being sued by someone who came to look at a horse for sale

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ledson

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i had had my mare for 14 months before i sold her and never had a problem with her i sold her to a nice gentleman who after 4 months wanted to go and work abroad so i decided to buy her back and resell her then i knew were she was going while having her back i insured her but the insurance doesnt cover you for the first 14 days in which time somebody came down to look at her but on there second visit they came off the horse but the rider insisted on rideing her without her instructer and when it was nearly dark all the horse did was spook to one side and the girl lost her balance and slipped off in the letter i have recieved 5 months later there are so mant lies about the horse but each time she came there was many people there off the livery yard who saw her with the horse in and out the stable does she have grounds to sue?
 
I would think that given as she chose to get on an unknown horse without her instructor present she made the decision to take that risk. I wouldn't think that she would have grounds to sue you assuming that is you are a private seller.
 
Was the girl injured when she came off? I should think if you have witnesses to the incident, they don't really have a good case against you. I would ring your insurance company and ask their advice anyway.

have you managed to sell the mare in the meantime?
 
GRRrr can't help I am sorry to say but this makes me so angry!! Her decision to get on the horse etc. Why can't people take responsibilty for their own actions? I really hope she gets nowhere with this stupid claim!!

A friend of mine sold a horse (unfortunetly she owns a small yard) It was her horse and was 100% in everyway. The purchaser came back 5+ months later to say the horse was a looney etc and wanted her money back + compensation. My friend declined (as would most of us) and it went to court. We all thought the buyer didn't have a leg to stand on etc but she won!! It cost my friend over £27,000 to defend the claim etc. SOOOO WRONG!
 
iam a private seller i have since sold the mare i still see her and know the new owner has ridden her 5 days a week since november with no problems the girl who is trying to sue has even told the solicitor that the advert stated she was bombproof but i managed to get a copy of the advert from the company she was advertised with which states she needed schooling and havent been ridden for a couple of months so i would of thought if she got on it was at her own risk?
 
trying it on by the sounds of it, luckily you have lots of evidence and witnesses to say otherwise so I would be fairly firm!

Both my OH and I fell of horses when we were looking for our first horse, we were embarrassed that we were rubbish riders in front of the owners, wouldnt have dreamed of suing even if we had hurt ourselves and even tho the horses not suitable. We decided to get on after all!
 
you are insured in the first 14 days for that you are NOT insured for illness of the horses which is to cover the insurance companys against things like strangles.
 
I have also always believed that it is only the vets part of your insurance that is not insured for the first 14 days, I would ring up your insurance company and check.
When I try a new horse I am always aware that something could go wrong and unless it was a totall looney and the seller hid the fact I would never try to sue the owner.
 
Someone once threatened to sue me but they were just trying to get money out of me with no reason. Just document everything, get other people on the yard to write down their account of the accident and the times surrounding it. Unless the girl was seriously injured then i can't imagine they will go through lengthy as costly process of a law suit
 
thank you for all your replies the girl broke her collar bone as she landed on her side she even said it wasnt the horses fault she lost her balance
 
She broke her collarbone? I think that throws a slightly different light on things. I was assuming light bruising, etc, but a broken bone is rather more than just a tip off the other side. You also said this was the second visit by these people, so presumably the horse had seemed fairly suitable the first time they visited.

It would have been wise to have phoned your insurance company five months ago when this accident actually happened - presumably since you don't own the mare any more, the insurance policy that was in place at the time has now been cancelled. I think you need to phone them anyway.
 
Are you a member of the BHS? You can get legal advice from them and have some cover for liability. I would suggest calling your insurance any way as they will be able to tell you if you were covered or not, although there is usually a clause that you have to make a claim or notify within so many days of the incident.
 
I hope you can get this sorted, horse riding is a dangerous sport and everyone should be aware of this when they get on, especially if it is a strange horse. I fell off one I was trying out and broke my nose, and broke and dislocated my finger, the thought of suing never crossed my mind - as far as I was concerned the accident was down to my cr*p riding.
 
On pet/horse insurances, it is only for illness that the 14 day exclusion applies. Everything else is covered from the start of your insurance

My advice is to ring them up immediately and explain the situation. They will deal with the rest - thats what you paid your premiums for

Good luck x
 
It will cost her nothing to sue you, on a no win no fee basis. So she has nothing to lose and I doubt very much that she will stop. Consult the insurer who covered the horse at the time immediately. You can also check your house insurance, I am covered on mine for that kind of situation. If you are a member of BE. BS or BD or BHS then you are also covered by them.

You aren't going to lose any money yourself but it will be a pain to deal with and I feel for you. Please don't hope this will go away, get the insurers involved on Monday.
 
If you are being sued, please do not discuss on an open forum, as it may well lead toyou actually losing a case you should win without problems.
Good Luck
 
You should contact your insurance company and your solicitor, and not take advice from people who don't know the facts on a forum. There are too many variables, and taking ill-advised recommendations, or becoming complacent by assuming you don’t need to do anything could jeopardise your case.
Good Luck!
 
As an aside. Does anyone know of a solicitor that would take on a case like this on a no win no fee basis? Compensation claims for injury, and one company that specialises in mis-sold buy to let property are the only ones I know of.
I could have done with a no win solicitor to go after a letting agent for me, but there don't seem to be any, so I'm not sure that he would be able to get that kind of support.
Oh, and I agree, forums aren't the best place to get advice about things like this.
 
I was of the opnion the no win no fee solicitors only take on the cases they are almost 100% sure they will win! Even though they make it sound different in the many adverts.

Dosn't sound like that in this case so I suspect the op should not be too worried, although should ring insurance asap
 
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