Horse insurance is not a ‘one size fits all’ product and you need to understand what types of cover your horse’s insurance policy includes to ensure it is suitable for you and your horse’s needs.
A typical horse insurance police may cover:
- Veterinary fees: this covers many non-routine vet’s bills for injuries and diseases during the policy period
- All risks mortality (ARM) insurance: this will reimburse you all or part of the value of your insured horse if he dies in a particular way during the duration of the policy. However, insurance may not pay out if you choose to have the horse put down, even if you believe this is in the horse’s best interests on welfare grounds
- Permanent loss-of-use cover: this insures against permanent loss of use of an insured horse for a specific task/sport due to accident, disease or illness
- Other cover: such as public liability, which can involve big claims, personal accident and theft of tack or horsebox/trailers. Some of these may be covered under your household policy
Important horse insurance questions to ask
Before taking out a policy you need to make sure you understand what is and what isn’t included in the cover. You may find it useful to ask the underwriter/broker the following questions:
- What is the excess that I will have to pay? Is it a percentage of the claim or a fixed amount?
- Up to what age is my horse covered by my policy?
- Is there a limit to the amount I can claim for diagnostic investigation?
- Does the veterinary fee limit apply to each illness or is it a total limit?
- If my horse has to go to an equine hospital, are livery costs covered during his stay?
- Does the policy cover physiotherapy, alternative or complementary treatments for my horse? And is there a limit to the amount that I can claim for these?
- What are the insurance exclusions?
- What activities am I covered for?
You might also be interested in:
7 things you really need to know about equine insurance
Equine insurance: choosing the right policy
Insuring your horse can be a confusing and time consuming process, so follow our top tips to choose the best
9 insurance blunders (and how to avoid them)
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