Any solicitors on here? (Compensation claim - horse related!)

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spotty_pony

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Not really sure where this belongs but I think I'll get most response here. Back in October last year, I was leading two of my horses in from the field along the driveway on the grass when a dustbin lorry came past us on the driveway too fast and one of my mares spooked and jumped forward nearly pushing me over. I managed to twist my thumb the wrong way and am still having issues with it now. I shouted to the driver to slow down and he said he couldn't. At the time, i wrote to the council expressing my annoyance at what had happened but didnt get a response. I am still having problems with my thumb now - have been to the doctors and they think the tendon has come out of the tendon sheath and is popping in and out and I have just been prescribed strong painkillers at the moment which I have stopped taking because they make me drowsy and unable to work. I am going to have to go back and get it looked at I think because it is still quite painful and I don't have full range of motion with it any more.

Does anyone know where I would stand in regards to claiming compensation for this? I've never had to do anything like that before so have no clue!!

Any advice much appreciated. :)
 
If you want to make a claim you should start by seeing if you have legal expenses insurance. If you are a BHS?BD/BS/BE member it is included with that, otherwise your home contents insurance, credit card, bank account, trade union membership, or professional society might provide cover.

Call them and tell them that you would like to make a personal injury claim. They will be able to refer you to solicitors and you won't have to pay anything.

If you don't have legal expenses insurance then you will have to agree to a % of your damages being taken if you win. That is a relatively recent development but is legit.

As to whether you have a claim or not, anything on here will be speculation. Were you able to identify the vehicle? How fast and close did it go? It won't be a straight forward claim but you might get lucky if the vehicles are fitted with CCTV lots are now.
 
Nowhere. Your horse caused your injury ... the lorry came past and didn’t hit you I think you are going to struggle to satisfy causation tbh.. the argument would be that you should be in full control of your horse which are seen in law as dangerous animals anyway and if you were aware that your horse was spooky why were you leading two... equally if you argue that she isn’t spooky then it was a freak accident that the lorry driver couldn’t have predicted ... it’s a waste of time and will be thrown out.
 
Forget the liability angle. It will be very very difficult to demonstrate that the driver was "at fault". Even when contact is made is that's hard to prove with horses as they're considered unpredictable.

However, check all your insurances to see if you might have personal injury cover? My friend recently tore a finger in what sounds like quite a similar injury and it turned out one of her policies had injury cover which ended up paying for private health care and loss of earnings for the day of the surgery.
 
Its certainly not going to be clear.

For a claim to be successful 3 tests have to be passed.

1. There had to be a duty of care owed.
2. There had to have been a breach in that duty of care.
3. There had to have been a related loss.

In all 3 elements its a bit woolly. If it had been the landowner driving a tractor too fast the duty of care owed would have been clearer, as would have been the breach. But a 3rd party on private premises makes it a bit more tricky. The fact that it was a 'judgement of speed' issue then opens up the discussion whether the horse would have spooked even if the bin lorry had been driving slowly. Also the loss is not very qualtifiable, as its not a major injury.

That doesn't mean a claim wont be successful, but its a woolly one.
 
I think you’d be wasting your time pursuing a claim for compensation. What are you hoping to be compensated for? Have you paid for medical treatment or had to take unpaid leave from work? This happened 3 months ago. If you felt strongly at the time that the driver was at fault you should have made a formal complaint to the council giving all the details of the incident. I don’t think you could reasonably do that now.
 
My friend got attacked by a group of thugs and sustained a cut lip which left a scar and scar tissue.
He managed to get some compensation from some independent body for the injury....which really was injury to his vanity, than loss of physical function!
I photographed his scar, he sent that, along with police incident number and description and got a check in the post aroind 1500 quid.

If youre going to have longterm reduced use of your thumb due to this, maybe there is a way to claim compensation, but im not sure that going down the liability route is the way to go.
Do you have horse liability insurance? Is it possible to get personal injury cover with that too?
 
PurBee said:
My friend got attacked by a group of thugs and sustained a cut lip which left a scar and scar tissue.
He managed to get some compensation from some independent body for the injury....which really was injury to his vanity, than loss of physical function!
I photographed his scar, he sent that, along with police incident number and description and got a check in the post aroind 1500 quid.

If youre going to have longterm reduced use of your thumb due to this, maybe there is a way to claim compensation, but im not sure that going down the liability route is the way to go.
Do you have horse liability insurance? Is it possible to get personal injury cover with that too?
Click to expand...

Re your friend who was attacked, I suspect that will have been a bit different, as would have been covered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
 
I wouldnt think it worth persuing a claim. It was an accident and accidents happen, especially around horses. I doubt the bin lorry was doing over the speed limit, he didnt hit you, you were leading 2 horses. I dont know how it was more the lorry drivers fault than yours.
 
Spotty Pony, have you had physiotherapy? If not, can you ask your GP for a referral (or go private, if you are in a position to do that)? Hands are tricky things when they go wrong and physio can really help improve outcomes.
 
Thanks for all of the replies. I haven’t had physio but will look into it. I contacted the driver the day after it happened with the date and time it happened. I didn’t receive a reply. It wasn’t on a public right of way, it was on a private driveway and the horses are usually fine to lead in together. I want to try and claim (was thinking more no win no fee route though) though because yes it has affected my ability to ride to my best so therefore has affected my work. I also struggled when texting with it, particularly when it’s cold. I took the course of painkillers for it and will probably make an appointment again soon to get it relooked at. There is a chance it may be permanently like this now and I will have to live with that for the rest of my life. I know there is always a risk with horses of accidents but I was very unlucky here I feel and I did ask them to wait and they didn’t they just said they couldn’t stop!
 
It was an accident, the fact it effects you to text is a fairly minor issue surely? And if you’re a rider by living you’re probably going to have to get used to riding when in a bit of discomfort due to horse related injuries sometimes.
 
FWIW I do think the driver is at fault, on a narrow driveway, with livestock and not following the direction of the handler, however...

I personally would not bother with this claim. I am not sure you will get much for a sore thumb, and I would be concerned that the bin collection team would want bins at the end of the driveway from now on. Taking something to court will take a toll on you, even if you win, plus 2 horses with an insecure gate will likely be taken as you being partly at fault.

For the future, I would not lead 2 on the driveway on bin collection day, or at any time when the gate is insecure. It is good practice to have gaes closed in any case when handling horses, especially if he horse is wearing a halter as opposed to a bit/headstall/long lead. If I were very worried about the bin collection operatives, I would either not lead horses when they are due, or I would take the bin to the end of the driveway. so they do not have to enter the property.

Rather than going to court, if you can prove material losses in income, I would simply write to them and ask for the losses to be covered. You may find this is easier than court and more effective.
 
The best course of action would be to consult a 'no win, no fee' solicitor. Tehyw ill soon tell you how much of a chance you have of a successful claim. They won't start a claim unless they think there is a very good chance of success.
 
The thumb provides our "opposing force". It's usefulness to us should not be under-estimated. It does a much more complicated job than any of our fingers do.
 
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Please talk to a professional. If you are not a BHS member and do not have legal insurance through the house or anything else, talk to a local law firm specialising in personal injury - they should give you a few minutes for free to tell you if you have a case. Someone has cited a law firm in a link above, and you could consult https://www.horsesolicitor.co.uk/site/about/about-us/ . Social media is no substitute for professional advice in my view.
 
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If there is no hatcam/dashcam/CCTV you may struggle, but a solicitor will be able to advise (probably for free) based on initial information as to whether they think you have a case or not.

I guess you didn't get a reply to your complaint because doing so could be seen as admitting liability, or acknowledging the facts as you state happened.
 
I think its worth contacting a personal injury specialist for advice. Hopefully a few minutes would be free of charge. I don't think the lorry driver will admit to speeding though so I am not sure where you could go with this.
 
Darbs said:
Its certainly not going to be clear.

For a claim to be successful 3 tests have to be passed.

1. There had to be a duty of care owed.
2. There had to have been a breach in that duty of care.
3. There had to have been a related loss.

In all 3 elements its a bit woolly. If it had been the landowner driving a tractor too fast the duty of care owed would have been clearer, as would have been the breach. But a 3rd party on private premises makes it a bit more tricky. The fact that it was a 'judgement of speed' issue then opens up the discussion whether the horse would have spooked even if the bin lorry had been driving slowly. Also the loss is not very qualtifiable, as its not a major injury.

That doesn't mean a claim wont be successful, but its a woolly one.
Click to expand...

It isn't woolly in respect of 1 and 3 at all. There is always a duty of care owed by a driver to pedestrians. And if this isn't a quantifiable loss how do you think other personal injury claims succeed? PI claims are quantified on the basis of a medical report the JCG and caselaw.

Have you looked at the JCG section on thumb injuries? They aren't generally minor, if she's having difficulty riding and texting a couple of months post accident that's a claim that exceeds the small claims track, and if permanent and causes difficulty at work could even be multi-track.

OP get proper legal advice.
 
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