Getting the Most From Your Horse Insurance Coverage
- By Conni Petersx
- Published 11/28/2005
- Legal
- Unrated
Conni Petersx
Our agency, Roger Peters Livestock Insurer, Inc opened its doors in the 1970’s. Back when we did not have hock injections, epm, major medical and successful colic surgeries. Much has changed in the 27 years I have run this horse insurance agency for my father, Roger Peters. But some things remain the same. When you call my office you will get a friendly, real person. Not a menu of options. .
View all articles by Conni PetersxIntroduction
As a seasoned, career horse insurance agent, if I could stand at the highest point in the world and scream out one piece of advice about horse insurance coverage for all policy holders to hear and heed to it would be “If your horse is sick or injured bad enough to call your vet, you must call your insurance company!”! It is so simple, yet when the client does not follow this one simple step, they run the risk of jeopardizing their insurance coverage. With each insurance policy our office mails to the client, we attach a brightly colored card with the 24 hour toll-free phone number to call in the event your insured animal becomes sick, injured or dies. I already know what many of you are thinking, “Well, if I call this into the insurance company they won’t renew my coverage, or my rate will go up next year.” This thought is absolutely not true.
Very few of us read our insurance policies, we stick them in a file and forget about them. I would like to take this opportunity to inform you of some of the conditions of the insurance policy that you, the horse owner and the policy holder are responsible for. There are times that coverage is denied only because the horse owner did not make that one simple call to report their animal was under a vets care.
A livestock mortality policy is a “term policy”. Which means it is written for a one-year term only, renewable on a healthy horse. Each year, the company and the agent must review the insurability of the animal. If the horse has sustained an illness or an injury and you have in fact made that report to the insurance company, you will trigger what is called a 12-month extension of coverage. This means if your horse should die or have to be humanely destroyed due to the same reported problem during a full 12-month period from the expiration date of your coverage the company will pay the claim under this extension. Decide not to make the call and you will not have the benefit of the 12 month extension of coverage under the mortality portion of the policy.
Very few of us read our insurance policies, we stick them in a file and forget about them. I would like to take this opportunity to inform you of some of the conditions of the insurance policy that you, the horse owner and the policy holder are responsible for. There are times that coverage is denied only because the horse owner did not make that one simple call to report their animal was under a vets care.
A livestock mortality policy is a “term policy”. Which means it is written for a one-year term only, renewable on a healthy horse. Each year, the company and the agent must review the insurability of the animal. If the horse has sustained an illness or an injury and you have in fact made that report to the insurance company, you will trigger what is called a 12-month extension of coverage. This means if your horse should die or have to be humanely destroyed due to the same reported problem during a full 12-month period from the expiration date of your coverage the company will pay the claim under this extension. Decide not to make the call and you will not have the benefit of the 12 month extension of coverage under the mortality portion of the policy.