Animal Friends Equine Equestrian Insurance Review

Just as the Insurer lays out what you can expect from their policy, certain eligibility criteria apply for you to be able to take out horse insurance with Animal Friends.

• Your horse must older than 30 days and under 20 years of age.
• You must take care of your horse, arranging and paying for any treatment recommended by your vet, to prevent illness or injury.
• You must ensure your horse is regularly wormed and vaccinated against tetanus and any other infectious disease recommended by your vet.
• All horse trailers and saddlery and tack must be maintained in good condition.
• Your horse must be in sound health with no illness, disease, lameness, injury or physical disability at the commencement of the policy.

Animal Friends have two horse insurance policies, Standard and Mature.

The Standard policy covers vet fees up to £2,000, £4,000 or £6,000 per condition. Any claim is limited to 12 months or the benefit limit which ever comes first.

The Mature policy for horses over the age of 20 covers vet fees up to £2,000 per condition limited to 12 months. Unlike the standard policy which covers illness and injury, the mature policy only covers your horse against accidental injury.

Issues with Insurance may arise when a customer finds out that a particular claim is not covered. In many cases this is because the customer just wasn't aware of a particular exclusion.

It is absolutely essential that you read the policy wording carefully to make sure you are fully understand the policy you are buying. You may find our comprehensive guide to horse insurance helpful, in the meantime we have highlighted important exclusions that we think you should know about below.

Animal Friends do not cover;

1. Elective treatments, diagnostic procedures or other procedures you request to be carried out, which your vet confirms is not medically required.
2. Costs associated with the castration of your horse, or retained testes.
3. Claims caused as a result of sexually transmitted disease, such as Rabies, Aujesky’s disease, Contagious Equine Metritis, Dourine, Epizootic Lymphangitis, Equine infectious Anaemia, Equine Viral Encephalomyelitis, Glanders (including Farcy),
   Leishmaniasis, West Nile Virus and any other epidemic outbreaks or any other ‘notifiable’ disease.
4. Costs involved with any organ transplants including any loss or damage as a result of your horse undergoing organ transplants.
5. Costs involved in your horse under-going stem cell and/or gene therapy treatment including any loss or damage as a result of your horse undergoing such treatment.
6. Costs involved in your horse undergoing treatment for; and/or the fitting of; prosthetic and/ or artificial limbs including the actual cost of the prosthetics and/or artificial limbs themselves and any associated costs involved in the rehabilitation
   of your horse after such a procedure.
7. Claims for your horse straying, escaping, damaging property, attacking persons or pets, if they have done this before.
8. Claims caused by barbed wire or other fences, or Chinese lanterns.
9. Any claim associated with your horse being used for breeding, working or hunting.
10. Routine shoeing and or care of your horses feet.
11. Costs for cosmetic treatments, routine treatment, or preventative treatment which is recommended by your vet to prevent an injury or illness.
12. Any dental and/or gum treatment including any conditions arising from or associated with the teeth and/or gums and any resulting or related treatments.
13. The cost of treatment caused by a vice or behavioural problem.
14. The cost of out of hours calls and or non essential hospitalisation, unless your vet confirms that your horse was suffering from a life endangering condition.
15. Any costs involved in treatment caused by your horse being overweight, unless the weight gain is as a result of a diagnosed illness.
16. The cost of any diet food whether prescribed or not. This includes dietary supplements unless used as a nutraceutical to treat a specific condition being claimed for.
17. Any costs in relation to hereditary or congenital conditions.
18. Any costs associated with routine or investigative laboratory tests or procedures unless clinical signs /symptoms exist and the tests and procedures are to diagnose a specific condition.
19. Any costs for purchasing or hiring equipment or machinery to treat your horse.
20. Prescription charges
21. Any costs in respect of stabling, grazing, feeding or any changes in the way you look after your horse, other than when your horse is hospitalised at a veterinary practice or surgery.
22. More than 50% of the livery and nursing costs when your horse is hospitalised at a veterinary practice or surgery.
23. Any costs for treatment that you could carry out yourself which is not veterinary treatment or complementary treatment, unless a vet confirms that a vet or a member of a veterinary practice must carry this out. This includes the use of horse-walkers.
24. Any costs for transporting your horse to, or from, its place of veterinary treatment or complementary treatment.

Animal Friends split activities into two classes.

Class one covers Hacking, retired horses, dressage and flat schooling up to and including preliminary level dressage.

Class two includes all class 1 activities as well as showjumping up to 1 metre, eventing and more advanced dressage.

Animal friends do not cover hunting, point to point, flat racing, or polo. We recommend you check carefully what each class covers you for, because in the event you carry out an activity that you are not insured for, Animal Friends may not cover you.

If you wish to take part in an activity not specifically mentioned, you should contact Animal Friends direct.

Animal Friends will require a  BVA mortality certificate for:

All foals aged between 30 days to 1 year

A BVA Stage 5 certificate for :

Any horse at the value of £4,500 and over and Loss of use any value (loss of use will only apply to horses aged from 4 to 12 years old)

The certificate must be no older than 30 days and must be received within 14 days of the start of the policy.

Anyone over the age of 18 who is riding with your permission.

The Animal Friends policy covers Complementary treatments used to treat an illness or injury. These are described as;

Acupuncture, chiropractic manipulation, nutraceuticals, herbal medicine, homeopathy, hydrotherapy, osteopathy, physiotherapy, and remedial farriery. Treatment must be administered by a suitably qualified practitioner or vet following a recommendation from a qualified vet.

Animal Friends will pay the lowest amount of either the market value, the purchase price, or the amount specified on your schedule, following the death or euthanasia of your horse due to injury or illness.

The death must occur within 12 months of the injury or illness and if your horse is euthanised it must meet the current BEVA guidelines

The policy excludes death resulting from drugs or medication given to your horse, other than as directed by a vet or under the direction of your vet.

If the death results from a vice particular to your horse; and/or from your horse’s behaviour or behavioural problems.

Animal Friends will pay up to £200 for the cost of removing and disposing of your horse's body following death or euthanasia.

This does not cover the cost of euthanasia itself.

If your horse has strayed or is stolen and not recovered within 90 days, Animal Friends will pay the lowest amount of either the market value, the purchase price, or the amount specified on your schedule.

Animal Friends will also pay up to £300 to cover the costs of advertising and paying any reward which leads to getting your horse back.

When loading your horse/pony into or out of your trailer/lorry, you must ensure that any headcollar, leadrope, lunge line, and/or leading bridle is in good condition and correctly fits your horse/pony to prevent escape.

You must ensure any area in which your horse/pony is kept is appropriately fenced or otherwise secure and all reasonable steps must be taken to prevent escape.

Animal Friends Horse Insurance allows you the option of insuring your saddlery and tack, against loss, theft, or damage. They will either pay the cost of repair, or the replacement value of the tack, taking into account the current condition and market value before the loss.

You must report any theft to the policy immediately and provide a crime reference number. You will need to provide proof of purchase for any item valued at more than £350, otherwise it will be excluded.

The policy excludes theft where the item has been left unattended, unless from an enclosed and secure building, including your home, the livery stable and any riding establishment or commercial premises with the following in operation;

• 5 lever mortice or chubb deadlock in operation on all doors; and
• Securely locked windows.

The policy excludes theft from a vehicle unless in a locked boot or covered luggage area in your locked vehicle.
The policy excludes theft unless there is proven forcible or violent entry to the premises or vehiclewhere the saddlery and tack was kept.

If your horse is permanently prevented from taking part in one or more of the activities you are insured for, within a period of 12 months from the date of an insured condition, Animal Friends will pay either the market value, the purchase price paid or the amount specified in your schedule whichever is lower.

If, within 24 months following the original claim, your horse subsequently recovers, and is able to partake in the activity that was the subject of the original claim, you will be expected to repay the full amount that was paid to you.

The policy excludes claims caused by a vice particular to your horse or from your horse’s behaviour.
If your horse is not physically prevented from carrying out the activity activities listed on your schedule.
If your horse is under the age of 4 years or over the age of 12 years.
The inability of your horse to be in a show or competition.

If you or anyone over the age of 18 with your permission is killed or injured whilst riding your horse, Animal friends will pay out up to £10,000, or in the case of Temporary total disablement up to £50 per week.

This includes any dental treatment required up to £750 and hospital benefit of £30 for every 24 hours your are in hospital. If you are unable to look after your horse whilst in hospital for more than 72 hours, Animal friends will also pay up to £15 per day (maximum £600) additional livery costs.

If you are over 65 the cover still applies, providing you can produce a fitness to ride certificate from your doctor.
Cover is not available if you are under 18 years old or over 75 years old.

With Animal Friends, you are able to insure more than one dog, cat, or horse under the same policy.

Animal Friends will not pay any claim associated with your horse being used for breeding.

Animal Friends will not pay claims for an illness displaying clinical signs within 14 days or any accident or injury occurring within 5 days of the commencement date.

There is no cover for loss of use due to accident in the first 5 days or an illness within the first 14 days.

The following excesses are payable under Animal Friends horse insurance

Vet fees cover you have to pay either £250 or £500 per claim, depending on the level of cover chosen.
Third Party public liability excess is £500.
Saddlery and Tack £100.

The 21 page policy document is modern looking and nicely laid out, with a useful summary of cover and headline exclusions at the front, as well as a contents section to help you find your way around the rest of the policy wording.

Horse Insurance can be more complicated than other insurances, but we found it relatively easy to navigate our way around and understand the terms and conditions.

In readability tests the wording scored 62 out of 100 and was classed as average reading and with an average reading age of between 11 - 13 required to be able to understand the content.

Animal friends have over 21,000 reviews on Trust Pilot with an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5. However most of those relate to dog and cat insurance. We couldn't find any specific reviews on horse insurance.

Currently there are no special discounts or promotions.

When carrying out comparison tests with other online horse insurance providers, we found the animal friends policy fairly expensive, compared to some of the other policies, especially when you include all the various options.

We have awarded the standard policy our three star rating, which means that levels of cover are on a par with the market average.

Animal Friends do operate live chat, so if ever you have an issue or need to discuss a matter with them it's normally much quicker than talking by phone.

Animal Friends exclude any pre-existing medical condition that your horse may have suffered from

Pre-existing condition means:
• any condition, symptom or sign of a condition occurring or existing in any form and at any time prior to the commencement date; or
• any illness, symptom or sign of an illness occurring or existing in any form during the first 14 days of the commencement date.

Please note that where a condition is affecting one body part of which your horse has two, one each side of the body (e.g. ears, eyes, knees, hocks) this will be considered a bilateral condition and when applying the benefit limit or an exclusion bilateral conditions are considered as one condition.

A modern looking website, offering a range of animal related insurances, with the emphasis on Dog and Cat Insurance. Animal Friends provide an explanation of the cover and access to the policy wording.

There is a useful section for existing customers, which allows you to register, view your policy and pet details, together with any exclusions, information on your premium, status on outstanding claims, or submit claims for repeat medication, all online.

The frequently asked questions section appears to be tailored more towards dogs and cats, but Animal Friends operate live chat, so if you have any queries, we recommend using that facility.

The quotation software was easy to use and although there are a lot of different choices and combinations of options, it was easy to amend and get a revised quote without having to re-input all your information.