Kirk Horse Insurance, LLC (“KHI”) is a Managing Underwriter for North American Specialty Insurance Company(“NAS”). NAS, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swiss Re Corporate Solutions Ltd., is rated by A.M. Best, the leading independent insurance rating agency, with an “A+” (Superior) strength rating.
KHI’s sole business is providing insurance for horse owners, such as coverage against mortality, infertility and other losses.
KHI is authorized to offer insurance products either directly to clients or through a select group of the top independent agents in the industry. If you already use an agent for your equine insurance needs, make sure they have access to KHI and NAS. If your agent does not have access, you should contact us directly and discover the distinct advantages of our coverage and service.
Prior to founding KHI in 1981, Ronald K. Kirk was an owner of a small Thoroughbred racing operation. In his “day job,” as Senior Vice President of a life insurance company, Ron realized that many of the principles integral to human life insurance could and should be applied to horse mortality insurance.
At the time, unlike human life insurance, the horse owner had to prove his horse was in good health at the start of every year’s insurance period. If the horse’s health had changed for the worse, the insurance company could refuse to renew. Imagine your reaction if a life insurance company announced they were canceling your insurance right after you were diagnosed with cancer or some other life-threatening condition.
Realizing the injustice in such a practice, KHI created a horse mortality insurance policy with “Guaranteed Renewability.” This feature guarantees that coverage on any horse under age 14 will not be cancelled because the horse suffers from a life-threatening injury or disease. It also ensures that after a horse suffers a life-threatening injury, the premium charged for that horse will not be increased above the standard rate for the horse’s age, use and sex. [1]
KHI saw another injustice in how insurance companies determined the amount of a claim payment under a horse mortality policy. Most policies promised to pay the “actual cash value” of the horse at the time of the injury or disease that caused the death (but never more than the amount of insurance). Thus, even if an owner had been paying premiums for $250,000 of coverage, an insurance company had the right, after the horse died, to contend that the horse was worth less than the amount insured. KHI’s solution was to create an “Agreed Value” policy where the horse owner and the insurance company reach a mutual agreement on the horse’s value before coverage begins.
With “Guaranteed Renewability,” “Agreed Value,” and other substantial changes to typical horse insurance coverage, KHI immediately distinguished itself as a forward thinking company with a serious desire to ensure that horse owners were treated fairly. Combining superior coverage provisions, a relentless dedication to customer service and a detailed understanding of the horse industry, KHI has grown to be one of the most recognized names in Thoroughbred horse insurance.
[1] Guaranteed Renewability is subject to a few obvious conditions (i.e. you must retain ownership of the horse, continue paying premium on the covered horse and if you have multiple horses insured at the time of the life-threatening injury or disease, you must maintain insurance on a majority of those horses at renewal). As always, you should read the entire policy to understand all conditions of coverage.