Are contracts worth the paper they are written on?

I would recommend getting a soliceter to do it to cover all areas i would think there is a lot to cover ie because animal invlolved a clause such as if the animal is poorly the looanee still pays the money back to you and cant dispute it a month down the line, or just simply return animal after four weeks easier get it in black and white now with witnesses and have a directdebit/standing order or postdated cheques made out
 
I honestly dont know, it would be a difficul one to prove in a court case who had signed what etc.

The BHS has a free downloadable sample agreement which you just down load and add your horses names/ addresses etc into it. print if off and get it signed by an independent witness... ie livery yard owner.

I have had my ponies and my trust abused whilst being on loan and I had a good loan agreement but I was able to just collect my ponies and walk away with them so not too much harm done but there are some shocking tales out there and I was one of the lucky owners that walked away with her ponies intact!
I have also seen some shocking loan agreements which have been drawn up by owners and loanees themselves which are not worth the paper they are written on, signed or not signed.

Be careful!
;);)
 
A contract is formed when min of two parties agree to both give consideration, usually money from one and goods/service from the other.

Loan agreements are contracts, whether written down or not. Both parties are providing consideration.

However, most do not allow for 'what happens if something goes wrong' (there has to be a right to remedy, unless the issue goes to the heart of the contract, i.e. is so bad the contract is broken).

Even if a contract does allow for right to remedy, etc., given the values involved and the nature of the parties (and I know, that's a huge generalization!), if something does go wrong, the wronged party usually doesn't go after the other one due to cost/time/effort.
 
I use the BHS loan agreement and adapt it to what i feel is suitable to the horse going on loan.
When i brought my first horse (many moons ago) i paid in installments and had an agreement drawn up by a solicitor then all of a sudden the previous owner decided she wanted the rest of the money within 5 days or the horse would be taken back as i had broken my side of the contract, because the day i was due to pay that months installment fell on a week day and i would not see her till the weekend, basically i know she had got a higher offer for the horse, so i had to borrow the money from family and pay it all off.
Lots more to the story but not relevant here
So in that instant no not worth the paper or solicitors money
 
It was worth the paper to the owner. Unfortunately you breached the payment term, which would go to the heart of the contract.

I write contracts for a living. One has to get all eventualities into them - we work on the Big Red Bus Syndrome, i.e. if the parties who make the agreement get run over, will the words in the contract show exactly what we agreed with no ambiguities.
 
MrsMozart said:
A contract is formed when min of two parties agree to both give consideration, usually money from one and goods/service from the other.

Loan agreements are contracts, whether written down or not. Both parties are providing consideration.

However, most do not allow for 'what happens if something goes wrong' (there has to be a right to remedy, unless the issue goes to the heart of the contract, i.e. is so bad the contract is broken).

Even if a contract does allow for right to remedy, etc., given the values involved and the nature of the parties (and I know, that's a huge generalization!), if something does go wrong, the wronged party usually doesn't go after the other one due to cost/time/effort.
Click to expand...



lost me there, English please............ however the BHS contract extremly detailed and WILL stand up in court if needed/
In an ideal world any contract should count even a verbal one but this is not an ideal world and they most certainly dont! Most contracts drawn up on a bit of paper which a few sentences are really not worth anything at all. As in an above post for just a few pounds get it checked by a solicitor if you are going to write your own, it could save you a lot of heartache/ upset in the future! ;)
 
I agree i would of been 2 or 3 days late paying but at the end of the day this woman i had known all my life, and horse was still at her yard, and i done all her horses every evening so really waiting 2 days for the money to be given to her was not really that bad, but yes i had as such broken the contract. But as i say i know another woman had offered to buy the horse for a lot more that i was buying her for. Luckily family had the money and i took the next day off work and promptly took all of money to her, moved my horse to another yard and told her to do her own horses in the evenings.
At the end of the day i was lucky and came out of it all the better
 
No. Had a bad experience. Pony returned in a bad state. Vets don't want to get involved and it is very difficult to prove anything!! Would have cost a fortune to take it to Court!!

Don't know anyone who has pursued such a case.

By all means do a Contract - but don't have any expectations. There are good and bad loanees etc. out there - the bad won't take any notice of a contract unfortunately!!
 
juliag said:
lost me there, English please............ however the BHS contract extremly detailed and WILL stand up in court if needed/
In an ideal world any contract should count even a verbal one but this is not an ideal world and they most certainly dont! Most contracts drawn up on a bit of paper which a few sentences are really not worth anything at all. As in an above post for just a few pounds get it checked by a solicitor if you are going to write your own, it could save you a lot of heartache/ upset in the future! ;)
Click to expand...

actully the BHS agreement has never been passed through a solictor so may well NOT stand up in court.
 
I had a problem with loaning as seen in other thread. We had a contract. I thought it covered everything but had we had to rely on it it would have not been clear. I agreed to pay for vet bills relating to an old injury which should not have amounted to much as rest being the treatment but the pony bacame very ill and the loaner's vet tried to relate everything to the old injury-daily call outs for a month! I in the end having disagreed with all their vet had said, was about to send mine in when the loaner stopped angling to send the pony back (with the bill!) and decided to keep her. I have learned that an agreement means very little if there is disagreement about how a horse should be treated when it is ill. Not evryone agrees what is for the best!
 
Actually had it passed through by my solicitor who couldnt add anything to it and said it absolutley would stand up in court, it took in every eventuality. As I said my ponies are precious to me and I was taking no chances! :)
I loaned out an ex FEI event pony together with his elderly best friend JA jumping pony who needed a quiet life. Both ponies still worth a lot of money as comp ponies but I wanted them to go to a HACKING home together. This was offered by some 'FRIENDS' of ours.
The Father of the children loaning (very wealthy buisness man) also had the agreement checked before he agreed to sign , which is also a good idea for any loanee so you both understand what you are taking on.
The JA was never really ridden by loanees as she suffered slight unsoundness due to old age but the ex FEI pony was without my permission or knowledge lent out to friends of theirs. He did junior pony club camp, then the following week was lent to someone else to do senior camp where the girl an inexperienced rider was put in the 'top' group purely because of the pony she was on. He was lent out for shows, one day events, and I only found this out when I found him warming up at a hunter trials for the open class which I had pulled my daughter out of because it was too big!!!
Needless to say I stopped him from competing and brought him home the following day. The Father was furious to say the least and checked and double checked the contract but I had him over the barrel, out of 10 clauses he had broken 5 of them! Since then I have spoken to the parent of the girl who I stopped at the hunter trials who went on to tell me he was fab, they would like to buy him but she did ha ve concerns that several times she went to collect him for an event and he had shoes missing etc, upon pointing this out to the loanees she was told, oh he will be fine dont worry!
I have left out any names etc as many girls who had ridden him may well be on here but needless to say my pony is now very well known in the Blackmore and Sparkford vale pony club!!!
 
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