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Why do I need Insurance?
Useful Contacts Petplan Equine Tel: 0800 980 7150, www.petplanequine.co.uk South Essex Insurance Brokers Tel: 0845 450 0654, www.seib.co.uk British Horse Society Tel: 08453 041620, www.bhs.org.uk Julie Andrews Horse Insurance Services Tel: 01566 774161, www.HorseInsuranceServices.co.uk AIMS Tel: 01708 850099
Words by Fiona Rafferty BSc (Hons) ACII
O
ver the last couple of years I have heard many riders discussing their horse’s insurance premiums and entering into the debate of whether they should continue to insure their horse. The familiar quote of: “I have never made a claim, I am not sure if it is worth it.” Every situation is different, depending on cover, value of horse and the owner’s financial means and the best place to start in working out what to do next is with a pen and paper (or spreadsheet) and list down all the insurances you have in place and what they are costing. Next check the list and see if everything you thought was insured is. For example where is your tack covered? Mine personally is insured under my household policy, with various extensions to cover it while away at shows and while locked in the boot of my car. I had originally intended to include it under my horse’s policy, but for some reason the quote came back in the hundreds (just for the saddle) and it cost a fraction of that to add it to my household insurance.
Are you a BHS Gold Member?
If you are a member of a riding club or society like British Showjumping the chances are your membership includes an element of Public Liability cover. This is a good thing and covers you for both legal costs and compensation in the event that you are found legally responsible for an accident, injury or death to a third party or cause damage to their property. It is worth checking the Policy wording to check in what circumstances you are covered, in case it is limited to your own horse and also the cover may be limited if you ride professionally and would therefore be expected to have your own professional insurances in place. In this litigious society we live in, it would be irresponsible to ride a horse without some form of Public Liability insurance in place. Even if you hack out a friend’s horse at the weekend you should have some form of cover in place and the most economic and broad cover is provided by the BHS under their Gold Membership scheme. You will be insured in respect of Public Liability for any horse that you own or have permission to ride, on the condition that they are used purely for recreational purposes. There must be no business activities undertaken on your part as the Gold Member. If you are a BHS Gold Member or have Public Liability insurance provided by a club you belong to make sure you let your insurer or broker know as it could be that you are paying a premium for this cover under your horse’s insurance policy.
Can you afford to not insure your horse?
Next you need to look at the Sum Insured (value) your horse is insured for and the types of cover you have under your policy. Add to your list the worst things that could happen to your horse. These might include: death and loss by theft or straying, accident in field, colic, loss of use. If any one of these happened do you have the finances to achieve the desired result, within the values set by the policy? If you live to your means and have very little money in savings then it is probably advisable to keep insuring your horse, but discuss with your insurer/broker ways in which you might adapt the cover to make savings. This could include increasing your policy excess, in which case you would need to ensure you had a contingency fund to cover the excess if necessary. The great thing about insurance is it helps you deal with the unexpected. Horses are accident prone. They can be turned out in the same field for years, then one day they tread on a nail, which infects a joint and within hours they are in the animal hospital, fighting for their life. Anyone who has heard or experienced similar situations will know that within days of such an incident the Vets Fees cover under a policy
can be virtually drained. The reason I like to insure my horse is it gives me the peace of mind that in the event of an emergency I can call the vet and deal with everything else later. At what stage when you are standing there with the vet do you decide that you can’t afford a £3,000 vet’s bill or really it is not financially viable to spend thousands of pounds on a yearling you rescued out of a field for a few hundred pounds. If you don’t insure your horse you need to have thought through the scenarios and what you intend to do in each situation.
Talk to the experts
Insurance as a concept was founded in the old coffee shops of London and little has changed in the years since then. Virtually everything is insurable for a premium, so if you have a list of what you want covered, talk to an expert and ask them to provide you with a quotation. A good place to start would be with South Essex Insurance Brokers Ltd (SEIB), who in 2013 are celebrating 50 years in business. Over the years the company has been the first to introduce everything from horsebox insurance, loss of use cover, insurance for older horses and higher limits on vet’s fees. Barry Fehler started the business in 1963 and when he bought an expensive show horse he found it difficult to insure particularly as there was no loss of use cover available should the horse become unable to show due to sickness or injury. Therefore he went to the insurance market and found an underwriter to offer this cover and history was in the making. Barry is still actively involved in the company today and if you have something unusual to insure I am certain he and his team will know the right place to go to obtain you a quotation. Petplan Equine has a number of flexible policies and their online quotation system is quick and easy to use. They offer a discount for the multiple horse owner and it is worth having a chat with them to find out if this might be a more economical way of insuring your horses, if you have a number of different policies in place currently. Ultimately insuring your horse gives you peace of mind that in the event of an accident or incident there is a set financial limit within the Policy, which will become available to you (subject to T&C). If your horse has major surgery then this limit might be exceeded, but hopefully it gives you time to assess the situation and make the right decision at that time. And if the worst happens and you lose your horse, you may then be in a financial position to buy a new horse. If throughout your horse’s lifetime you never have to make a claim, well that’s not an entirely bad thing.
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