Additional Insurance Policies You Need When You Buy A Horse

If you've bought your first horse and are ready to find a boarding spot, you know you have to provide proof of insurance, especially for mortality. But there are additional optional coverages -- and an insurance issue that affects your own health -- that you really should look into before anything else. Owning a horse is not easy, and it can be fraught with loss and injury. But it can also be highly rewarding, and if you're willing to take a chance, getting comprehensive insurance coverage for the horse is essential.

Major Medical

The basic equine policy at many companies covers just mortality, or the death of the horse. However, the chances of the horse becoming sick or injured are good enough that you need a major medical rider on that policy at the very least. Even the best care can't eliminate all risks of injury or sickness, so have this rider in place.

As part of the major medical coverage, you should have surgical coverage, too. However, always double-check that. Sometimes you can find cheap major medical coverage that doesn't provide adequate surgical coverage, which can be a devastating discovery if you don't find out until the horse actually needs help.

Theft

It sounds like something out of the Old West, but horse theft is still a problem today. Unfortunately, your average horse mortality policy doesn't include theft coverage. Even if the stable your horse stays at has good security, you need to get theft coverage just in case. It's one of those situations where the need for the coverage might be rare, but if you don't have the coverage and find you need it, you would be hurting, badly.

Workers Compensation and Liability

One issue you might come up against is possibly trading work for horse boarding. It's not unusual to find offers where you do some work around the stables for a discount on your boarding fee. However, that can be dangerous because if you're injured by a horse at the stable while doing that work, the insurance company involved might claim you're either an employee, or you're not covered because you shouldn't have been in the stables (instead letting an actual employee do the work). If you decide to participate in a work-board exchange like this, ensure the stable has workers compensation insurance for anyone who does any work there, no matter what the compensation is like.

You should also look into having liability insurance on your own horse's insurance policy, too. If your horse injures someone in the stables, and other insurance won't cover that person's injuries, he or she could end up suing you for compensation. It's better to have liability coverage for your horse, just in case.

Equine insurance doesn't have to be a complicated affair. Contact equine agents to get more information about what their policies cover. To find out more, speak with someone like Asset Equine & Ranch Insurance Agency.


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