I am looking to get a young OTTB project horse with lower dollar value- probably $3000 or less. Age 5 or less. I’d like to have horse insured for loss of use, medical, mortality. We won’t be doing any eventing just standard green bean stuff. I’d be interested what experiences folks have had with insurance companies and any advice you might have. Thank you!
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Blue Bridle.
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I got ASPCA insurance for my ottb. It’s only medical but imo loss of use and mortality are not really worth it until your horse is worth a significant amount of money. $20 a month for 7k in accident/colic coverage.
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I talked to a broker who gave me a quote based on green 5 yr old TB mare with sale price of $1500.
Hartford Insurance
$7,500 medical and mortality. $389/year so $32.41 per month
$10,000 medical and mortality. $499/year so $41.58 per month
This is with $300 deductible.
They will want copy of PPE if I end up buying the horse.
They don’t cover loss of use unless horse is valued at $25,000 plus
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I believe they take your horse in a “loss of use” payout…something to keep in mind.
Blue bridle does not offer major medical for lower priced horses. I guesstimated my mare at $8,000. They only offered mortality. I sent an e mail asking what horse value needs to be for eligibility on major medical.
Interesting Naturally Happy, and then I wonder what they do with it?
Also, my understanding of mortality is unless you do 100% of the veterinary interventions to save the horse’s life, they don’t pay. Obviously most of us want to do everything we can to save our horse but in reality most of us have a $ limit where we have to call it.
Classy Jumper. Thanks for your input.
So it could be possible to pay out of pocket all of the vet interventions to save horses life.
Whether it lives or dies, you are out that money.
If horse dies you collect mortality which in many cases could be less than the vet bills to “save horses life.”
I’m surprised the Hartford will do major medical without mortality attached. Most don’t, and the mortality insurance has to be higher than the limit on the major medical.
Thanks for sharing this, I just looked it up as insurance has been on my mind and I think this would be a good fit with the colic + accidents. He doesn’t qualify for the broader one since we had a bout of laminitis last spring but its the colic that worries me.
Actually the Hartford quote is for both medical and mortality. I think it really pays to shop around.
I’ve still been back and forth on insurance. Quite a few people I have talked to say that if you have the money on hand to cover an expensive emergency, say $10K for colic surgery, then insurance is a waste of money. Any thoughts on that mentality? I do have that handy in case of an emergency, but the annual costs, at least through ASPCA aren’t breaking the bank either.
It looks like ASPCA changed their coverage a bit since I last looked too. The don’t cover pre-existing but then define that as conditions that occur before coverage begins or during a waiting period. They then go on to say that however, an injury or illness that is cured and free of treatment and symptoms for 180 days will no longer be regarded as pre-existing. That is a little more inclusive then how I read it a bit back.
I am looking at the following:
Colic + Accidents + Illnesses
$7000 annual limit
90% reimbursement
$250 deductible
$55/month
$660/annual
I am then thinking of adding on the premium preventive option that reimburses you up to $425 for vaccines/dentals/FEC/coggins/bloodwork/wellness exam.
$25/month
$300/annual
I know I have spent more than that in preventive things. Not a huge savings, but a little.
There is a silly part of me that feels like having insurance is some peace of mind even if I never use it.
I always insure. I am with Praetorian, but I think that’s only worth it if you think you will need coverage for advanced care like IRAP/Stem Cell/etc where they cover those better than some other plans.
Check with your vets office - I know mine offers an annual care plan that lets you pay one fee and it covers the 2x a year visits plus FEC and wormer based on FEC, and it includes dentals and one set of baseline x rays per year, so it’s a good deal.
Is that $250 deductible per incident, or per year?
Per year.
I’ve used a couple of equine specific insurance companies and had good experiences with Broadstone XL and Berkeley. I had a terrible experience with ASPCA and I know others who have as well, I’ve now canceled with them. They try everything possible to deny coverage, mainly saying they don’t have enough documentation from the vets, and they are difficult to communicate with. If you can afford to self insure with your established horses it saves money over time, but I usually insure new horses for at least the first year, especially if they are traveling to me. I also insure horses that are being leased.
I’ve had great luck with Hallmark (www.hallmarkhorse.com), and they offer a lot of different options for medical coverage without having to have a higher value on mortality coverage.
