What equestrian insurance do I need?

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This month Shearwater Insurance join us to answer a common question ‘What equestrian insurance do I need?’ The independent insurance brokers take a look at cover for horse and pony, tack, private yard, livery yard and home insurance.

At Shearwater Insurance we’re commonly asked, ‘what type of insurance do I need?’ It is a confusing topic and one with a multitude of answers.  Horse insurance is a great place to start, but it is also worth considering yard insurance and tack cover as a minimum.

Horse & Pony

With the cost of veterinary treatment rising, can you really afford not to insure?  At Shearwater we now offer a variety of policy options to help you get the level of cover that most suits your needs.

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Catastrophe Cover provides all the essential elements, at a fraction of the price.  Vets fees cover for accidental external injury and covered perils such as colic surgery.  In the event of an accident you can reduce the stress in the knowledge that the mounting vets’ bills will be taken care off.

Veterinary Fee Cover does what it says on the tin.  This is the most traditional of covers and offers the most comprehensive level of cover where vets fees are concerned.  Select a level of cover and excess that suits your needs, but be happy in the knowledge that should your horse pick up an injury, develop an illness or suffer a loss of performance that needs investigating, you’ll have a level of cover that protects your pocket as well as your horse.

You’d insure your own home so why not insure your horse’s home as well?

It is a dream situation, for many horse owners, to have their horses at home.  Whether you have a simple set up of 2 stables and some storage or more extensive facilities, having the right level of cover is key.  What would happen if you were broken into or rain caused your yard to flood or a horse was injured in your care? Would you have the support in place to get you, and your clients, back on your feet?

Private Yards

Alongside covering your stables for perils such as fire, theft, flooding and storm damage other areas can also be covered like tools, jumps and equipment, saddlery and accidental damage – which with horses around is always needed!

There is so much to consider when covering your yard and we know a lot is irreplaceable but at least by having a tailored individual plan in place you can start to get back to normality as quickly as possible.

Livery Yards

As well as covering the basics, if you run a livery yard, or a competition and production yard, as well as protecting your premises you need to consider how you will protect the horses and employees in your care.

Employees Liability is one of the most common claims made from yards, most likely down to the unpredictable nature of horses. A legal requirement, this insurance covers you for any personal injury claims made against you. So, should one of your grooms get kicked or injured whilst on the yard, you’ll have the piece of mind that the bills will still get paid and compensation can be issued.

With running a yard, it is likely you will receive some sort of payment for looking after somebody else’s horse. Even if it is just bringing them in from the field you become partly responsible for their welfare and could be held liable if anything was to happen. A Care, Custody and Control policy can help protect you against any claims and has become increasingly popular with full livery / competition and stud yards, where you might find yourself looking after high value horses.

Tack

Having it stolen is not only a huge inconvenience, but it can be expensive and time consuming to replace.

Tack insurance can be added to a multitude of existing policies from horse insurance, to yard policies, or even your household policy (yes Shearwater insure your own home as well!).  You can protect your items in the event that your equipment is accidentally damaged, lost, stolen or destroyed.  Depending on the nature of your policy Shearwater can even cover items down to your favourite pair of boots.

At Shearwater we recommend keeping a record of all of your valuable items, along with proof of identification.  Take photos of any expensive or valuable items and keep an official record of when you purchased them and how much for.  This will help in the event of making a claim.

Make sure you’re covered

It is always worth taking the time and effort to ensure you have the right cover for you and discussing this fully with a specialist equestrian insurer, like Shearwater, is the best way to go about this. You can organise to have your horse’s insurance set up from the day you take ownership but do bear in mind that some policies also have a 14 waiting period before you can claim for illness.

For more information on our equestrian insurance click here

For more information about Shearwater Insurance tel: 01992 718666