Horse insurance

[HebeJeeby]

I need to get our pony checked for ulcers and dug out our insurance policy. I read the small print and see that I must keep up to date with vaccinations. I check the passport and see that i’ve missed the third flu jab so need to start from scratch again. Totally my fault.

I’ve been scaring myself on google by reading that some insurance companies won’t pay out at all if the animal isn’t up to date with its jabs, irrespective of whether the illness is related to the missing jab or not. Additionally, my insurers E&L seem to have the worst reputation of the lot. Does anyone have experience of this or successfully made a claim when not up to date with vaccinations? We are going to go ahead with treatment but would obviously prefer to make a claim.

It’s highly unlikely they will ask for a copy of the animal’s passport.
At renewal however, you might be better to swap to NFU Mutual for your cover. It’s far more comprehensive if you look at the policy wording.

@DraughtyWidow - I rang them yesterday and gave them the heads up that I was getting the pony looked at, in case they had an issue with me going ahead with treatment without first notifying them and they said that if I made a claim I would need to send a copy of the passport and all vaccination history. That's what made me check and why I'm now worried.

Crikey. Not once has NFU asked for pony’s passport when making a claim. The question may have been asked over the phone however.

If you explain it was an oversight perhaps? How long was it missed by? Good luck.

Unfortunately when I was looking to insure my first horse someone said to me E&L = evasions and lies
It is just so wrong whether if not it is vaccinated shouldn't effect an insurance claim on ulcers.
If it was the flu I would understand!!!!!

More and more insurers are including such stipulations as part of their terms & conditions. Both Towergate and NFU have asked for passport scans when I've made a claim to verify they were up to date with vaccs and I have no doubt would have wiggled out of paying if they thought they could.

I could understand if the animal had never been immunised, however sometimes you do forget - life gets in the way. I’d hope that a genuine oversight by the owner would not prevent the insurer from covering an unrelated claim. If it does, I’d complain.
Also, was this highlighted as a significant exclusion/condition when you purchased the product? It should have been if it directly affects a claim being covered.

Looking at my insurance again the general conditions state that "you must use recognised precautions to protect the animal from infections and/or contagious diseases, for example isolation and vaccination".

The general exclusions include treatment against flu, tetanus etc... unless the horse has been vaccinated for these things.

My point is that the horse hasn't got/had flu, flu doesn't cause ulcers and so the actual vaccination is irrelevant in this instance as the pony would have developed ulcers whether or not she'd had the vaccine. I spoke to a friend to day who coincidentally and fortunately knows a bit about insurance law and they successfully appealed a house claim based on 'immaterial facts'. I'll have to see how it goes and maybe the pony won't have ulcers and if she has maybe they'll pay the claim. I do tend to worry about things before I need to. Lesson learned about keeping up to date with vaccines though.

Dear god, swap insurance ASAP, even if it isn’t due! There’s a sign in my vets saying they won’t deal with E&L. Most big claims are paid direct by insurers, E&L don’t do that and will refuse to pay put claims. A friend’s horse died recently and they are refusing to pay out market value, which is absolutely standard. A few years back, they claimed their offices had burned down in order to avoid paying claims. Unbelievable.

OP - I really hope the scope shows no ulcers - but be aware the scope can’t detect ulcers in the hind gut.
Look up Equinox Gastro-U supplement. It’s a good product as are their others. We feed Agrobs with micronised linseed and speedibeet.
Good luck - keep us posted.
PS. Don’t change insurers just yet as pre-existing conditions whether claimed for or not will be excluded from a new policy with another insurer. Not sure on E&L wording but NFUM will continue to pay for treatment for 12 months after the initial claim is made, even if that goes past the renewal date.

My claim for ulcers was £900.

Hello, quick update. Pony does have ulcers, some small ones in the pyloric area. She has been prescribed gastro guard and another treatment which hasn't arrived yet. Bill to date is £650 and counting as haven't paid for the additional medicine and she needs another scope in a months time to check if the ulcers have gone. The vet was lovely and has filled in their section of the insurance form and sent it off. Got a confirmatory e-mail today from E&L saying they had received the form and would be in touch once they had established liability. No mention of requests for vaccinations etc.... Hope I'm not tempting fate but writing this!

Just had to provide a copy of the Two-stage Vetting check.....

OP, sorry to hear that. Hopefully the Gastroguard will help heal them.
But do have a look at Equinox supplements and Agrobs Musli as feed. We haven’t had any further issues since.
docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/366f4f_4fdfe9eea4524607b086cb111fc2f997.pdf?index=true

So, got a welcome e-mail today, they are going to pay the insurance. So relieved and fair play to E&L. It seems I was wrong. Phew!

Excellent news OP!

My insurance is un written by e&l I had a claim for sarciod treatment they paid out pretty much straight away but they did ask for proof off vacs which I emailed over.
I'm also going through an ulcer claim (yesterday) so hopefully all will go smoothly again. Xx

My loan horse’s insurance is underwritten by e and l. We had a big claim made 4 months after getting him, £3.5k. They wanted the passport and checked vet history through it to make sure it wasn’t pre existing (fair enough as it was a claim for arthritis so technically I suppose it could have been dodgy/we could have known about it- we didn’t!) and being a loan horse he hadn’t been vetted.

I think a lot of insurers are now asking to look at the passport. I know Petplan did with a friend with her loan pony who had a tumor that needed operating on. They did pay up but it was quite stressful.

I have had several horses and different insurance experiences. My first horse 30 years ago had several claims all paid. Second horse a few claims then exclusions for various parts of his anatomy. I just insured more recent horses for a couple of months and took the view I will pay from savings or put on credit card as the hassle and exclusions are just not worth it. My opinion is insure for value, third party etc, but just try to have an account you save into for vet’s bills.

And always keep you jabs up to date, you have to show your passport when you compete and BD now insists on jabs every 6 months.