they don't do that.

I now have 2 quotes (shearwater and Julie Andrews) that have come in cheaper so I wondered if they were bluffing or if they really weren't able to negotiate.

Even your emergency call out etc will probably only be a few hundred. Mine went into thousands and realistically they are looking at the claim and realising they have paid out more in vets fees that the horse is worth so I really do understand their point of view.
 
CrisO said:
Yes I got my mutual bonus but that was nothing compared to the weighting on the vets fees they added.

I told them I was going to look for quotes and their attitude was well that's your choice.
I also asked if I could increase my excess but they said they don't do that.

I now have 2 quotes (shearwater and Julie Andrews) that have come in cheaper so I wondered if they were bluffing or if they really weren't able to negotiate.

Even your emergency call out etc will probably only be a few hundred. Mine went into thousands and realistically they are looking at the claim and realising they have paid out more in vets fees that the horse is worth so I really do understand their point of view.
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Oh great, I will look forward to next year then, our claim this year is beyond his insured value:rolleyes: and still going on.......
 
Oh well just got off the phone and there is no room for negotiation at all.
Woman told me to steer clear of E and L and be careful I was being quoted for the same cover but when I went through details she realised I had checked carefully.
 
Lemme said:
Oh great, I will look forward to next year then, our claim this year is beyond his insured value:rolleyes: and still going on.......
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When treatment goes over your insured value how do you manage? Do vets let you pay off what you owe in instalments? This is the side of horse ownership that really scares me..:eek:
 
Wonkey Donkey said:
When treatment goes over your insured value how do you manage? Do vets let you pay off what you owe in instalments? This is the side of horse ownership that really scares me..:eek:
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Not sure if Lemme meant the same thing as me but what i meant by that is the amount I had claimed in vets fees is more than the horse is worth.
E.g. your vets fees are up to £5000 for each claim so if you make a few claims you might have received £10000 in vets fees when your horse is only worth £4000.

Get up to £5000 in cover which will cover you for major surgery e.g. colic.
Any longer conditions and your vet will be discussing treatment options and whether you are insured all the way through.

But you're right to consider all of these.
For example you may have budgeted for your horse being out at grass and he has to go on box rest and your monthly costs shoot up.
 
CrisO said:
For example you may have budgeted for your horse being out at grass and he has to go on box rest and your monthly costs shoot up.
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Thanks CrisO, I had not thought of that like that example. The livery I'm considering turns the horses out in the summer 24/7 so the price is much cheaper at that time of year. If my (virtual) horse had to be in stable are those extra livery costs something which an insurance company usually covers? :confused:
 
I can't believe your vets fees have been so much cristina - do mean that they are more than he cost you to buy or more than he is worth to sell now? Off topic but how is he now?

If your horse is worth less than you paid for it due to injury or illness can you get your premiums reduced by decreasing the horses' value when you reinsure? As I am sure most insurance companies will only pay out market value or amount insured if insured for less than market value should the worst happen.
 
Do you know I don't actually know how much they are as the Vet college dealt directly with NFU and every so often I would get a letter telling me they had sent another cheque but they could well add up to more than I bought him for.
Don't forget getting on for £1000 worth of allergy treatment and testing and the hospital stay when he kicked himself was over a thousand.
The the big claim for his feet. As well as the visits and treatment, there are all the supplements (imflamaze was £72 a tub which lasted a month and he was on that for a year plus Newmarket joint supplement, Bute, a series of Cartrophen injections and enough acp and sedalin to sedate an elephant when i first got back on him after the box rest), then remedial farriery, transport to the vet college for check ups and farriery, £200 in transport just to get to Kent for the MRI which was another £1200.

Realistically he's worth less as I bought him before prices went down and the time off meant I haven't really added value by bringing him on.
Not that I would sell him.

At the moment he is coping with hacking and schooling but he pulled both back shoes off on Tues so we are waiting for the farrier to come and put those on. Back shoes are a first for him.
Trotted him for the vet the other day - we lunged on a 10 meter circle on a patch of stony ground outside the yard and vet said he was sound as in no nodding but not 100% happy on that surface. However his soles and frogs are bad after the box rest so i'm not surprised and they are already improving with daily turnout and an extra deep straw bed.

I talked throught reducing the cover for loss of horse but what NFU have done is weighted the vets fees, they gave me a breakdown of the individual costs, wouldn't save much.
Let's hope I never have to discuss value with them.

Notpoodle NFU will pay additional husbandly e.g. if you need deep shavings bed for laminitus or grass kept horse is brought in or vet recommends special haylage instead of hay.But you have to provide quite strong proof that this is over and above your usual costs. They ask for previous livery bills.
I didn't go for it as I hadn't had Frankie the summer before to compare costs and when they recommended straw instead of shavings my costs went down.
Using haylage for his allergies was trial and error on my part so difficult to show vets recommendation as they just said use elimination to work out what's best.
Livery at hospital comes under hospitalisation livery which they pay 50% - i've claimed this twice.
 
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