Dental checks/raspings by vets resulting in insurance exclusions (SEIB)

[Wonkyturdship]

My child's pony has been having routine dental checks and rasping by the vet when his vaccinations were due. Vet said he had good teeth and didn't mention any problems to me except the odd sharp point. Fast forward to this summer when vet identified a broken tooth that needed extracting due to infection. I asked whether infection just a year after the previous check was normal and she said that yes, the timescale was normal. She asked me to check with insurer (SEIB) whether the pony was covered for dental work. They procrastinated with their answer but didn't hesitate to put an immediate exclusion on 'teeth and gums' for the next renewal.

As the equine dentist only visits the vet periodically, I had to go ahead with the extraction before hearing back from SEIB. Now they are refusing to pay as on the pony's clinical history (which the vets never shared with me), there is a reference to 'sharp points' and 'caries' which they said I should have told them about. Consequently they've put a retrospective exclusion on teeth and gums dating to 2015! The vet never mentioned the caries and as I always understood the point of routine rasping to be to get rid of 'sharp points' (don't most equines have these at some point?) I just mentioned that the pony had had his annual 'routine rasping' at renewal.

I've written back to SEIB explaining this but they don't want to know. Really appalling customer service too. So 2 pieces of advice based on my experience:

1. don't insure with SEIB!
2. be wary of getting dental work done by your vet as what they write on the clinical history (even if it's 'sharp points' or 'caries' that between them affect most equines) may generate an exclusion that you may well not be aware of - until you try to claim that is.

If anyone else has similar experiences - or advice - I'd be really grateful to hear it.

Unfortunately, pre-existing conditions, or those that can contribute to a possible claim will always be excluded as standard policy wording on all equine policies. Even if a claim is not made, many people are not aware that if they don't disclose a problem, it could affect future claims. In this instance however, you said you were unaware of any decay and your vet should have told you.
Ours are insured with NFU Mutual. They have a wide policy wording and vets like them.

Sympathies, exclusions do seem random and illogical sometimes. However, I'll defend SEIB as I've insured with them for years and had several claims promptly (and sympathetically when I had to have my horse PTS) handled. I suspect other insurers would have a similar approach - I had an exclusion for COPD after my horse had a cough and the scope report mentioned possible mild COPD. I took it up with SEIB, they asked for proof that it was the first time the horse had coughed badly enough to need the vet and removed the exclusion once they'd had a letter from my vet saying so.

If/when you swap insurers make sure you examine their conditions regarding teeth as they will ask for history of claims......

Thanks Draughty and Frosty. The vet is going to write to SEIB.

SEIB are awful , when our pony was basically gassed by a nearby farmer spraying crops they'd written informing me of the future exclusion of anything respiratory before they'd even bothered to pay the claim , you can really tell where the priorities are .

Flora - they should have claimed off the farmer's PL cover too as he was the liable one! Do SEIB not have claim forms that you or your vet complete then?

I can't recall who filled out the forms it was about 15 yrs ago , my point was that they sent the exclusion letter quicker than they settled the bill , which they did settle because we hadn't claimed for anything respiratory before . IME with other insurers of all types of animals they settle tha bill and then tell you it's excluded from then .