VETERAN HORSE INSURANCE

At KBIS, whilst we have a wide range of cover available for veteran horses, the policies are a continuation of our standard Leisure and Competition horse insurance, rather than labelled ‘veteran horse insurance’. This allows us to cater for older horses that are still in work, out and about competing, as well as those that are having a quieter life hacking or retired to the field.

You can then choose to add additional cover such as vet fees, permanent loss of use, personal accident and legal liability to your policy.

Whilst there is no strict cut off point at which a horse is transferred onto a veteran policy at KBIS, cover does start to become limited from the year the horse turns 16. How the cover changes are outlined below in ‘How much can I insure my veteran horse for?’ and ‘what vet fee insurance is available for my veteran horse?’

As horses get older, inevitably the amount they are worth tends to decrease. As a result, Underwriters limit the maximum they will insure horses for at certain ages. These are as outlined in the table below:

For older horses valued above these amounts, we can approach Underwriters to see whether they would be willing to increase the Sum Insured on a case-by-case basis.

Often, the reason people in choose to insure their horses is for vet fee cover. This doesn’t usually change as a horse gets older, in fact, owners may feel it becomes more important than ever. If you are looking to take out full vet fee cover for accident sickness and disease, the horse must be insured for a value in order for Underwriters to offer this. It is possible to underinsure your horse by up to 50% of the current market value, so this can be a way to bring down the insurance premium if the vet fee cover is most important to you.

This depends on the cover you have for the horse. Vet fees are reduced in line with the cover outlined above (in ‘What vet fee cover is available for my veteran horse?’) and reductions to the value your horse will be insured for is as detailed in ‘how much can I insure my veteran horse for?’.

As horses get older, it is only natural that more things start to go wrong with them. As a result, they are a higher risk to Underwriters and consequently, the cover they are willing to offer reduces to reflect this.

Providing the horse has had no previous dental issues, which would therefore result in an exclusion being applied, and full accident, sickness and disease cover is in place, then dental cover is included under the vet fee section where there is a diagnosed condition that requires treatment.

Complementary treatment refers to the section that covers treatments that are recommended by a vet, but not provided by them directly such as physio, remedial farriery etc. Whether this is included depends on the level of vet fee cover you have taken out. To check whether this on your policy, please refer to your Certificate of Insurance.

Again, this depends on the level of veterinary fee cover taken out. Your Certificate of Insurance will confirm whether this is included or not.

Yes, providing your horse is in the correct class of use for the level you are training and competing at, you are covered to compete your older horse under the policy.

Most insurance companies will offer All Risks of Mortality, which covers the loss of your horse due to accident, illness or disease. At KBIS we refer to this as Basic Cover.

You can also purchase Mortality Cover for accidental, external and violent injuries only, this cover is usually offered when the horse becomes older and the risk of mortality as a result of an illness or disease becomes to high. At KBIS when a horse reaches 26 years of age cover is then limited to accidental, external and violent injuries only.

Purchase price is the price that you paid to take on the ownership of the horse. Market value refers to the amount that would generally be paid for a horse of a similar age, sex, breeding and ability. Sum Insured is the amount you choose to insure your horse for.

The market value will therefore obviously alter while the horse is in your ownership depending on what you do with him/her, age and any injuries sustained etc. When insuring a horse that has not been recently purchased you need to look at their market value and similarly at renewal the market value will come into play rather than the purchase price.

To establish the market value of a homebred horse you would generally consider the stud fee plus their bloodlines. When the horse/pony has achieved a competition record this can then also be taken into account.

If you have recently purchased your horse most people choose to insure their horse for the purchase price. You can choose to under insure your horse in order to reduce your premium but before choosing to do this you should ask yourself how much it would cost you and how much can you afford to pay to purchase another horse if the worst should happen.

Although under insuring is an option, most insurance companies will not under insure a high value horse below a certain value.

Age will also affect how much you can insure your horse for; generally, as horses get older, insurance companies place restriction on the value for which they can be insured.

At KBIS, limitations on the sum insured apply once the horse reaches 17 years of age; however,  we do look at every case individually and are always happy to approach our Underwriters in exceptional circumstances:

Age Limitations on Sum Insured:

As a general rule you cannot insure for a value above the purchase price for a horse/pony that has been recently purchased. Your insurance company will most probably advise you that they can reviewed the value in 6 months when, for instance you may have built up a successful competition record.

You will only receive the sum insured if this is a true reflection on the horse’s market value. It is important to remember that an insurance company will pay out for the market value of the horse at the time of loss up to the sum insured. If the market value is deemed to be lower than the sum insured, any claim settlement will be adjusted accordingly.

Basic mortality insurance only pays out if the horse needs to be euthanised immediately due to severe unrelenting pain. The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) has issued guidelines for vets when dealing with mortality insurance, these can be grouped into three scenarios when a horse is euthanised from an insurance perspective:

1. Immediate emergency euthanasia where a condition is so severe that immediate euthanasia is required to relieve incurable and excessive pain and no other options of treatment are available.
2. Critical illness or injury necessitating non-immediate euthanasia, the horse exhibits signs of severe and unremitting pain that can be controlled by safe and effective levels of analgesic medication in the short term but, in the opinion of the attending veterinary surgeon, cannot be managed in the long term and no other options of treatment are available. In these cases insurers must be advised prior to euthanasia to allow them the opportunity to get a second opinion.
3. Injury or illness which, whilst career ending and the horse may be permanently lame, can be managed on low levels of medication and the horse can be retired. Owners may decide that the right answer for them and the horse is to choose to put the horse to sleep, but this would not be a valid mortality claim. Although it may represent a Permanent Loss of Use claim if this level of cover was included in the policy.

To view The BEVA Guidelines click here

Most insurance companies will offer a range of different vet fee options so that you can choose what cover you would like, depending on your own personal circumstances. As your horse gets older, you will generally find that vet fee cover becomes limited, and you may only be able to get Accidental External Injuries Only cover, i.e. the horse will not be covered for sickness and disease.

With vet fee cover you generally get what you pay for and the higher level of cover will usually mean that you have a lower excess to pay, a higher incident limit and will include cover for complementary treatments and hospitalisation.

At KBIS we run two different separate scales; our Leisure Horse policy offers lower cost cover and has eight different options that can be viewed here.

Our Competition cover, has a separate scale of vet fees classified from Bronze to Platinum and includes options for complementary treatment and a higher level of cover for colic surgery. Our Competition vet fees can be viewed here.

If your horse/pony is injured or becomes ill and you have to seek veterinary attention you need to notify your insurance company as soon as possible. Even if you do not end up claiming for the incident it is better to advise your insurance company sooner rather than later. If you are unsure what vet fee cover you have, you will then be able to ask your insurance company exactly what cover you have in place. Relaying information to your vet such as the incident limit and period of claim that you have on your policy will help them to decide upon the best course of treatment and discuss the different options with you.

It is important to remember that most insurance companies will limit a certain period of time at the start of your policy to Accidental External Injuries Only, and you should check your documents to make sure you know how long this period is.  If you are unsure whether you are able to claim for a problem during this limited period, you should contact your insurance company as soon as possible.

If your vet recommends that your horse needs to undergo expensive diagnostics such as an MRI scan or bone scan, it is advisable to check with your insurance company before going ahead to make sure that there are no restrictions or exclusions which might prevent these from being covered.

The amount you can claim up to will depend on your incident limit, which usually varies between £1250 – £5000. This claimable amount only applies after you have paid the excess amount, which can range from £125 up to around £350 depending on the cover you have taken out. It is important to check your insurance certificate for your individual policy cover.

Our Leisure policy offer veterinary fee cover for 12 or 15 months from the onset of the incident; that is when the first clinical signs of the illness, injury or disease was noted.  On our Competition policy all of the veterinary fee scales of cover (Bronze through to Platinum) include cover for 15 months as standard, placing less pressure on you and your horse to try to resolve any medical matters with a 12 month extension period.

If your policy renews when you have an open claim running, you will still be able to claim under your expired policy until you reach your incident limit or until you have reached the time limit for the claim (be this 12 or 15 months after onset, depending on your cover). Most insurance companies will place an exclusion on the renewed policy for any conditions or incidents which occurred before renewal, to make sure that there is no possibility of claiming on both policies for the same condition. The exclusion on the renewed policy will not affect your claim, but it will mean that once you have reached your per incident limit or exceeded your 12 or 15 months after onset, you will not be able to make a further claim for the same condition or anything related to it.

Complementary Treatments, sometimes referred to as Alternative Treatments, cover you for treatments such as physiotherapy, laser treatment and remedial shoeing. Not all vet fee cover options include complimentary treatments and those which do may have a separate incident limit.

KBIS offer Complementary Treatment cover on our Competition policies at Silver, Gold and Platinum level and also on our Leisure policies at Scale F & G level, with the limit being up to £500 within the incident limit.’

A list of treatments which are viewed by KBIS as being complementary treatments can be viewed here.

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If the condition worsens and the horse or pony requires surgery, it is important to notify your insurance company straight away to check that you are covered for the horse to be anaesthetised. If there is a claim open for the condition, the surgery will be included as part of the total claim (i.e. there is no separate limit). This means that if the horse has had diagnostics or treatment prior to the operation, you should be prepared for the fact that the total cost may exceed the limit of your insurance and you may have to fund some of the costs yourself. If you are concerned about this, you should discuss the cost of the surgery with your vet.

Operations will often mean that the horse has to be stabled at the veterinary practice. Not all policies include hospitalisation costs so it is important to check your policy beforehand. Additional costs involved, such as transportation, would generally not be covered.

If the cause of a lameness cannot be diagnosed and the vet needs to look towards using more advanced diagnostic procedures such as a MRI scan it is again important to speak with your insurance company before going ahead. While most insurance policies would cover the procedure they may need to be satisfied that all other options have been explored and considered before you go ahead with the procedure. Again you will only be covered up to your incident limit.

All insurance policies carry general exclusions, that is areas or circumstances when the insured will not be covered, which is why it is always important to read the terms and conditions of your policy carefully.

KBIS’ policy wording carries a general exclusion for ‘pre-existing’ conditions, i.e. an illness, injury or disease which occurred or was diagnosed before the policy started or renewed. However, KBIS also applies specific exclusions to individual policies in reference to any identified pre-existing conditions, which provides policyholders with more clarity when they are considering making a claim. These specific exclusions could also be in relation to a noted condition or conformational fault which may pre-dispose a horse or pony to an illness, injury or disease.

You can find out further information on exclusions, including the KBIS exclusion review procedure, on our Exclusions page.

Each insurance company will have their own specific procedures, the most important point is to notify your insurance company as soon as possible if you think an incident may lead to a claim. Click to view the KBIS claim procedure. The claim forms can be viewed by scrolling up this page to the Features and Documents section in the Claim Forms tab.

Although not law it is one area of cover that should not be overlooked. Legal Liability cover is generally not very expensive to add on to a horse policy and will increase your premium by around £15 but could save you thousands in the event of a claim.

Membership with affiliated bodies will sometimes include Legal Liability cover. It is important to check exactly when, where and what it covers you for as it may only provide you with cover when you are riding or competing at one of their events or clinics.

You should never admit to any responsibility or negotiate any kind of settlement. Liability claims can be very complex and your insurance will only be valid if you were legally responsible for the horse at the time of the incident and the incident was a direct result of your negligence.

It is important to notify your insurance company straight away and forward any documentation straight to them without replying. Your insurance company will then deal with any claims against you on your behalf.

Even if your liability to the third party is under dispute the underwriters may decide to settle on economic grounds, this is due to the fees that would be incurred should the incident go to court.

Cover varies from policy to policy but under a typical KBIS horse insurance policy it would cover the policyholder and any person to whom the policyholder has given permission to ride or handle the horse. Cover would be in accordance to the schedule of benefits as in your policy terms and conditions.

If the horse is being used in a business environment i.e. in a riding school lesson you will not usually be covered; the riding school should have their own Personal Accident cover in place.

When added onto a horse policy Personal Accident cover is not an expensive addition. There would be an increase in premium of around £15 – £30 depending on the level of cover you take out. Personal Accident cover under a horse policy is designed as ‘catastrophe’ cover and is more limited than a specific Personal Accident Insurance Policy.

If the cover available is not adequate for your needs then you should consider taking out a stand alone Personal Accident policy. Additional benefits will include Temporary Total Disability which will pay the policyholder a weekly amount in accordance to the benefit scale if they are temporarily unable to carry out their normal business or occupation. Unlike when added on to a horse policy, when cover is limited to riding or handling the insured horse only, a stand alone personal accident policy will cover you whilst riding any horse and can also include other activiities as well.

Click here to view the cover available under a KBIS standalone Personal Accident policy.

Generally most insurance companies will base the settlement on the actual value at the time of loss, therefore if when you take out your policy your saddle is new you should insure it for its full value. When your policy is up for renewal it may be worth decreasing the value depending on the current condition and market value of the saddle.

The security requirements will vary between insurance companies but with KBIS if your tack is being kept in a yard where there are more than 10 horses then an alarmed tack room would be required. In all other cases the tack must be kept in a secure building and the doors must be locked with a deadlock and any windows securely locked. If you are unable to meet the security requirements then it may be worth speaking to your insurance company as a compromise may be able to be reached.

Such conditions of your insurance policy will be stated in the policy terms and conditions.

Yes your insurance does provide cover should your trailer or horse drawn vehicle be damaged or destroyed whilst you are towing it, but it only covers the trailer and not the towing vehicle.

You do not need to have your trailer in a secure building but it will need to be immobilised when it is not in use. A wheel clamp and hitch lock would be the ideal but the exact terms will be stated in your policy terms and conditions.

As long as you are not receiving any form of payment for transporting the horse or transporting horses as a business you will normally be covered under your policy. If in doubt you should ask your insurance company.

If you let someone else use your trailer/horse drawn vehicle as a one off and do not receive any payment it would not affect your cover. However if someone is regularly using your trailer, using it for businesses purposes or is partly responsible for its security and maintenance then you should contact your insurance company as this may affect your cover.