Performing a Post Mortem Examination for Insurance

Performing a post mortem examination of a horse for an insurance company is an important task for the equine practitioner and poses additional challenges for veterinary surgeons who either do not regularly undertake such examinations or do not have horses as a large part of their day- to-day caseload. The aims of this presentation are to describe the reasons that an insurance company will request a post mortemexamination; to illustrate how a comprehensive post mortemexamination is undertaken at the authors’ institution; and to indicate how the post mortem examination may be adapted for practices or other premises without specialist pathology facilities.

Insurance policies for horses are of 3 main types: veterinary fee cover, mortality and permanent loss of use. Policies that insure against mortality are most likely to require a post mortemexamination in the event of death or euthanasia of the insured animal. The post mortem examination may be referred to a specialist centre or performed by the attending veterinary surgeon. Where a post mortem examination is not requested the attending veterinary surgeon should simply confirm the identity of the animal and the reason for euthanasia. […]