Truncated series models of gravity water waves are popular for use in simulation. Recent work has shown that these models need not inherit the well-posedness properties of the full equations of motion (the irrotational, incompressible Euler equations). We show that if one adds a sufficiently strong dispersive term to a quadratic truncated series model, the system then has a well-posed initial value problem. Such dispersion can be relevant in certain physical contexts, such as in the case of a bending force present at the free surface, as in a hydroelastic sheet.