Horse Insurance

Horse Insurance
There are many horse insurance policies available each with their own terms and conditions, by carefully viewing each policy and complying with their terms and conditions will help you to find the most appropriate one for you and your horses needs.

Insurer - The insurer is the company that is selling the insurance.
Insured - The insured is the person who is buying the insurance. You do not need to be the owner of the horse to purchase insurance.
Insurance Premium - This is the amount that the insurance company will charge you for a certain amount of insurance coverage.
Deductible - This is the pre determined amount of money that is excluded from a settlement.
Exclusions - Are circumstances not covered by your insurance companies policy with you.

Here is a guide to some information that you may be asked or may need to know in order to take out horse insurance:

Insurance Type
This is tailored to the type of horse that you are buying the insurance for. Veteran horse, Leisure horse and Competition horse for example will each have a slightly different insurance package that goes with them.

Class of Use
There are usually different classes available that cover a wide range of disciplines, this will enable you to choose the most appropriate cover for you and your chosen discipline. For example eventing and team chasing are a much higher risk than say general hacking and so are put into a different class, often with a higher premium.

Valuation
Your horses value will need to be carefully considered in order to correctly apply for horse insurance. this can be reached by using one or several of the following:

Equine Appraiser - An appraiser will be able to give you an up to date valuation of your horse, many appraisers are breed or sport specific.
Respected Trainer - A respected trainer will be able to give you their own honest valuation.
The Current Market - By researching into the value of horses that are currently available on today's market and similar to yours will give you a
Purchase Price - Use the purchase price as a guide and then add on any extra value that the horse may have gained through performance on top.
Performance - Any qualifications and results gained, for example show ring or breeding performance can be used to re assess your horses value.

The value that you choose may need to be substantiated so it is worth keeping proof of the horses performances.

Veterinary Certificates
An up to date clinical history of the horse or a veterinary certificate is sometimes required in order to successfully insure your horse or to claim for loss of use. There are two main types of certificates you may be asked for, which are 2 stage and 5 stage.

2 Stage Veterinary Certificate - A two stage certificate will look at checking the horses general health and soundness and will check the horses eyes, heart, wind and all four limbs.
5 Stage Veterinary Certificate - A 5 stage examination is a more thorough check of the horses health and soundness, not only are the eyes, heart, limbs and wind tested but the horse will undergo checks before and after exercise as well as flexion tests and in some cases x-rays to obtain a certificate.

Loss of Use
This is where a percentage of your horses value is payed out should an injury occur that permanently prevents them from participating in their chosen discipline.

Where loss of use applies, some policies will give you the option of settling for half the horses agreed value or will offer you more than half of the horses value in exchange for ownership of the horse, in some cases this can be up to 75 % of the horses agreed value.

Medical And Surgical Insurance
This covers for most medical and surgical injuries and illnesses that your horse may need treatment for. Many policies include surgery, diagnostics, medications and post operative care within the policy. If your horse requires immediate emergency treatment then call the veterinary surgeon first and then the insurance company so that the horse does not suffer.

Equine Medical - Certain veterinary expenses will be reimbursed up to the agreed limit in the policy.
Equine Surgical - When your horse has had surgery the insurance company will reimburse you up to the agreed limit stated in the policy.

Exclusions - With many policies routine treatments such as dental care, worming and vaccinations are not covered this is also often the case with alternative treatments such as chiropractic, acupuncture and magnetic therapy so it is worth carefully checking the policy for any exclusions.

Mortality Insurance
This is life insurance for your horse and most mortality insurance policies cover for practically any cause of death such as accidental and humane destruction and in some cases theft is also covered. The value that your horse is worth is an important factor and often a documented valuation of your horse will be required before the policy is taken on by the insurance company . If proof of the value is not given at the beginning when the policy is taken out then proof will need to be given at the time of a claim. Other factors such as the horses age, sex, breed and chosen discipline are all taken into consideration.

Theft - If the unthinkable does happen and your horse is stolen then most policies will pay you the horses valuation as agreed in the policy less any deductible.

Saddlery And Tack
Many policies allow you to also insure any items of tack that you might have such as saddles, bridles, harnesses and other items of tack.

Loss Of Entry Fees
For loss of entry fees, reimbursement is given up to the agreed amount in the individuals policy, there are often separate terms and conditions that apply to this such as hospitalization of rider.

Personal Horse Owner's Liability
This offers cover when the insured's own horse causes property damage or bodily injury to a third party, for example kicks a car. This type of insurance is for non commercial purposes and in some cases personal horse owners liability insurance will often also provide some of the legal defence costs.

Commercial Equine Liability - This is tailored for the equine professional and can cover a range of specific equestrian activities. Cover can be given for your own premises or for when you are off premises, for example cover can be tailored for boarding horses, transporting horses, clinics, training and tuition, care custody and control is another form of cover for the professional to take out and is especially important when dealing with non owned horses.