Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I go about Insuring my horse?
• Who is your Underwriter?
• Do I need to provide a Veterinary Certificate?
• Do you insure other animals apart from horses?
• From what age can I insure my horse?
• What age can I insure my horse up to?
• How do you value my horse?
• I have a part ownership in a horse, can I insure my share?
• Can I get cover on my horse if he gets out and damages/injures somebody?
• Can I insure my tack, equipment and horse float?
• Can I pay by installments?
• Can I insure my horse overseas?
• What do I do if my Renewal falls due on  a weekend?
• What do I do if my horse is ill or injured?
• What do I do if my horse is found dead?
• What happens if I have to make a claim?
• Will you pay me GST on top of my claim amount?

As we require full details of you and your horse before we can send you a proposal, you may call our office on +61 3 9643 3000 or toll free on 1800 331 215.  Alternatively you can send us an email.  On receipt of your information we can place the Proposal and send you an invoice with the appropriate paperwork.

Your Insurance policy is placed with Markel Insurance Company.

A Veterinary Certificate is required at the inception of each policy year for any horse aged 13 years and over, for any foal under 6 months of age, for any Stallion with Permanent Infertility coverage and for any horse where there has been notification of an accident, illness or disease in the past 12 months.

A Veterinary Certificate is also required for any New Business with a Sum Insured value of over $10,000AUD and any Renewed Business with a Sum Insured value of over $20,000AUD.

Veterinary Certificates must be current and completed within 14 days of inception of cover.

No, we only insure all breeds of Horses and Donkeys, we do not insure other livestock.

A foal can be insured at 24hrs after birth if a satisfactory Veterinary Certificate is received confirming it is in good health.

This report must include an IgG test result showing that the foal has a level of over 800mg/dl, it must state that the umbilicus is dry and normal and that there is no evidence of a patent urachas, umbilical or inguinal hernia.

A blank foal Veterinary Certificate can be located on our forms page.

We accept coverage for horses up to the age of 17yrs.

At the time of placing the policy we would consider many variables in order to establishe a 'Current Market Value', eg: purchase price, breeding, race records, competition results etc.

Yes.  Syndication is now a very regular form of ownership and each individual shareholder can insured each share separately.

No.  We do not offer any liability coverage.

No.  We do not offer any coverage for tack, equipment or horse floats.

IRT Insurance does not offer pay by the month premiums.

Yes, we offer Air Transit and Annual insurance coverage in many countries.

Renewals are sent to each policy holder approximately 21 days prior to the expiry of each policy.  It is up to the individual policy holder to return the completed documentation prior to the expiry date.

We are contactable 24hrs a day, 7 days a week.  By calling +61 3 9643 3000 or +61 411 703 703 you will be able to speak to one of our friendly consultants.

If your horse becomes ill or has any lameness, an accident, injury or physical disability whatsoever you should contact your Vet to have immediate treatment.  You then need to give notice to IRT Insurance as soon as possible so that we can discuss any necessary treatment with the attending Vet.

If you have the unfortunate circumstance that your horse is found dead, you are required to give notice to us immediately.  You will need to have a Vet examine the horse and if a positive explaination for the death can not be found then, at your own expense, a post-mortem examination must be made by a Vet.  This report should then be forwarded to us as soon as available and no later than 21 days after the death of the animal.

Upon the death of an animal you should notify us immediately, we will then forward to you a statuatory claim form.  This form needs to be completed by yourself and returned to us along with any Veterinary reports.  Once we have received your claim documents and they have been processed and accepted we will send you a release form.  Upon receipt of your completed release form we will release funds to you.

No.  The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has made provision for the GST component of claims on the basis that the purpose of insurance is to put you in the same position after the claim as before.