It’s well to remember that horses are “property” and you’re buying insurance on that property. The company doesn’t see your horse as a life long companion, they see it as property and will act accordingly.
So, READ YOU POLICY! I know that reading insurance policies is the best anti-insomnia drug EVER but do it anyway. If you don’t understand something, ask. Insurance policies are usually written in “plain, Legal English” (as opposed to the “plain English” the ads claim). Words count. Understand them. With or without help.
There are two types of mortality policies, “actual value” and “declared value.” In each instance the owner must PROVE the value of the horse. The actual value the company will pay is the fair market value of the horse, up to the amount stated on the Declaration page. The burden to establish that value lies with the insured. If you over-insure your horse you are making a gift of excess premium dollars to the company.
In a “declared value” policy the insured establishes that value BEFORE the policy is issued and, in the event of a loss, that is the amount paid. This type of policy carries a substantial “moral risk” as insureds who get into financial difficulties have been known to arrange “accidental deaths” of their horses to collect the policy value. The premiums, here, can be impressive.
Morbidity coverage pays for vet. services in the event of illness or injury to the horse. There is usually a link between the maximum the company will pay for services and the value of horse as stated on the Declaration page. A comment was made, above, about the company “forcing” the owner to provide vet. care. That is correct; the company can decline to pay the mortality loss if the owner refuses to provide reasonable vet. care. Remember that this is a policy protecting PROPERTY. No matter how much an owner might love their horse the reality is that the Law sees it in these circumstances as being little different than a truck or trailer.
In all of this the company must abide strictly by the terms of the policy as they wrote it (this is a basic rule of Contract Law). The owner, too, must abide by the requirement of the policy or the company may decline payment for the loss. So, again, read your policy and KNOW what you’ve bought.
G.
