An impartial comparison of Swedish horse insurance – and why it matters so much to keep cover without a break. Agria, Sveland, Folksam, If, Dunstan and Dina: tables, terms and scenarios so you can choose for your own needs.
Horse insurance is not one product. It is several kinds of cover that you put together around how the horse is used, its age and your finances. What usually matters most is not which company is 'best', but that the horse is insured – and that the cover is allowed to run unbroken over time. The differences between insurers sit in the excess, the reimbursement ceiling, the waiting period and the age rules. This guide is a neutral briefing so you can form your own view. The figures are indicative, drawn from public comparisons and the companies' terms – always check the current wording before you take anything out.
A typical horse policy is made of two parts, which you can often take out separately or together:
On top of that come add-ons such as rehab, medicine, dental care, unborn foal/foal, and more extensive diagnostics. It is the mix of core cover, add-ons, excess and age rules that makes two 'horse insurances' feel entirely different in practice.
A colic operation, a long lameness work-up or a few days in an equine hospital can run to tens of thousands – sometimes more than 100 000 kronor. Insurance is not there so you 'come out ahead'. It is there so you can give the horse the care it needs without your finances collapsing. That is true whether the horse is an expensive competition animal or a much-loved leisure horse: the vet's bill does not care what you paid to buy it.
Almost as important as having insurance is leaving it in place without a gap. Many of the most valuable parts of the cover – hidden defects, for example, reimbursement for certain chronic or recurring problems, and the chance to switch insurer without a new waiting period – rest on the horse having been insured continuously.
Start with your own situation, not with company names. The same policy can be wise for a young competition horse and unnecessarily expensive – or too narrow – for an older leisure horse. If you already have insurance: assume it should be kept, or switched without a gap – not paused.
Ask several companies for quotes on the same basis (age, breed, use, roughly the same veterinary-care sum). Then compare not only the price, but the excess period, the exclusions, the waiting period and what happens as the horse ages.
The table sketches typical terms. Sums and rules vary between product levels and are updated over time. Use it to see differences in structure – not as a final decision.
| Insurer | Max veterinary care | Excess (fixed + variable) | Excess period | Waiting period / exceptions | Age limits (new policies) | Life insurance | Strengths / weaknesses (brief) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agria | Extra: 40/80/120/160 000; Enkel: 40/80/120 000 | 1 950 / 3 600 / 6 000 kr + 25 % | Extra: 135 days or 1 policy year | 20 days; no waiting period for e.g. acute colic, shipping fever, external trauma | Veterinary care with no upper age limit; life up to the year the horse turns 15 | Life & loss of use; hidden defects if insured before 30 days | Extra = broad cover + advice line; Enkel = colic/fracture/wounds only |
| Sveland | 50 / 100 / 150 000 kr – Hästförsäkring, Begränsad or Mini | 2 900 or 4 900 kr + 20 % | 180 days | 20 days (foal: 5); no waiting period for accident, colic, shipping fever | Veterinary care: no upper age limit on a new policy | Life up to 16 years; −20 %/year from 16, minimum 5 000 kr; ends at 24 years (26 for some breeds) | Broad Hästförsäkring; Begränsad/Mini = diagnosis lists without ordinary lameness; medicine/rehab as add-ons |
| Folksam | 40 / 80 / 125 000 kr (A1 or A6; Bas or Stor) | 3 500 / 5 000 / 7 000 kr + 25 % | 150 days | 20 days; no waiting period for sudden external trauma or on transfer | Riding horse from birth up to 17 years | A1 life (incl. loss of use) or limited A2; see the detailed guide | Clear Bas/Stor packages; Stor has rehab, medicine, therapeutic shoeing and extra abdominal surgery +50 000 |
| If | 60 / 90 / 130 000 kr – Begränsad, Veterinärvård or VeterinärXtra | 2 700 or 5 000 kr + 20 % | 135 days (100 days with fixed excess only, older contracts) | 20 days waiting period (accident only); no waiting period on a like-for-like switch | Veterinary-care sum stays the same for life if the policy is kept | Life −20 %/year from 16; with loss of use up to 22 years, without up to 25 years | Xtra incl. medicine/rehab 6k; Begränsad excludes lameness; Djurhjälpen included |
| Dunstan | 50 / 100 / 150 000 kr – Grund, Special or Premium | 3 500 kr + 25 %, or 0 kr + 50 % | 365 days at 3 500 + 25 % (fixed excess once/year) | 20 days (foal: 5); no waiting period for e.g. acute colic, wounds, shipping fever | Veterinary care can be taken out/upgraded up to the year the horse turns 15 | Life up to 16 years; −20 %/year from 16, minimum 15 000 kr; Premium/Special → Grund Liv at 21, → Katastrof at 24 | Premium = broad (rehab 10k, dental 20k); Special excludes lameness; points + Trygghetsgaranti |
| Dina Försäkringar | 40 / 80 / 120 000 kr – Hel or Begränsad | 2 500 / 5 000 / 7 500 kr + 25 % | Six months | 20 days (foal: 5); no waiting period for e.g. colic, wounds/fracture, shipping fever | Veterinary care is kept for life; life can be taken out up to 15 years | Life −20 %/year from 16, minimum 5 000 kr; ends at 25 years | Hel incl. lameness, medicine 15k, rehab 15k; Begränsad = colic/fracture/wounds; dental add-on |
| Länsförsäkringar | Via Agria (subsidiary) – see Agria's levels | As Agria, often with a multi-policy discount for existing customers | As Agria | As Agria | As Agria | As Agria | Useful if you bundle locally; not a fully separate horse policy in practice |
This is the short version. For more depth – products, excess, add-ons, pros and cons, and links to official pages and terms – open each company's guide:
Häst Extra Veterinärvård (up to 160 000 kr, rehab, medicine, advice around the clock) or Enkel (colic, fracture, wounds – up to 120 000 kr). Plus life/loss of use, trav/avel/flock and more. Veterinary care with no upper age limit.
Riding-horse insurance as Bas or Stor. You choose veterinary care A1 (broad) or A6 (narrower, e.g. without lameness), sums of 40/80/125 000 kr, and life A1 or limited A2. Stor adds rehab, medicine, therapeutic shoeing and extra abdominal surgery up to 50 000 kr.
Sveland Hästförsäkring (broad), Begränsad or Begränsad Mini. Sums 50/100/150 000 kr, excess 2 900 or 4 900 + 20 %, 180 days. Medicine/rehab/life are add-ons. Veterinary care can be taken out with no upper age limit.
Begränsad (60 000), Veterinärvård (90 000) or VeterinärXtra (130 000). Excess 2 700 or 5 000 + 20 %, period 135 days. Xtra includes medicine and rehab. Djurhjälpen is included.
Grund (colic/fracture/wounds), Special (diagnosis list – without lameness) or Premium (broadest, rehab and dental care). Sums 50/100/150 000 kr. Excess 3 500 + 25 % or 0 + 50 %. Plus life/loss of use, Trygghetsgaranti and points.
Hel (lameness, medicine 15k, rehab 15k) or Begränsad (colic/fracture/wounds). Sums 40/80/120 000 kr, excess 2 500–7 500 + 25 %, six-month period. Dental care and unborn foal & foal as add-ons. Local network.
Länsförsäkringar owns Agria. For many customers, horse insurance runs through Agria's products, sometimes with a multi-policy discount and local service. Compare Agria's terms, then factor in any LF discount.
The excess is what you pay yourself when a claim is made. The fixed part is a set sum. The variable part is a percentage of the cost (often after the fixed part has been deducted). A higher excess usually means a lower premium – but a larger bill of your own when something happens.
Example: the veterinary bill is 40 000 kr, the fixed excess 3 000 kr and the variable 25 %. You then pay 3 000 + 25 % of (40 000 − 3 000) = 3 000 + 9 250 = 12 250 kr. The insurance reimburses the rest, up to your maximum.
During an excess period you pay the fixed excess only once, even if the horse needs several veterinary visits (for reimbursable injuries). After that you usually pay only the variable part. A longer period helps you through drawn-out investigations; a shorter one can mean more occasions when the fixed excess is charged.
The waiting period is the time after a new policy during which certain illnesses are not reimbursed (often around 20 days). Many companies make exceptions for acute colic, accidents, shipping fever or similar. When you switch insurer with equivalent cover, the waiting period can often be waived – but only if the terms say so and the scope is comparable.
Veterinary-care insurance helps you pay for treatment while the horse is alive and being cared for. Life insurance pays if the horse dies or has to be put down under the terms. They solve different problems: one protects cash flow during treatment, the other the financial value if the horse is lost.
Loss-of-use cover can pay if, because of illness or injury, the horse can permanently no longer be used for what it is insured for (riding or breeding, for example), even if it can still live. The terms are strict – you usually need a veterinary assessment and that treatment has been tried. A partial payment can apply if the horse can live on but with a lasting reduction.
Almost every company reduces the life sum in steps from a certain age (often by 20 % a year from 16 or 18) down to a minimum, before the cover ends or turns into a more limited catastrophe policy. Veterinary care can continue longer – but life and loss of use become more restricted. That is why you should read the age rules while the horse is still young, not when it is already 18.
Exact reimbursement always depends on your contract, the excess you chose, the maximum and whether the injury is covered. The scenarios below show how the structure affects you – not which company 'wins'.
Here the veterinary-care ceiling and the excess decide most of it. If you have 80 000 kr as a maximum and an operation of 100 000 kr, you meet whatever exceeds the ceiling yourself, plus the excess below it. With a ceiling of 150–180 000 kr more of the care itself is covered – but you still pay the fixed and variable excess. Also check the waiting-period exceptions for colic on a new policy.
Here the excess period and the variable excess matter. Several visits in the same period usually means you pay the fixed excess only once – but the variable excess on every cost. With a shorter period the fixed excess can come round more often. Where the variable excess is higher specifically for lameness/back, your own share stays larger throughout the investigation.
Focus on whether you can take out or keep veterinary care at all, what the life sum is after reductions, and whether the cover turns into catastrophe/limited life. An older leisure horse does not always need a high life sum – but may need veterinary care for colic, dental problems or lameness. Compare the age at which you can still take cover out, and the life cover that remains, rather than the 'best premium package'.
Here a high veterinary-care ceiling, loss-of-use cover and clear exceptions weigh heavily. The premium is often higher because the risk and the value are higher. Compare what applies in competition, in transport and for more advanced diagnostics (MRI/CT, for example) – and whether it is included, has a sub-limit, or needs an add-on.
Here a narrower policy, a higher excess or a lower maximum can be conscious choices – as long as you understand the gaps. Work through a typical colic or lameness investigation against your cash buffer. Sometimes the right strategy is: adequate insurance plus a cash reserve of your own, rather than the lowest possible premium with nothing saved. What you should not do is cancel the policy altogether to save a few hundred kronor – a gap can cost far more than the difference in premium.
There is no universally best horse insurance. Agria Extra, Sveland Hästförsäkring, If VeterinärXtra and Dina Hel are broad riding-horse choices (If Xtra 130 000 with medicine/rehab 6k; Dina Hel 120 000 with medicine/rehab 15k; Sveland has medicine/rehab as add-ons), Folksam has Bas/Stor with A1/A6, Dunstan has Grund/Special/Premium plus 3 500+25 % or 0+50 % (Special does not cover lameness), and Länsförsäkringar is mainly relevant via Agria plus any multi-policy discount.
The best choice is the one where you understand what is reimbursed, what you pay yourself, and how the cover changes as the horse ages – and where the policy is allowed to run without a break. Use the table and the scenarios as a map – and let current terms and quotes be the final guide.
The best insurance is the one that is there when the horse needs it – and that has been left unbroken all the way there.
A gap can in practice be treated as a new policy. You then often face a new waiting period (usually around 20 days for illness), and the insurer can attach exclusions for things that were already in the history – even if the horse is healthy now. Hidden-defects cover and other waiting-period waivers on a switch can also fall away. That is why continuity is often worth more than a temporarily lower premium.
The premium is set individually and depends on the horse's age, breed, use, the veterinary-care sum you choose and the excess. In practice many owners see a range from a few hundred kronor to more than a thousand a month. Compare quotes on the same basis – and factor in the excess you may have to pay on a claim. If you need to cut the cost: adjust the sums or the excess rather than cancelling the policy.
Veterinary care protects you against treatment costs while the horse is being cared for. Life insurance pays if the horse dies or has to be put down. Many people take out both, but for an older leisure horse with low financial value, veterinary care can matter more than a high life sum. Loss of use is an add-on if the horse has to be usable for a particular purpose.
The excess is the share of the cost you pay once a claim is reimbursed. The waiting period is a delay after a new policy during which certain illnesses are not reimbursed at all. Many companies make exceptions for acute colic or accidents during the waiting period – read the terms for your particular insurer.
It depends on the company and the product. Some let you take out veterinary care with no upper age limit; others stop at 15–17 years. Life insurance more often has a ceiling around 15–17 years on a new policy, and the life sum is then reduced in steps. Always get an answer for your horse's actual age before you assume cover can be arranged. If the horse already has unbroken insurance, it is often more valuable to keep it than to try to take out a new policy late in life.
Apply to the new company first and wait for a decision on what cover – and what exclusions, if any – you will get. Do not cancel the old policy until the new one is in force – preferably with the same start date so the chain never breaks. Include the policy number on a change of owner so buyer and seller can align the end of one policy and the start of the other on the same day.
Agria is a subsidiary in the Länsförsäkringar group and in practice handles much of the animal insurance. As an LF customer you can often get a discount on Agria and local service, but the terms you compare are usually Agria's horse products – not a fully separate LF horse policy.
None is objectively best for everyone. Best is the one that matches your horse's use and age, your need for a reimbursement ceiling, your ability to carry an excess – and that you actually keep without a break. Use the comparison to ask the right questions – and choose from your own answers.
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