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Q10) When does an insurance company require notification?
Most companies require notification immediately, whenever there is a change
in the horse's situation or condition. This means that the horse's owner would
be expected to call the company and alert them immediately upon detection of an
injury, upon diagnosis of illness or disease, and before surgery of any kind.
The owner would also be expected to notify the company immediately if there is a
change in the use of the horse, when there is a change in ownership of the
horse, before the horse is transported out of the country, or out of the range
covered by the policy, and when there is a change in the value of the horse.
Although most horse owners and insurance companies agree that it should not
be necessary for the owner to call each time a horse gets a tiny scrape or
scratch, there are no clear guidelines in place, and so it is clearly preferable
to be safe than sorry.
For this reason, it is best for the horse's owner or bailee to notify the
company whenever there is even the slightest chance of a problem condition or
illness. The insurance company's toll-free number is usually manned twenty-four
hours a day, and although not every scratch and dent will need to be called in,
the horse's owner or custodian should certainly notify the company of anything
that could possibly lead to a problem; for instance, lameness, fractures, colic,
fever, any eye problem, and any lacerations requiring sutures.
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