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EQUINE MATTERS
INSURANCE
INSURANCE FEATURE...
You may already have this cover on your
household insurance if you are a homeowner
and it is also provided as a benefit of
membership of many equestrian organisations
e.g. the British Horse Society. Another good
reason to support the BHS!
All risks mortality
ARM or accidental death insures against the
loss of animal in the case of sudden and
unexpected death or non-survivable accident
or illness, for example a displaced broken leg
or incurable colic. The cover is very limited
and DOES NOT provide cover against
humane destruction on welfare grounds in
chronic or protracted disease or lameness
cases such as laminitis or severe arthritis. In
the event of a claim you may be required to
have a post mortem performed at your own
expense. Vets euthanizing horses follow strict
guidelines which may be found on the BEVA
website as to what constitutes humane
destruction in these circumstances see
www.beva.org.uk.
You may be requested to have a two stage
or mortality insurance vetting certificate by
the insurance company at the inception of
the policy.
Veterinary surgeon
Jane King
XLEquine practice
Westmorland
Veterinary Group
Equine insurance
explained
Jane King BVetMed MRCVS,
Westmorland Veterinary Group
Introduction
Horse ownership is full of highs and lows; these noble animals provide
us with great pleasure as their owners. Unfortunately, partly through
the demands we put on them through sporting activities and partly
because they just can’t seem to help getting into ridiculous scrapes,
horses are frequently injured. A Blue Cross Survey in 2011 found that
40% of horses suffered some sort of injury or illness in any one year.
FCA regulations mean veterinary surgeons cannot promote specific
insurance companies, however they can provide general advice on
different policy types and the benefits of insurance. It is your
responsibility to make sure any policy provides you with the cover
you need. If in doubt ask an insurance broker experienced in dealing
with equine insurance.
We hope this guide will provide you with some useful tips on insuring
your valuable and much loved horse or pony.
Purposes of equine insurance
Insuring your horse is a good way of budgeting
for the unexpected with known premiums and a
known excess. Even though Equine Insurance is
perceived as expensive, when you consider
that the cost of colic surgery runs into thousands
of pounds and a recent University of Liverpool
survey showed that 25% of people put in some
sort of claim on their policy in any one year,
insurance represents good value.
Flick through the pages of any equine
magazine and you will see there are many
companies offering equine insurance.
Remember the cheapest policy will also
certainly not provide the best cover. Below
is an explanation of some of the types of
insurance available.
Third party insurance
This is essential for anybody owning or riding
a horse. Third party insurance provides cover
in the event that your horse causes damage to
another person or their property, for example
if your horse escapes from his field onto the
road and causes an accident. Even worse are
the incidents when a horse kicks a person or
child, this can happen when just leading a
horse in from the field and is not just related
to riding injuries.