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  Discussion on Loss of use insurance
Author Message
New Member:
lwmilne

Posted on Monday, Apr 27, 2009 - 12:24 am:

Does anyone have any advice on buying insurance to cover a horse for "loss of use"? If I were to lease a horse from someone else and the horse is hurt so that it cannot perform its normal duty, am I responsible for this or should the owner provide insurance for their own protection? Likewise, as a horse owner, should I be insuring my horse before I lease it to someone else? Are there companies you would recommend? Thanks!
Member:
canderso

Posted on Monday, Apr 27, 2009 - 7:13 am:

I am not an insurance expert, and I think it would vary hugely depending on where you are, but here is my experience:
I used to carry it on my 'better' horses, then stopped.

Why?
1)It is only available for horses of a minimum value doing certain disciplines.
2)my policy clearly stated I would have to prove the value of the horse at the time of the claim (how do you do THAT once the horse is injured?). 3)(the clincher): my vet made a comment that among his clients he has noticed that while the insurance companies are generally really good about dealing with colic and death claims, loss of use claims usually resulted in the owners thinking they had wasted their money.

Interesting point - my insurance company no longer offers loss of use.

I am not saying don't do it. I am saying read the policy VERY carefully and establish the value of the horse formally before you start the policy.
Member:
hollyw

Posted on Monday, Apr 27, 2009 - 8:25 am:

Good experiential advice, Cheryl.

lwmilne, you might want to check with Rachel McCart at www.equinelegalsolutions.com
She has an e-mail newsletter that addresses all kinds of contracts and situations with horse owners.
You can e-mail her through the site if you have questions. It seems to me that it's more important how the lease contract is written, and she does have lease contracts available offers revisions as new laws or court cases are encountered.
Member:
mrose

Posted on Monday, Apr 27, 2009 - 11:01 am:

I've used Tiki Ward Platt who is out of AZ but insures horses all over the world. I DrOpped my insurance on my horses because they are all getting so old that it has become very expensive.

You can get insurance for any horse; if you want to insure over a certain amount, you have to prove the horse is worth the amount you want to insure it for. Normally loss of use is a part of a policy that is a death benefit policy. You prove the worth of an animal by having an appraisal done, or offering proof of stud fees, winnings, or sales of foals. Loss of use is normally for breeding animals because if a stallion, for instance, as an illness or injury that precludes it from breeding, you have lost the income that stallion could have produced over it's lifetime; same for a broodmare. With some well bred, expensive animals, this could amount to a lot of money you've lost, even with today's horse market. I wouldn't think loss of use for the average horse would be worth the cost involved.

Mose horse magazines have ads in the back and they usually include several insurance agencies. You can also do an online search. I've never met an insurance agent yet that wasn't happy to explain the "ins and outs" of their policies.

A health and death insurance policy might be more appropriate, imo, and I believe it's normals for the leasee to pay the cost. Whenever I've leased an animal I've required this type of policy, unless it was a broodmare, then I also required the loss of use added on.
Member:
stevens

Posted on Monday, Apr 27, 2009 - 1:19 pm:

My understanding is that loss of use insurance is very expensive and also requires that the horse be put down.

I've had great experience with major medical insurance for my horse. Sara's advice to contact an insurance rep directly is best.
Member:
canter

Posted on Monday, Apr 27, 2009 - 4:14 pm:

It's been a while since I had loss of use insurance, but when I did, it required 1 of 2 things: a) full payment of insurance and the horse belongs to the insurance company (probably safe to assume the horse is then euthanized) or b) receive 1/2 of the loss of use payment and keep the horse.

At the time, my horse was of no huge monetary value, other than the cash I laid out for him. A very nice hunter/jumper whos biggest value was to me in terms of I adored the horse. The reason I purchased loss of use was so that if he could no longer work but was otherwise healthy, I could find a horse that was physically able to do the job I wanted and still afford to keep both of them...at least until I found a suitable home for the first horse.
Member:
lwmilne

Posted on Monday, Apr 27, 2009 - 5:32 pm:

Thanks for all the information! The horse in question is a polo pony. Because these are a bit hard to come-by in U.S., the owner wanted coverage for the replacement which would be the cost of the horse plus shipping from Argentina. The shipping alone is about $4-6000 so the total would be around $10-12,000. It does not seem that an insurance company would cover the replacement of shipping a horse from Argentina, only the value of the "horse in hand" I would think. Thanks again everybody!
Member:
stevens

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 28, 2009 - 9:42 am:

Hmmm, I wouldn't think that polo ponies would be hard to come by in the US. There is a pretty large polo scene in CA, FL and TX.
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