Insurance - Do we need a Licence Cavaliere ?

Licence Cavaliere



If you are a private owner/rider and you 'do your own thing'  then you do not require a Licence to ride - it is not a legal requirement.  Whereas a small part of the licence fee provides some insurance cover most of what you pay does not contribute towards insurance.  Your own health insurance will cover you and that is whether you fall off your horse, your bicycle or your garage roof!



Your insurance agent will be able to answers all your questions - that is what he is paid for. and depending on what your requirements are he should, if he is worth having, be able to advice you on how to set up your insurance cover for your own specific requirements at the most advanatageous cost and will call at your home if you request him/her to.  No one wants to pay more than they have to but we need the peace of mind to know we are on the right side of the law.

Take a look at the web site [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] There are several advantages to being a member apart from the 3rd party assurance, rather like being a BHS member in UK.
pen

Hi Pen - what advantages are they??? I had a licence for years when I was competing (for which it was obligatory) but now that I just enjoy 'doing my own thing' I have no need of one nor can think of one single advantage that paying for one would entitle me to. It is a personal thing but I wanted to clear up the confusion that there is about them. I see them as a sort of tax fund for the ffe which goes towards wining and dining the officials for example

I guess it depends what you consider to be advantages, apart from the extra peace of mind......
5% off everything in all Point P's
Reductions on all gates and fencing and equipement at Horse Stop
Subscription reduction for Le Cheval and Grand Prix mags
Entitles you to 3 free ads on the dedicated FFE site
Upto 30% off Hertz car rental
.... there are others but, the sun is shining so I'm off out

pen

OK then please explain what you mean by 'the extra peace of mind'

This is so important. My insurance agent assures me that I do not need a Licence for insurance reasons as our health insurance covers that and I have checked and double-checked with him on this. (The company is Allianz and we have normal health cover - I am not put down as a horserider)



The other benefits you list are, as I said, of no use to me which is why it is a personal thing but you concern me about the peace of mind bit because that suggests something else and I will check it again with my ins. chap.



I think this is an important and interesting topic well worth the trouble to find out the facts for everyone. Await your reply with real interest.......

Just to clarify my situation in case anyone else wants to check this out with their insurance company, I do have 'top up' insurance for hospitalisation.



I did have a serious accident 8 years ago for which my licence covered me and at that time we did not have the 'top up' cover and for that my licence was vitally important as the costs would have been huge. It is now that we have 'top up' and I no longer compete that my agent says the Licence is no longer necessary.



Hope this helps.

I am really puzzled and disappointed not to have had a reply on this one as I think it is of such importance for us horseriders in France to know the facts on this and I thought that this forum would consider it the same.  I have tried to raise interesting and useful topics, this being one of them and it seems to be taken as too serious for GF.

I have not posted since as I take no reply to mean I am being brushed off but I have to say that I can see why there is not enough interest in this forum.  I do hope things improve and I do hope I get a reply.  In these difficult times financially many people cannot afford to spend money on things that are not essential.  I was only asking why it might give 'peace of mind' because that implies that it is something we should all have if it gives peace of mind.  If you don't know or don't consider it worth finding out please be prepared to say and not just leave the question and the person who took the trouble to raise it ignored.

Hello , I'm sorry you feel as if you have been ignored , I think its more likely we all have busy lives and pop on when we can and then subjects may have been buried by newer topics .
It seems you have already benefited from having a licence in different circumstances and my own feeling is that having specific insurance would help in specific horse accidents and third party claims against you .
That may be where the ' peace of mind ' comes in when maybe most of us haven't got time to read all the small print of insurance documents and so opt for the obvious one just to be 'extra' safe .

I don't think it's a case of being ignored. You have had quite a few replies to this topic (including from myself) and I think we have most probably contributed what knowledge we have on the subject?

 

Enjoy the sun folks, and stay safe.

A friend of mine was certainly grateful that she had extra cover when she accidentally kicked and broke a parked cars wing mirror recently. It would have had to come out of her own pocket otherwise, as the increase in premium wouldn't have made it viable to claim on her normal house insurance.

 pen

Thank you for your replies - not very convincing though.  If you don't want to 'talk horse' in your leisure moments why try to run a forum on the subject?  You cannot expect people to contribute if you cannot keep a watch on things - that is unrealistic and you will remain a small group that just ticks on which if fine if that is what you want, just don't expect to attract interest if you cannot deal with it.

I feel sure that you will not believe this but I am actually trying to give you some helpful hints in answer to you plea for more people to post and asking what people want.  Here is a direct question to the people in charge of this forum;
      How do you want things to be done on GF and do you welcome comments from all horsefolk and what sort of topics would you be interested in?

  sorry sarah,  I don't understand the problem ????
 

We don't have a way we want things "done" on GF, and of course we welcome any topics, and comments from horsefolk,(and others) as long as they are not offensive.

Unfortunately we have no control on the amount of response any thread has............ and I know that more than most.  

pen

Pen
 Fair enough - I really had expected that finding out exactly whether as riders we actually need a  'licence cavalier' would be a topic that horse riders would consider of vital importance and that some detailed research into it would be taken on by this forum for all our sakes.

I really do hope that more interest is generated to make this forum really get going for everybody because for horsemad people who live quiet isolated lives with their horses in very rural parts of France it is just a great facility for us to use to communicate with others who share our passion deeply.

I am in a similar fix to you at the moment and have not been passing just about every moment of my free time on horseback (which is what is normal for me) for several weeks now and it is hell isn't it?  Anyway, means that unfortunately I have had to take several weeks off work so have the time to try to get some topics going for you now that I have a little use back in my left arm so can type.  Will try my best to respond positively to your efforts to try and get more people 'talking'.

Bye for now,  Sarah

Oh dear I hope you mend quickly too Sarah85

As you say it is a subject that could do with being researched and as such I've split the topic and given it a new title for starters, are you volunteering or do we have any volunteers  ?  I'll try and look into it and find out what I can when I can too

Sarah 85 said "I really do hope that more interest is generated to make this forum really get going for everybody because for horsemad people who live quiet isolated lives with their horses in very rural parts of France it is just a great facility for us to use to communicate with others who share our passion deeply."

That's exactly why it was created , I know I was there   and of course Pen came onboard shortly after and helps loads  . Folk would regularly ask me where to get this and that and who does this and that and while I could help when I could I certainly don't have all the answers , that's why the ' community ' forum was built so all members could pool their tips and finds , also many have already met each other through the forum and no doubt help each other 

What have you done sarah?? How long will you be "ground-bound"?

pen

Thanks for your wishes Cally50.

I for one am certainly interested in further research into holding a horse riders licence as the facts given to me by my insurance agent do not 'add up' with some of the information that has come onto this forum and that is why I have been asking questions about what is being said.  I am doing  double checks on the advice I have been given and I would have passed this on to your forum when  I have it and will be discussing it in full with my agent soon.  It would help if pen could tell us how a 'licence cavaliere' helped her friend who broke a wing mirror because these are the sort of examples I want to discuss with Arnaud, Allianz in our meeting that is coming up.

Glad to see your reasons for setting up this forum and that is great.  The subject of horses and horseriding can be highly contentious and I expect that those responsible for running a forum on it must have to learn to be quite laid-back.  

Bye for now,  Sarah

Hi Pen

What have I done you ask - I have a rotor cuff tendon injury to my left shoulder.

For how long am I ground-bound? - So far it has been about 3 months and I was a bit slow on seeking help which was not at all wise it turns out.  I put up with agony for about 6 weeks and even continued riding until I was forced to get help.  I have damaged it so badly that I now must do nothing and it could take some time before it is mended and I may need to have surgery if things don't improve soon - yuk:

Voila x

I'll ask for more details when I next see her sarah   

I would think that all ins. policy's are different to cater for the clients needs, just in case you don't get any answers here, may I suggest that you take a copy of the cover available with the licence,( available on the FFE website) when you meet with your agent and ask him if they give you the same cover  on your policy, and  see if it is price comparable.  
 At the end of the day, this very much depends on the individual and what cover, if any, they have, and what cover they indeed  need,  I would personally recommend, that all horse owners have 3rd party/public liability.

 OMG   that sounds awful, do you know how you did it?

pen

How about get her to join GF and tell us herself?  

My agent has full details of the licence.  I want him to see the info. given on this forum and treble-check with him on this because I don't have any in-depth knowledge of insurance and have to take his advice which I now want to question him about further.

All horse owners and riders must have adequate insurance - that is without a doubt.  I have already said that anyone who does not have top-up insurance for their hospitalisation really must have a 'licence cavalier' because if they end up in hospital the costs can be huge.  I know, I've been there although I didn't know a thing about it at the time.  I was in intensive care and my husband was left to deal with all the legal stuff and my 'licence cavalier' insurance paid all my top-up hospital fees.  It was not without a hell of a lot of hassle I will tell you and our agent really had to do battle with the company which sells the insurance portion of the 'licence cavalier'.  They were awful and we may not have had a good end result financially were it not for the persistance of our agent.  It was he who then advised us to take top-up insurance rather than me spend the money on a licence.  I must also tell you that the riding academy through whom I acquired my licence were also very unhelpful when my deeply troubled husband approached them asking for their help.  My accident was not on their property and had nothing to do with them but equestrian centres are so hypersensitive about being themselves implicated that they don't want to know about accidents - makes them run a mile.

She's a member already   what do they say?... "you can lead a horse to water etc"  

pen

I'm not surprised - it would be disappointing if she was not.  Friend of yours into horses you would expect to be part of this forum.

Put her on pen!

She's not alone   I have several "horsey" who are members that don't post, and even more that are not members, spending time on a computer is many's idea of hell  

pen

Is not being a member and reading what everyone else is saying spending time on a computer?

Would this mystery member at least be prepared for the sake of other horseriders to give us an account of her wing-mirror incident and how that could relate to a 'licence cavalier'.  Maybe she could relay a message to you?

I mean come on really.  This should be taken so seriously by all who ride.  Horseriding is potentially a very dangerous pastime which gives pleasure to so many but which nevertheless should be taken seriously indeed.  I am prepared to put some time into this for GF and I am doing so anyway but there should be real enthusiasm for finding out the facts and it is just not happening.

You have still not explained what you meant when you said the licence gives you peace of mind.  If you don't fully understand why just say so.  There is really nothing wrong with that at all but what seems unacceptable is people making claims about things on these forums and then not being prepared to support them when asked by people who have a genuine and real interest.

No more excuses please.

NO!! my friend and "mystery member" alinehawkins, will not post, as well as her horse, a son, and a full time job as a paliative care nurse, her husband was diagnosed with motor-neurone about a year ago... so she doesn't have the time or inclination to come onto GF and I certainly won't try to get her to talk about a wing mirror when she has a lot more important things to talk to me about.

I hope that you get the answers that you are looking for   and can arrive at a solution which works for you.

pen

So what are you saying really?  On behalf of GF for whom you are one of those 'at the helm' please say why you won't answer these questions and why you cannot yourself say why you have peace of mind because you hold a licence.  This just does not make any sense and I feel more than ever that you are wasting my time on this now.  The doubts that have crept into my mind have been purely as a result of what you yourself have said on this subject and if you really cannot support your claims then I take it that my agent has given me the correct info.