Equine Insurance Niche Too Risky for Many Agencies

Laura Connoway, president of Connoway & Associates Equine Insurance Service Inc. in Little Rock won’t insure your car or your home but she will insure an unborn foal.

For the past 17 years, Connoway & Associates has been providing medical and full mortality equine policies.

The company has reamined one of the few in the equine insurance business because many companies insist that the risk of insuring animals far outweighs the benefits.

But Connoway, a horse enthusiast herself, knows the need is out there and said her company has seen a steady increase in demand since it has been in business.

“There are many different reasons people choose to insure their animals,” Connoway said. “If a horse is financed through a bank then, like a car, some type of insurance is usually required. But many times people choose to insure a horse because of their financial and emotional investment in the animal.”

The company offers major medical coverage, full mortality and loss of use insurance. All of the policies mirror human policies but do not cover routine medical needs. Deductibles for the policies range from none if the animal is young and free of health concerns, to $250 for major medical coverage.

Randy Hutchinson, agent for Shelter Insurance in Fayetteville, said Shelter will insure farms and farm equipment but does not have plans designed to cover animals, because the demand just isn’t there. Hutchinson said the company will insure a horse for its full value under an inland marine policy but the service is only offered to long-time, well-established customers because the policy is too high risk.

Todd Stephens of Farmer’s Mutual Insurance Co. in Gentry, said Farmer’s Mutual does not provide coverage for a single animal because the many unknown variables involved don’t jibe with the company’s “ultra conservative” coverage policy.

Both Stephens and Hutchinson noted that there is no set valuation system for horses so establishing a value for the animal is not always easy.

Because so many companies will not work with equine enthusiasts to establish single-animal policies, many horse owners, such as Ron Parnell, manager of Cherrywood Stables, said he simply can’t afford what area companies offer.

Jeff Huff, American National Insurance Company agent in Springdale, said about eight years ago American National began recognizing the need for horse and farm insurance in the company’s coverage area, and in 2001 acquired New York-based Farm Family Inc.

American National has started offering new farm and agri-business policies on a state-by-state basis and will be expanding the program to Arkansas in 2009.

“We will provide policies for things that you would normally have to go to a broker for,” Huff said. “We will insure a $100,000 racehorse for its full value. That service is very hard to find in this area.”

Huff said he believes American National will be able to fill a void with their new policies and plans to establish offices in some of the outlying communities to better serve rural residents.

But other companies, even those that offer farm and multiple animal insurance, are not following suit, insisting that niche coverage, such as equine insurance, is better left to those companies that know the business.