If you have an older horse, and by older horse I mean one that is 16 or more years old, then you likely cannot get horse insurance for her. You can get insurance for your horse equipment, but unless you were fortunate enough to have bought a mortality and medical insurance policy when your horse was much younger, and it’s a policy that can’t be cancelled when she reaches a certain age, then you have very few options to insure an older horse.
However, all is not lost! If you live in the U.K., then Petplan Equine will insure horses until they reach the age of 25, if you buy the policy before your horse is 20. They say it is economical, but they only pay out up to £1,500 for a death as a result of an injury and £1,000 for injury treatment. It may be cheap horse insurance, but it doesn’t pay out much. Still, any insurance is probably better than no insurance.
In the United States, Fry’s Insurance Company will write mortality insurance policies for horses up to the age of 20, and you can add on various levels of medical/surgical coverage for about $150-$475 additional. However, their policies are renewable on an annual basis, and as soon as your horse turns 20, they won’t renew the policy. Is it really worth it?
Furthermore, most of the horse insurance plans from any company start at an annual premium of at least $200, and that is not cheap in my opinion, especially when you consider that they will drop you like a hot potato at the age of 20.
Probably your only option, and really it might even be the best option, is to save money toward emergencies. Put that annual premium into a savings account every month and hold onto it. Add any extra money that you can to it, whenever you can. Pay yourself a monthly premium for insurance. When the time comes that your horse needs expensive vet care, the money will be there. If she passes away, you’ll have a good start on the purchase price of a new horse.
As a horse gets older, more diseases and injuries happen so as your vet costs go up and the availability of insurance goes down. Because there are no laws mandating coverage, the insurance companies can get away with this. It seems that being self-insured is really the only way to go to ensure coverage of your horse in her declining years.
