Dropping insurance?

[SugarCubes]

I have always kept my horses insured, but I am seriously considering dropping their coverage. My senior gelding is 20 so his mortality premium is over 15% (OUCH!) and he has so many exclusions at this point that I just can’t justify keeping his major medical coverage either. He’s home and retired.

I would normally renew the coverage on my young mare, however, we’ve been battling soundness issues since mid-summer and she’s now home, not in work, and not sound for her intended use. I have not submitted any claims for the treatments she’s incurred these past several months, but perhaps I should? Given her current situation, I don’t know whether it’s even worth renewing her coverage. WWYD?

I do have an animal emergency fund, and have the financial means to cover medical emergencies, but it’s the mortality coverage that I worry about dropping on my mare…she was not exactly inexpensive and if something were to happen that money would be helpful in being able to purchase another horse.

However, my agent warned me that without major medical coverage, mortality will not pay out unless everything possible has been done to try to save the horse which can amount to thousands upon thousands of dollars and can put a horse through needless suffering when in some cases euthanasia would be the best option…do I have that correct?

[clanter]

We dropped all insurance as our horses aged becoming self insured for medical a very, very long time ago,

Daughter has one horse with coverage, but he is young and has been, well, adventurous…fears nothing (yet) … so she has full coverage on him.

one thing of note, mortally payout could be come a taxable event

The Internal Revenue Code provides that an owner collecting insurance proceeds from the death of a horse due to “casualty,” may forego the payment of tax on gain realized, provided that the proceeds are invested within the following two taxable years in property “similar or related in service or use,”

as always consult your tax advisor for specifics to your situation

[xQHDQ]

Thinking about dropping insurance on my 16 yo. But too nervous. Seriously considering switching to the ASPCA insurance mentioned on another thread. A third of the price and covers the major and more common issues. Just no mortality, but he’s not worth that much anyway (on paper, in my heart he’s priceless).

[2DogsFarm]

I don’t know if this is still applicable, but many (20+)yrs ago my agent advised me to insure my TB as a Pleasure Horse & DH’s TWH as an Eventer.
Statistically this meant lower premiums for both.
Not so many TBs doing trails only, same for Walkers Eventing.
We both did only the occasional show or Events, so Mortality worked as Replacement Cost coverage.
As TB aged - late teens - agent advised dropping insurance, which I did.

[SugarCubes]

Well, I just spoke with my agent. Dropped coverage on the 20 year old, and kept mortality only for the mare, which includes $5000 of colic coverage. Dropped the major medical since my savings can cover that…I think dropping it completely on my mare would make me too nervous, she likes to play hard

[SugarCubes]

That might be perfect for you then, if you’re not as concerned with mortality! I’m in the opposite position, so chose to renew just mortality!

[ecileh]

I dropped my older mare (18 this year) last year because of premiums and exclusions. It got to the point where they would not cover much of anything right at about the same time I was coming to the conclusion that I probably would not put her through a colic surgery at that age.

My younger one (17 this year) is still covered because she is my field hunter…though at this point her exclusions list is starting to grow.

My husband’s 10 year old field hunter is fully covered.

For me, it comes down to two things, I think: 1) I didn’t want money to be a factor if my horses needed a life saving surgery. 2) Once they reached the point where recovery from said surgery might be harder on them than the surgery itself, money didn’t really matter any more.

[findeight]

I dropped mine on my senior. BTW, mortality may not pay off at the amount quoted when you originated the policy on a younger, fully useable horse. People assume many things without actually reading the policy and those friendly agents are commission based sales people who may or may not know the policy any better.

Was sold a senior surgical only policy with 10k cap on long time agents advice to keep the mortality on 18 year old. Come to find out horse aged out of eligibility on its 17th birthday when I finally got around to reading the actual policy, my bad. Ended up having to take it to the state insurance board to force a refund after an “oops” from the agent and months of unanswered messages claiming the underwriter was researching it. BS.

Insurance has its place but it doesn’t do what many think or are told it will. Be sure to read the actual policy from the underwriting company, not rely on the sales agent to explain individual specifics.

[Kyrabee]

I went the “self insurance” route a long time ago. I wanted control over my horse’s treatment…don’t want to be told what to do or what they will pay for (or not).

My friend had a bad experience with the insurance company over a young gelding she had. Poor horse ended up suffering probably another 6 months before she put him down (bilateral torn impar ligaments). By the time the insurance company said OK it was over a year since the initial injury and they wouldn’t pay the mortality end of the insurance. Grrr. Plus, they had her get him nerved and that actually accelerated his decline (because it was soft tissue and not a bony issue). Kind of crazy that they paid way more in major medical than if they would have approved euthanasia when she had the MRI that showed the extensive damage. This was probably 20 years ago when they would do MM and mortality on lower value horses. His mortality amount was only $6500.

I got tired of dutifully reporting EVERYTHING including minor dings and lacerations and having the insurance company excluding all the body parts with those on them (the minor stuff) without the recourse of a vet exam. No insurance claims were ever filed, even when I had her scoped for a recurrent choke issue. I was where I could sock away $$$ in my veterinary account and got sufficient that I would never have to make a middle of the night decision based on $$.

She will be 19 in May so too old to insure (at least affordably) and I have 15 years of premiums in MY bank account (on top of additional contributions). she has been very healthy and sound…so far.

Susan

[wsmoak]

@SugarCubes

I would normally renew the coverage on my young mare, however, we’ve been battling soundness issues since mid-summer and she’s now home, not in work, and not sound for her intended use.
…
it’s the mortality coverage that I worry about dropping on my mare…she was not exactly inexpensive and if something were to happen that money would be helpful in being able to purchase another horse.

Don’t you have to justify the amount you are insuring for? Will they pay out the years-ago purchase price in mortality if the horse is now unsound and could not be sold for that much anymore?

Right after you buy a horse you have a market price, after that you can submit show and training records if you want to increase it… but I’m not sure how it works in the other direction and as the horse ages.

Insurance is just legalized gambling… except that you hope you don’t need the payout. And then they will exclude any body part a veterinarian has so much breathed upon during the prior year, so you end up with a patchwork of coverage. If it works for your budget, saving up and self insuring (as well as making the hard decision that you will not pursue treatment beyond a certain limit) might be an option to consider.

[SugarCubes]

Fortunately, we are not dealing with an injury or anything permanent…just some shoeing issues, so horse will be fully sound again once that is resolved.

[SweetMutt]

I’ve been mulling over doing the same. Over the years I’ve never actually used major medical, since the things that come up usually seem to start small and not seem worth the claim initially, and then add up over time. I do worry about mortality, though, since buying another comparable horse is a considerable enough chunk of change that I might not do it if I lost one suddenly. Seems like most people just have MM and don’t think twice about it so I’ve wondered if I’m thinking about it wrong.

[happilyretired]

I have three older horses (22, 19, 16) and dropped insurance a few years ago. The premiums just got to be too much - -I’d rather self insure. I do have all three covered under Smartpak’s Colicare program. You have to have them on specific gut health supplements but I had them on some of them anyway. If you add up the premiums it is a lot of $$ – I’d rather keep that $$ in reserve and build up a medical fund if I should need it. And as others have said I want to make the decisions, not an insurance company.