23 Nov 2022
Judy Scrine says she had to learn the hard way after a serious neck injury halted her work with horses and now she wants to help others avoid the same pitfalls she faced.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Image: © PheelingsMedia / Adobe Stock
An equine vet who was left facing potential paralysis if she returned to work after a serious neck injury has won a long-running dispute with her insurer.
Judy Scrine said she now wants to use her experiences to help others in a similar position, as well as mentoring young vets entering the profession.
Dr Scrine first spoke out in September, seven months after lodging a claim on her income protection insurance policy with provider Unum.
She was advised not to go near a horse again, because of the risk of paralysis, following a second serious neck injury.
Initially, Unum said it would only consider her claim as a veterinary surgeon, rather than as an equine vet.
But, within days of her case being reported by Vet Times, Dr Scrine was informed a training and quality review had concluded it was handled incorrectly.
A subsequent letter, which Vet Times has seen, confirmed the company “will continue to pay income protection benefit”.
It added: “The information received supports that you (Dr Scrine) would be unable to carry out your insured occupation as an equine veterinary surgeon. We have, therefore, continued liability for your claim.”
The company declined to comment further when approached by Vet Times.
Dr Scrine believes the coverage not only inspired their change of heart, but also raised awareness of the issue across the professions.
She said: “A lot of people have come across it, which is great, and people say, ‘Goodness Judy, I’d never thought about that. I’ve now looked at my small print and had to change this – thank you very much indeed’.
“I had to find out the hard way. I felt like I was defrauding people and being a nuisance. It’s been very tough, but you have to put a positive slant on it.”
She is also keen to share ideas on recruitment and retention of young vets, including mentorship, and urging industry bodies to do more to support vets facing what she described as “trial by Facebook”.
But, as well as helping her fellow professionals, Dr Scrine is also stepping into the literary world, with her first book, The Thinking Man’s Survival Guide to Managing a Menopausal Partner, due out next week.
Although she admitted it was written mainly to amuse, she said there is also a serious message to the book, written under the pseudonym of Tiggy Bailey, reflecting both her late dog’s name and part of her father’s surname.
She said: “It was written off the back of a completely inappropriate comment to a menopausal lady that my husband (David Totterdell) came out with, so I decided ‘I’m going to write this down’.
“Within about half an hour, I’d written the framework of the book. Every time he did something stupid, it was added to the book.”
The book is available to pre-order and will be released on Tuesday 29 November.
