Nfu refusing to pay out.

[Dolliebobs]

Bought horse start of May. She flew by a 5 stage vetting at the time.

fast forward mid June she comes in the field lame. Vet comes out and originally says 2 weeks rest and bute. He comes out again and she’s no better so he wants to xray. He x rayed her and she has start of arthritis in hocks and stifle. Great.

she is 17 so we knew she would need it at some point and tbh the vet said it wasn’t bad considering her age but she clearly wasn’t sound so she had injections in hocks and stiffles.

as of right now she’s 100% sound and the vet is amazed at how she’s looking. We are still in the taking it slow process but she’s doing fab.

put a claim in last week for nfu, I originally wasn’t going to and just was going to pay for it myself until I got the bill of over £2.3k.

nfu are dragging their feet. The claim has been sent to the validation team.

“According to the terms of your policy, we are entitled to receive all necessary information and assistance from
you or anyone else who is insured by this policy, providing all the written details and documents that we ask
for.
We draw your attention to the specific wording of your policy:
Claims Conditions
The following conditions apply to the whole of this policy including any cover extensions and endorsements
unless otherwise stated:
Action by YOU
1 WE will not pay YOUR claim unless YOU: a) tell US as soon as possible about anything that happens which
may give rise to a claim and b) give US all the assistance that WE require;
d) supply, at YOUR own expense, details of the claim in writing including any supporting information or
evidence that WE require
It is important that you follow these and all other General Conditions of your policy. Failure to do so could
result in the claim not being paid, a delay in payments being made or stopped under any ongoing claim. The
matter may be referred to the Policy Validation team who may take action in relation to the policy.
We will conclude our investigation as quickly as possible and communicate our decision to you as soon as the
investigation is complete.
In the event that any amendments are made to your policy prior to the completion of our enquiries, it must be
understood that these actions should not be taken as confirmation of the effectiveness of your policy or as a
waiver to the company’s rights in relation to the policy.
”

what do I do :(

So have you provided them with all the information?

They may try to say it was a pre-existing condition which it is. Chances are your horse was buted up for the vetting. Did you ask for bloods to be done as part of the vetting.

Is the problem that you've already had treatment and then sent them the bill? I'm with NFU and the first thing I do is call them and let them know there's a possible claim. They know my vets and deal with them direct from there.

@Dolliebobs yes you should always contact insurance first to inform them of a potential claim.

She wasn’t buted up. Her bloods have been checked :)

We think the hot weather, hard ground and her acting like a prat with a new herd started it off

But I wasn’t aware I was going to claim. I was hoping I could just pay for it myself.

I have another horse who was with petplan. You can claim upto 12 months so I stupidly assumed it was the same

Well they’re not refusing to pay yet or dragging their feet for that matter - they’ve sent the claim to their validation team and will let you know the result asap. Obviously it’s possible they won’t pay out as you’ve not done what you need to do in order for the policy to be valid but it’s not a forgone conclusion yet …

I don’t understand how you can let them know the min you ring the vet? I was under the impression I could afford to pay until
i saw how much it was. Ridiculous really

They'll be checking it out because it's arthritis and you'd only had the horse a few weeks. It's bound to ring alarm bells with them. If I read this correctly you had the injections done and then called NFU which is not how you should do it. First visit fine but as soon as it looks like it's going to get to something you might claim you need to let them know.

I used to work in insurance (not nfu).

How soon after the first vet visit did you notify them? The terms of the insurance are that you need to notify them at the first sign of a problem, so even if you don't call a vet out you technically still need to notify your insurance company otherwise you could invalidate any future claim. This is a common reason for insurance not paying out.

If you call them they should explain the decision to you.

Petplan (Allianz) has the same conditions. You need to notify the insurer as soon as reasonably possible when you become aware of a problem. You then have 12 months to claim.

You need to inform the insurance company even if you don't intend to claim eg if you call the vet for something minor that falls under the excess you still need to inform them.

They paid out for wobblers syndrome on my old horse after treatment. I don’t tell them beforehand x

That's slightly different as a clearer diagnosis & treatment pathway but even so you were very lucky.

I really wouldn't recommend hiding veterinary treatment from your insurers. When you make a claim they will need the full history from your vet. If there is anything on that they have not been made aware of that's remotely related to the claim they can refuse to pay out.

I've seen a colic surgery claim refused because the horse had a case of choke several years previously which was seen by a vet & fell under the owners excess so she never declared it. If she had informed the insurer it wouldn't have resulted in an exclusion & her colic claim would have been valid. Very expensive (£10k ) mistake.

You may find NFU will pay out fully for the claim or may partially pay out. They haven't said they won't pay out just that it will need to be looked at.

I would take it as a lesson learned & thoroughly read through the small print. Horse insurance is a minefield - even compared to other pet insurance.

She had a 5 star vetting in May, did this not include X-rays?

5 stage vetting doesn't routinely include x-rays. You have to either specifically request them in addition or they may be recommended by the vet if they find something ambiguous.

Ive just started a claim. Finding it all quite stressful. My bill is 1k so far and my quote for tests at an equine hospital next week is 4k. 😵‍💫

NFU for us have been excellent. Several years ago DD’s mare became unwell overnight. Called the vet and she had to be put in the trailer and taken to the equine hospital a couple of hundred miles away. My bill was 7.5k. NFU paid everything up to the policy limit of £5k. I told them immediately the vet’s opinion was received. I hope that it all works out for you @LadyLolaRuben

NFU aren’t doing anything wrong, you should notify them of treatment, irrespective of whether you intend to claim. It is also almost certainly a pre existing condition and they may decline on that basis. According to my vets there are numerous medications that do not show up on bloods, hence why unscrupulous folk use them ( been stung myself that way).