Insurance

[Glory Bound]

I have recently purchased a new horse & am looking to insure her. I would like to hear your experiences with different insurance companies (especially those of you who have had to make claims) so I can make an educated decision on which company to insure her with. Also, if you could give me an idea of how affordable the premiums are with your company (please include your horse's age and level of competition) I would appreciate it very much! Thanks!

[jn4jenny]

Congratulations on your new horse!

Don't reinvent the wheel. Go to the Advanced Search menu. Type in "insurance" and choose the "Search Titles Only" option. Voila, dozens upon dozens of threads with the very information you seek.

http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/search.php?searchid=5341656

[eventrider]

I have used many different companies over the years and I can't say enought about Broadstone. I have had several claims this year and they were fabulous!

Christan

[Glory Bound]

Thanks for the link! Lots of good info! I have tried the search engine, but my computer seems determined to thwart my attempts! The link works perfectly though. Thanks again.

[Mudroom]

I recently had my first claim ever. I have Great American through Dietrich http://www.dietrich-insurance.com/

My claim was paid, almost to the penny, in just about a week. No hassles at all. I like Dietrich and they have given me great service and advice. In this particular claim process, I don't know that Dietrich had to do much, mainly just making sure it was set up right from the beginning.

[CookiePony]

I did a search since it wasn't working for you and found:
http://chronicleforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=177589

I have used Broadstone and have had good experiences with both the Hartford and AIG through them.

[advmom]

do the above mentioned companies have a clause that prohibits more than 3 claims in any 5 year period?

[GotSpots]

Don't know about the others, but Hallmark does not (and they are WONDERFUL to work with).

[Jleegriffith]

I also go through Dietrich and have had excellent experiences. Have made four claims over the past three years.

[evntr06]

When I had to make claims on my leased mare, I had Broadstone through AIG and their coverage was superb. They covered very many expensive tests and procedures at close to 100%. They were also very easy to deal with.

[Samantha37]

Markel! Have made several claims and never had a problem. Reasonable medical/surgical rates, also.

[bambam]

Most of the companies mentioned are insurance brokers who hook you up with an insurance company that covers the claims and the insurance companies underwriters handle your claims.
The insurance broker I use is EMO in Virginia (www.rideemo.com (http://www.rideemo.com) I think). They work with several insurance companies and will hook you up with the one that best meets your needs (i.e. the type of coverage you want with the best rates for what you are considering doing as some put all eventers in one risk/rate range and some split it up based on height jumping, etc). I know several people who use them and have been happy with them. The current insurance company I have is Star (I know of no one else who uses them not sure why- I ended up with them because very few companies will do LOU for an eventer and even fewer who do not require you turn over ownership for an LOU claim) but they have been great and promptly paid every claim I have submitted (even the one I submitted for surgery within 3 months of ever insuring a horse with them), they have been reasonable in their exclusions (horse hurts fetlock, they exclude that fetlock for a couple of years rather than the whole leg for eons), their underwriter was very very kind when there were discussions about euthanizing my gelding and gave me a 24/7 number to call over a weekend when it was very possible we were going to have to put him down (did not thank goodness), and they have not dropped my gelding who I am pretty sure they have paid more out on than they have gotten in premiums (he regularly tries to kill himself- none of his injuries have been while being ridden :rolleyes:).
I recommend calling a few places and comparing what each can offer you.

[gottagrey]

I don't think I would insure through AIG - at least not at this time... perhaps after a couple of years... except now that I think of it -since we bailed out AIG wonder if we could ask for a discount on the premium -don't we "own" them now :lol:

[Carried Away]

I think evntr06 meant AEIG, not AIG. It stands for American Equine Insurance Group, a totally different underwriting company!

[asterix]

Another vote for EMO -- I have Great American under them. I have had serious claims on two horses, and I am not always prompt about sending in paperwork. They have always been great to work with, up to and including euthanasia for a pasture accident :sadsmile:

In terms of rates I think they are fairly standard -- they charge a percentage of the purchase price, and you can revalue the horse if it goes dramatically up due to competition or down due to soundness issues.