What to look out for when taking out horse insurance

What to look out for when taking out horse insurance

Buying a new horse is a big decision, read our blog on how to find the right horse for you. Why not put the same level of thought into ensuring you and your horse are correctly covered by insurance in the event of an accident or illness?

An individual spends upwards of £1,000 on a new horse and a lot of thought goes into suitability for your height and weight, temperament, breed, what activities you want to do, conformation etc. Once you have the horse, don’t forget about the costs that can be involved for veterinary treatment or a third-party claim made against you.

Our top tips when looking at horse insurance

• Ask your vet to perform a pre-purchase vetting to reassure you on the soundness and confirmation of the horse before you purchase. This is sometimes a requirement for insurance purposes so please ensure you are aware of this when buying insurance. British Pet Insurance will state any vetting requirements clearly on your certificate and throughout the quote and buy process.
• You should insure your horse for its current market value. Generally, if the horse is a new purchase, this is the price that you paid. If you are unsure as to what is an accurate market value for your horse, check out Horsemart or the Horse and Hound classifieds. Things to also consider are breeding, age, activities the horse takes part in and any health concerns when considering the current market value.
• Consider more than just price when comparing horse insurance providers.
  • Are they a specialist horse insurance provider?
  • Check out their reviews, cover levels and claims reputation.
• Remember with reviews that sometimes less or no reviews can be considered a positive, consumers often only make a point of leaving a negative review and often forget a positive experience.
• Up to what age is illness cover provided? British Pet Insurance will cover illness and injury for your horse until it is 25, if cover is taken out prior to the horse being 20.
• Public Liability is possibly the most important section of cover for a horse owner as you may be liable for any damage or injury caused by your horse, irrespective of whether your acts or omissions could be negligent. Claims from a third party for compensation, can run into thousands of pounds. British Pet Insurance offer £1 or £2 million and will deal with any third party claim on your behalf.
  • This cover can sometimes be included as part of a society membership but we recommend checking this directly with them and the cover levels and excesses that apply.
• Keep your insurance provider up to date regarding the activities your horse is taking part in, what you are covered for will be stated in your documents and if not kept up to date can affect a claim if the cause of the claim results from an activity that’s not covered.

British Pet Insurance have launched a new horse insurance to the UK market which can cover your horse for death, theft and straying as standard with a range of optional extra’s allowing you to tailor your insurance to your requirements and budget.

Why choose British Pet Insurance?

British Pet Insurance for horses offers vet fee cover up to £6,000 per injury or illness with a choice of 3 different excesses – £150, £250 or £500. In addition to your vet fee cover limit, you can add on cover for £1,000 of complementary treatment and £1,000 of hospitalisation and transportation for your horse. Meaning your horse could potentially be covered for up to £8,000 per injury or illness.

Other benefits:

• Interest free direct debit payments over 12 months
• Vet fee claims are assessed within 5 working days after all information has been received
• Claim payments paid directly into yours or your vets bank account
• Kept up to date throughout the claims process
• If cover is taken out before the horse is 20, illness and injury cover will continue until the horse is aged 25
• Multi horse discount

What have you got to lose?

With policies starting from as little as £7.30 per month get a free quote online or call our friendly Sussex based team on 01444 708840 where they will be happy to help

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British Pet Insurance Services offers a range of horse and pony cover levels, with up to £5,000 vet fees and a range of optional extras. Select the level of cover to suit your needs.