Mortality Insurance

Question:  Now that I have the quote that I want to purchase, how do I convert this into a policy?

Answer:  This article describes how to purchase the coverages you’ve quoted online at www.insureyourhorse.com/quote.  Part One of this series describes how to obtain an instant online mortality quote for your horses and Part Two describes how to add coverage enhancements like Medical, Surgical and Loss of Use to your quote.

Buying the Coverage

Once you’ve determined which insurance company and coverages you want, refer to the “Application Forms Required” section under each animal for a list of items that we’ll need from you in order to start your coverage.  The list of requirements will vary from horse to horse, and from one company to another depending upon your answers to the basic horse information questions, as well as the optional coverages chosen.

In the “Application Forms” list under the first horse, you’ll find a document titled “How to Begin Coverage”.   It contains a general overview of the information required and how to submit your request to us.  You’ll also find a mortality coverage flyer, payment instructions, a full mortality application (applicable to all horses) as well as any health documentation and value support requirements.   The full mortality application and payment instructions are applicable to all horses.  The health and value support requirements are specific to this horse.  If more than one horse has been quoted, there will be a list of application forms required for that horse.

Clicking on the  icon or form name will open that document in a new window.   Download the form to your computer and complete / sign / save it using Adobe Acrobat Reader.  Email the completed / signed forms to mortality@insureyourhorse.com.    If you prefer to complete and sign each document from within your web browser, you’ll need to print the completed documents and fax them to us at (866) 207-6953.  Web browsers do not easily allow you to save completed PDF forms to your desktop.  Downloading a completed form will cause the data you’ve entered to be erased.

The last step in the process to begin coverage is to pay your premium.  Three of our partners bill the customer directly.  This means that you will receive a bill for your premium amount after the policy has been issued.  These insurance companies also give you the ability to pay your premium in installments instead of all at once.  The number of installment options offered generally depends upon your policy’s premium amount.

• Great American has the most flexible billing options, offering Annual, Semiannual, Quarterly and Monthly options for all premium levels.
• Berkley Equine & Cattle (StarNet Insurance Company) offers one, two and three payment options at any premium level. They have a four installment option for policies with a premium of at least $1,000, and five and six installment options when your premium exceeds $2,500.
• American Reliable offers one and two installment options for premiums of $500 or more and a four installment option for premiums of $1,000 or more.

Our other two programs (American Equine and The Hartford) require premiums to be paid to Equine Insurance Specialists.  No installment options are available for these programs.  Payments are paid online at the same time the application is submitted to us for binding.  We accept payment by electronic check and credit card (Mastercard, Visa, Discover and American Express) through our online payment portal at www.insureyourhorse.com/customer-payments.  When submitting your payment, include “New Policy” in the description / invoice or policy number field of the payment window.

If your request is received during business hours, you will be contacted soon after your application (and payment, if necessary) are received.  We will either confirm that coverage has been bound, or request additional documentation or answers to questions based upon your submission.  If your submission / payment are received outside of normal business hours, we’ll contact you on the next business day.  A formal binder will be sent to you within one business day of our confirmation of coverage bound, and your policy will follow within a couple of weeks.  The invoice for your premium payment, if necessary, will arrive shortly after your policy.

Question:  I’ve just used your website to get a mortality quote.  How do I add coverage options like medical, surgical and loss of use to my quote? 

Answer:  This post describes how to add optional coverages to full mortality proposals at insureyourhorse.com/quote.  For information about obtaining an instant online mortality quote for your horses, refer to Part one of this series. Part three describes how to purchase the coverages that you’ve quoted online.

Coverage Options

The initial quote provided by our site includes Full Mortality coverage and the automatic enhancements (Emergency Colic Surgery, Agreed Value, etc.) for each company quoted.  Optional coverages like Major Medical, Surgical, Stallion Infertility and Loss of Use may be added to your proposal by clicking the “+ Add / Edit Optional Coverages” link underneath the quote for each horse.  Here you may choose from the complete list of enhancements available for your horse from that company.  NOTE: The coverages shown on this page are the only options available for your horse from that company.

Add an optional coverage to your proposal by clicking on the radio button or check box next to the desired coverage.   The “Quote Summary” box on the right side of the page by will immediately update with the added optional coverage and pricing, showing you the total cost for that horse.  To change coverages, simply select a different option from the set or choose the “None” option to remove that coverage from the proposal.  Once the desired coverages have been chosen, click the “Submit” button at the bottom of the page to return to the Mortality Proposal for that company.  The horse you are working with will be updated to include any coverage selected on the previous page.  If multiple horses are being quoted, you’ll need to repeat this process for each horse.

Because the coverage offerings are different from one company to the next, any “Optional Coverage” you select will only apply to that horse and that proposal.  If multiple horses have been quoted, you’ll need to add any desired options to every horse.  Each company’s underwriting guidelines are different, so be sure to check out the optional coverages offered under all the proposal tabs shown in order to make sure that you’ve selected coverage options with the terms and pricing that best suits your needs and budget.

The final post in this series explains the process of converting your proposal to a policy, insuring the horses you’ve just quoted.

Question: I’m interested in equine mortality insurance, but I don’t know how much it will cost.  Is there an easy way to get a mortality quote right now without having to wait for someone to get back to me?

Answer: Whether you own or lease your horse, have a horse on trial or plan to import a horse from outside of the US, it’s never been easier to determine the cost to insure your horse.  There’s no need to submit your information online, only to learn that you now need to wait for someone to get back to you.  Equine Insurance Specialists is the only place on the web that offers instant online mortality quotes from multiple insurance companies.  After entering some basic information about you and your horse on our site, just click the “Next Step” button at the bottom of the page, you’ll instantly receive mortality quotes from up to five different insurance companies.  Here’s how it works:

Enter Your Information

Visit www.insureyourhorse.com/quote and enter some basic information about you and your horse.

• Your horse’s name.
• Your state of residence.
• Horse’s breed, age and sex.
• Desired mortality insurance limit.
• Primary use (select all that apply).
• Additional information applicable to this horse (select all that apply):
  • Sum insured is greater than purchase price.
  • Prior claim, injury or illness within the last 12 months?
  • Purchased within the last 30 days?
  • Currently insured with another company.

Verify that all the information entered is accurate and click the “Next Step” button to receive proposals from up to five different insurance companies.  You can view the various proposals by clicking on each of the insurance company tabs at the top of the proposal section.  The green tab is the current proposal displayed, and the tabs shown in gray are your other proposals.  Not all companies are able to insure every horse.  If the proposal page shows fewer than five tabs, then the State of Residence / Age / Breed / Use or Value that you entered has disqualified one or more companies from offering a quote.

Multiple Horses

To add additional horses, click the “+ Add Another Horse” link on the proposal page.  The data entry page will be the almost same as before, just without the State of Residence.   Verify that all the information entered for each subsequent horse is accurate and click the “Next Step” button.  There’s no limit to the number of horses that may be added to a proposal.

The second post in this series describes the process for adding optional coverages like Medical, Surgical and Loss of Use to your proposal.