Did you know that Great American is changing their policies on Eventers?

[Xctrygirl]

I saw a FB post about this and reached out to confirm if the information was true with a friend who works for GAIG.

IT IS true. They have decided not to offer major medical policies on any horses that are insured as Eventing horses.

You can still get colic, surgical and mortality through them for eventers, but no major medical.
Any other company is going to likely benefit from this decision.

Just let folks know since the other side of this is that if you need to change companies you will need to start fresh and disclose any pre-existing issues. So some GAIG folks may end up with less coverage/higher rates from this.

Honestly this really surprised me.

Em

[beowulf]

Wow.

It doesn’t surprise me, though. Insurance companies have always been borderline predatory grifters posing as a protective assurance agency.

This trickles down to even… starter? BN?

I guess it’d be easier to wrap my head around this if they were 4* horses but really, to prohibit an entire sport from major medical… What about racing?

[Xctrygirl]

Racing has always not allowed Major Medical from the majority of insurance companies.

Same as above, Colic, Surgical and mortality they can get. With some exclusions.

Em

[beowulf]

Interesting. I did not realize it was the norm in the majority of racing policies. I’ve never owned an actively racing race horse – only once they retire.

Racing is the only sport I can think of where a blanket exclusion from MM could make sense at any level simply because of the amount of wastage/mortality… but AFAIK eventers don’t come close to that threshold.

That sucks for us eventers.

[ZELLA]

This is a change Great American made. It has nothing to do with Blue Bridle, which is simply one of their many agents. Blue Bridle also represents other insurance carriers. Great American definitely isn’t the only horse insurer out there, and others still do offer med coverage to eventers.

[Xctrygirl]

Ok I’ll update the post.

Thanks for the clarification.

Emily

[wanderlust]

@beowulf

It doesn’t surprise me, though. Insurance companies have always been borderline predatory grifters posing as a protective assurance agency.

That’s a little harsh… having just had to exercise major medical, surgical and mortality claims up to all the limits in a very sad situation, the insurance company was amazing and made it so I didn’t take a total bath on a horse that I could in no way afford to replace without insurance.

[beowulf]

Would it help if I said my perspective is in relation to being involved tangentially in the industry for years?

I am very sorry to hear about your horse and happy that your insurance company was amazing. That is the best outcome anyone can hope for in a crummy situation.

[Carried_Away]

Honestly, I’m not surprised at all. Having been an equine insurance agent in a prior life, the event horse MM claims tended to always outnumber the other disciplines. At one time my agency was the ‘official insurer of the USEA’ but quickly learned that was not a good thing - the event horse book of business was unfortunately not a good one.

Changes to the types and limits of MM coverage available through most carriers over the years have been inevitable, especially as the cost of diagnostics and treatments continue to rise. Hopefully this will not be the case with all carriers and those of us who choose to insure can still do so, although the cost for me is starting to outweigh the benefit.

[Fiesta01]

So sorry for your loss.

[Amy3996]

Wow, that’s surprising. I have major medical and mortality on my TB through GAIG. I bought him to be my hunter after he failed out of event horse school. He’s plenty brave, but probably the single laziest TB I’ve ever known. His canter’s like a metronome but he has zero interest in galloping an XC course - too much effort.

I guess I’m glad I declared him for use in the hunter/jumper rings.

[Xctrygirl]

Not that I have GAIG, but part of the sucky thing with my horse’s policies is that they regularly got schooled on xc for fun, variety in training etc. BUT to do this AND have coverage in case of an accident/injury etc, I had to declare all of them as “eventers.” My insurance co and I discussed this to death… to jump a log on a trail ride = eventer for coverage. Paper chase with a pop over a coop - Eventer. Fox hunting once a year = eventer.

So now one is covered as an eventer and the other is strictly insured as a jumper. He still will do some cross training, we just recognize that we’re SOL if he gets hurt doing it.

Em

[Amy3996]

Just confirmed with my GAIG broker that they will no longer be offering major medical coverage for horses valued at less than $20k. My horse will lose his coverage at renewal, so I guess I’ll be looking for another insurer.

[Equestrianette]

Looks like I switched just at the right time. They wouldn’t insure my young horse for his value so I went with Broadstone. They’re doing MM, colic, and mortality for what I asked. They were happy to insure my 4 year old for more than 2.5x for what I paid for him last October. Even with his limited show record and being a future event horse.

[wanderlust]

While they may insure him for that additional amount above purchase price, in the case of a mortality claim they very well may not pay that full amount out if there is not a show record or other justification of that value. Great American was just being up front about it.

[Equestrianette]

He’s currently #2 in the nation for top scoring 4 year olds in the FEH program. He’s scored 78.75% on his first dressage test and he had a written appraisal by the person I paid to start him. Judges willing he will bring home champion at haras for the central championships. He was reserve in the 3 year olds.

[Xctrygirl]

I use Broadstone and increases in value are very easy to substantiate when you provide the forms they ask for.

I commend them for using real numbers to show the increased investment and valuation of a horse that may have been bought for less but is worth more after time and experience in it’s chosen specialty.

Em

[findthedistance]

Do you mind me asking who your underwriter is? I also had a great experience with Broadstone as an agency, but AFAIK, they offer policies from multiple underwriters. My horse’s policy was underwritten by The Hartford, but I believe there were additional choices in higher value brackets (and she’s been an uninsured retiree for several years now).

[Xctrygirl]

So timely question. American reliable has had my 2 geldings.

BUT… I think we may switch the one, Chad, to Markel to take advantage of the Equine Essentials package for covering tack and some other things. LONG story short my homeowners is not willing to add my saddle. Even when I offered to pay more. (USAA even, I’m truly shocked)

So I would like to have some coverage for my tack given the value and sheer number of MIPS helmets that I own.

Em

[endlessclimb]

I’ve started getting quotes on insurance for my young mare.

Mind you, I do VERY low level eventing. If I ever run a recognized novice, I’d be tickled pink.

Here’s what the insurance quote said: “Unfortunately, horses used for Eventing are not eligible for Loss of Use.”

Whaaatttt. Maybe I need to rethink eventing as a whole - if horses in eventing are getting hurt so often that the insurance companies don’t want to cover it… they’re getting hurt WAY too often.