A Horse, Of Course (on insurance)
By Don Blazer
Do you have enough ready cash to say, “Yes, I want to save my horse’s life”?
If our first concern is caring for our horse, then one of our first actions will be insuring our ability to provide needed medical or surgical procedures—that translates into having the money.
Purchasing insurance is generally not among the things we want to do most. But getting good insurance at the right price is a must-do item.
For most horse owners, insurance to pay for colic surgery, non-elective surgery or major medical expenses due to accident, sickness or disease is the first consideration. If you have a top show horse or breeding stock, then mortality and theft insurance, loss of use (the function for which insured must be named) or stallion infertility insurance will be included. And if that is not enough to worry about, there’s the virtual necessity of “liability” insurance.
To make it worse, there are always “hidden agendas.” Some companies will not write colic surgery alone; it can only be purchased as part of a “mortality policy.” You have to know what you want and then search for a company to provide it.
The three keys to making a good insurance purchase, according to Anita Poling, senior underwriter with The Equestrian Group, are Rating, Reputation and Exclusions.
“No matter who you buy insurance from, be sure the company is highly rated,” says Poling. The rating, Poling explains, is a way of indicating the company has abundant funds to pay off when a claim is made. Getting coverage from an underwriter with an “A+” rating is a good place to start.
Reputation is second on the list. “Ask other horse owners what their experiences have been,” says Poling. “The relationship between you and the company is always good until there is a claim,” she acknowledges. “You want to be dong business with a company which has a reputation for paying claims without delay and provides satisfactory service.”
Finally, according to Poling, you want to know all the “exclusions” written into a policy.
“It’s a good idea to have the agent fax you a copy of the ‘exclusions’ page,” Poling says. “When you buy a mortality policy you have a pretty good idea of what is included; it is what is ‘excluded’ that you need to know most,” she says.
Read the policy, Poling advises. It’s boring, but a smart shopper knows what he or she is buying.
When insuring the value of a horse you can expect the rate to be about 2.5 to 7% of the insured value. Always ask the cost of the policy and then don’t be afraid to comparison shop.
You can get “discounts” on the cost of a policy if you have some formal education, and ask for a discount. If you’ve take college courses in a recognized equine study or equine science program, some insurance companies already have a built-in discount amount on specific policies. The discounts are similar to “good driver” or “non-smoker” discounts; check with any college offering equine study to see if discounts are available after completing certain courses.
If you have any kind of horse business, you’ll want to investigate Commercial General Liability, Commercial Umbrella Liability and Care, Custody and Control insurance.
I hate paying for anything that requires sickness or a disaster in order to get a benefit, but when it comes to horses, it’s best to be covered.
Visit A Horse, Of Course at www.donblazer.com
