All you need to know about Horse Box Insurance

Visit Coast Insurance to see our range of insurances including horsebox insurance. We are a UK-based, family-run insurance broker providing specialist caravan insurance, motorhome insurance, campervan insurance, park home insurance and holiday lodge insurance. We have 20 years’ experience and a reputation for providing great value insurance cover and a fast, friendly service. Call us on 0800614849 for a free quote and advice. Or fill in our quick contact form.

All you need to know

Deciding what horsebox insurance you need can be a daunting task, but below is everything you will need so are informed when it comes to taking out a policy.

You may or may not know that Insurance for a horsebox is a legal requirement but there are a few different options. It’s important to pick the right one, because if the horsebox insurance is invalid for whatever reason, a claim you may make may not be honoured.

The good news is that there is plenty of information available to guide you, and the staff at Coast Insurance have dedicated specialists to help you with their wide range of policies.

Compare quotes

You can compare quotes, be very careful. The cheapest is very often NOT the best.

Why do need insurance

When you look for horsebox insurance, make sure you know what category of driver will be operating the horsebox and exactly what you are using the horsebox for. This needs to be declared before the insurance commences. If any details are wrong it may invalidate it.

The Guidance for horsebox and trailer owners GOV.UK has a very useful booklet, which clarifies the various categories of operators’ licence. This is particularly important if you intend to use the horsebox as part of your business or for reward. This will affect the type of insurance policy you will need to buy.

What type of insurance should I go for

Fully comprehensive will cover you if you have an accident and pay for your repair bills if it’s a valid claim. It is usually the most expensive, but gives you the greatest cover and is the most popular. While policies vary, it will usually cover damage caused to the vehicle by the horse, as well as vandalism and windscreen damage.

Third-party policies can be cheaper, but will usually only cover the costs of the other party if you have an accident which is your fault or loss through fire or theft. You will have to pay the cost of repairing your own vehicle.

Neither kind of policy will cover injury to the horse during transit. You will need additional horse insurance for that.

If you use your horsebox as part of your business you must declare this to your insurance company and purchase the appropriate horsebox insurance business policy.  If you intend to transport horses for a fee or hire out the lorry, you will need a hire and reward policy.

Who can drive my horsebox

If you lend your horsebox to a friend, they would only be covered to drive the horsebox should they be named on your policy or you have an ‘any driver policy’. Most policies will allow you to insure more than one driver for your horsebox and have the option of adding others on for a fee.  Coast Insurance will help and advise you with this.

It’s useful to have other drivers named on your horsebox insurance policy so in the event of an injury to you, they can take the horse home. It is your responsibility to check that anybody driving the vehicle does not have any adverse driving history such as accidents, claims, losses or conviction points and that they have the correct licence type.

Age restrictions for cover

Coast Insurance Horsebox Insurance have policies for drivers aged 23 or over.

Keeping the costs down

The cost of horsebox insurance is affected by many things such as its age and mileage, the value and size of the vehicle and the level of cover required. Vehicles of over 7.5 tonnes will cost significantly more.

Your horsebox insurance will be cheaper if you are the only person allowed to drive, but this is not always practical. Try and get an accurate number of miles you will do each year as this can affect the cost. Don’t go too low as this could make your insurance invalid.

Remember vehicle contents are not usually covered in a horsebox insurance policy. If you require this it can be added as an extra.

Horsebox breakdown cover

Coast Insurance has 2 levels of horsebox Breakdown cover rescue available as an add-on to your horsebox policy.