Equine veterinary fees- advice for insurance cover please

Re: Equine veterinary fees- advice for insurance cover please

mothpop — Mon, 16 May 2011 15:53:06 GMT

NFU, Petplan and KBIS have all been great to deal with from a practice point of view. E&L were bottom of the pile for many years however this position has been altered by the arrival of Horse and Rider Insurance Solutions - terrible company with small print that makes a fair payout on a claim pretty difficult to achieve. You certainly get what you pay for with horse insurance.

My experience of AmTrust has, so far, not been too bad. Some of their policies require 25% of all invoices to be paid by the client on top of the excess which can add up pretty quickly!

If I had a horse now I would definitely insure with NFU and like Richard mentioned arrange a policy with a high max limit that will cover worse case scenarios but with a higher excess as you will cope with the lesser problems.

Re: Equine veterinary fees- advice for insurance cover please

Richard Stephenson — Mon, 16 May 2011 15:28:10 GMT

Yes I could have added KBIS to my list of good insurers.

Incidently I recently came accross a new company AmTrust - has anyone had dealings with them. My initial impressions are not very positive!

Yours,

Richard S.

Re: Equine veterinary fees- advice for insurance cover please

Bob Russell — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:14:37 GMT

I would get a quote from NFU - they insure almost everything I have (horse is now too old and the decision is made that she will not be treated for anything major if it happens). They are a little old-fashioned, no Indian call centres for example but I have always found them fair and helpful. I get a loyalty bonus from them as they are a mutual society. I have agreed to continue with them for the 'X' years and this has earned me another discount. They have never taken advantage of this by hiking prices once you are locked in.

Generally nice to deal with people with fairly traditional values!

Re: Equine veterinary fees- advice for insurance cover please

Kate Richardson — Mon, 16 May 2011 09:36:42 GMT

[quote user="Richard Stephenson"]there is one which I'm sure you know that is useless![/quote]

Don't worry- wouldn't touch E&L with a very long bargepole!!!

[quote user="Richard Stephenson"]

If I were you I would go for a relatively high excess since you will probably be able to do most of the minor <£500 jobs yourself - but have a high upper limit sio you don't need to worry about the surgical colic of septic joint.

[/quote]

The problem with Petplan is is that the choice is either £3500 vets fees with a £500 xs OR £5000 vets fees with a £125 xs. They don't give you an option of £5000 with a higher xs. The premium for the lower vets fees is significantly cheaper!

KBIS have a range of options- from £3500 vets fees( with a £125 xs +/- 15% of total bill) to £5000 vets fees (£7500 for colic surgery) with a £350 or £125 xs.

Friends have been with NFU but recently their premiums went up hugely despite minimal claims, so haven't got a quote from them as yet. KBIS sponsor British Riding Clubs of which I am a member, hence why I looked at them, and seem very good value for money.

Its a minefield!

Re: Equine veterinary fees- advice for insurance cover please

Richard Stephenson — Mon, 16 May 2011 08:37:34 GMT

Kate,

In my experience there are two companies that stand out for ecellent service - Pet Plan and NFU - there is one which I'm sure you know that is useless!

Yours,

Richard S.

Re: Equine veterinary fees- advice for insurance cover please

Hannah Wynne Richards — Fri, 13 May 2011 11:10:37 GMT

Get the highest level of cover you can afford to pay the premium for-high excess is quite good as you should be able to deal with anything under £500 yourself-make sure the top figure is as high as possible

Wynne

Re: Equine veterinary fees- advice for insurance cover please

fluffygirl — Fri, 13 May 2011 10:29:57 GMT

Had a pony a few years ago and insured him with NFU - was basic cover as he wasn't worth much (in monetary terms anyway), but they seemed a good deal at the time and were recommended by some of my more seriously horsey friends.

Re: Equine veterinary fees- advice for insurance cover please

Gina Dungworth — Fri, 13 May 2011 10:21:49 GMT

[quote user="Kate Richardson"]

I am looking at either Petplan or KBIS at the moment- any thoughts, good or bad? or other suggestions?

[/quote]

I'm with NFU for my boy. I like having an actual person to talk to when I want to adjust anything on my details. Can't really advise you on cover, as your boy probably does a lot more than eat grass, look cuddly in winter, and look quite cute in harness when I decide to take him out in summer (our new harness arrived in the shop! :-) but we can't coordinate fitting it until next week :-( ).

Also NFU do dividends and insure all kinds of other stuff with discounts when you take out more than one policy with them.

Re: Equine veterinary fees- advice for insurance cover please

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 12 May 2011 22:25:13 GMT

Any veterinary surgeon could sign the passport, but the hardest part might be getting hold of just one dose of vaccine without the other 8 or 9 going out of date.

If you are thinking colic surgery then you'd be better making sure you have £5000, unless you have a bit in the bank should the unexpected occur.

Even if you're a small animal vet a bottle of Flunixin, Buscopan and some Norodine 24 would get you out of almost all tight spots without breaking the bank. Throw in some alpha 2, butorphanol and some local anaesthetic and you could do almost any equine work

There is no reason why any pet vet can't do an equine stich up.

Re: Equine veterinary fees- advice for insurance cover please

Busybee — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:53:50 GMT

Congrats!

I will add my bit but I expect others will have much more information than I can offer! Obviously, work ups are extremely variable for example, a lameness workup could just consist of visit, examination, bute and box-rest, or it could end up as a referral! Colic surgery is expensive - easily between £3000 and £5000 (surgery alone!) with no guaranteed success and a long recovery - but it can work!

As a very rough idea, our call out fee is around £36, vaccinations (flu+tet) are £43, basic examination is £29, explore foot abscess £50, IV sedative ~£50, stitch up between £99 and £157.

I did a stint before starting work as a vet by working for a loss adjuster on behalf of NFU so I could tell you about them but having never owned a horse myself, I couldn't comment on the others!

I would find yourself a good equine or mixed practice vet for treatment as you never know when an emergency will crop up. That way, at least you know you have the expertise available should you need it.