Being sued.....

L

L&M

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 March 2008
Messages
6,378
Location
up a hill
Visit site
An interesting 'add on' to the thread about signing a disclaimer when trying a horse that has a known vice.....

Family friends of ours are selling a pony that is not a novice ride. They had somone come and try her and the pony bucked the person off, who now is claiming that they have broken their collar bone and demanding compensation.

They have called me for advice so have recommended the BHS legal helpline or the CAB.

I am assuming they stated the pony wasn't a novice ride in the ad, and it sounds like the person trying the pony had over estimated their abilities, but as I wasn't present at the veiwing cannot comment on exactly what/how it happened.

Any ideas/advice that I can pass onto my friend?
 
1. Hope they have a printed copy of the advert.
2. Call BHS legal line if members.
3. Hope there might be an independant witness to the fall?
4. Inform their insurance company, if not horse, then liability insurance (please tell me they have some form of insurance, even if its just basic BHS membership?)

Good luck to your friend
 
**bleeping work internet dropping**

5. Make sure friend does not speak to the 'faller' on the phone, all conversation now needs to be in writing. Do not respond to the caller, refer her communications on to friends insurer (tho take copies)
6. No liability should be given by your friend.
 
Last edited:
Sidney said:
An interesting 'add on' to the thread about signing a disclaimer when trying a horse that has a known vice.....
Click to expand...

Just to say that a disclaimer wouldn't be worth the paper it's written on; you cannot exclude liability for death or personal injury.
 
she will be insured, Id let them sort it. have a copy of the advert, any correspondence that was in writing(email or text, print off screen shots of text). and tell her to put in writing her version of events, what was said when. what she said about her horse and what the person said. she needs to do that now before she forgets bits. it will be up to the insurance. if it goes to court it will be one word against the other with the evidence she has and will be up to the judge (who can go either way). if she is made to pay herself they will likely set up an affordable monthly cost rather than ask her for it all. her insurance or BHS membership should sort it.
 
A point to consider is - could the owners be found to be negligent in any way?

The person came to try the horse of their own free will with the understanding that it was (a) a horse and there is always a risk with a horse (b) a horse decribed as not a novice ride. No negligence here.

I presume the owner rode the horse prior to the buyer getting on and the buyer had ample time to assess the horse. Maybe the buyer was not up to riding the horse but that is down to her. Again no negligence here.

In an ideal world rider would have her own personal accident insurance and owner would be a member of BHS at the very least.
 
Yes - my friends daughter rode the pony first and allegedly it went fine for her. From the sound of it the lady trying the pony became un-balanced as she asked for canter and tipped up its neck, which upset the pony hence it bucked her off.

As I said this is what I have been told and didn't see what happened...
 
I suspect the faller has damaged pride as much as physical damage and are bandying about empty threats. Hopefully by the time they get to take legal advice and do it properly, their adviser will let them know about the precedent of that lady who the courts advised must have known about and accepted the risks. In the sellers place I would just sit tight and do nothing - there is nothing the buyers can do in law, they are just making a lot of noise and hot air.
 
The other thing that occurred to me is that she is trying to pull a fast one and make a quick buck.

Call me cynical but our current 'compenastion culture' does encourage this...
 
I do hope she has cover because then she can hand it over to the insurer they will ( probably ) refuse to pay and that should be that unless the injured person has the money to pursue it or can get a no win no fee type lawyer to do it.
 
To be honest if the faller has private health cover I'm not surprised. I had an accident at work which was just that, an accident, no ones fault just unlucky that the leadrope smashed my finger to pieces. I had private health so used it. Later in the post I got a letter that pretty much forces you into blaming and suing someone. Only in tiny print is a box to tick to say nobody was at fault. So I can see where this may have come from. The letter certainly made me think twice!
 
A friend of mine runs a quad biking center and a couple of years ago he was selling off a reverse steer quad (turn the handle bars right to go left and vice versa). A woman arrived with her daughter to try the quad and after a demonstration the girl had a go and promptly crashed it and tipped it over. The mother then decided that she wanted compensation for the daughter's injury - my friend gave them his insurance details and the insurance company told them that to obtain compensation they would have to go to court. It all went very quiet after that. Hopefully the same thing will happen in your friend's case, but it is something that they have to let the insurance company and the lawyers argue over. From now on in they should try to avoid contacting these people - if they get in contact they should just give them their lawyer's postal address and tell them that that is the only way that they will correspond with them.
 
DabDab said:
A friend of mine runs a quad biking center and a couple of years ago he was selling off a reverse steer quad (turn the handle bars right to go left and vice versa). A woman arrived with her daughter to try the quad and after a demonstration the girl had a go and promptly crashed it and tipped it over. The mother then decided that she wanted compensation for the daughter's injury - my friend gave them his insurance details and the insurance company told them that to obtain compensation they would have to go to court. It all went very quiet after that. Hopefully the same thing will happen in your friend's case, but it is something that they have to let the insurance company and the lawyers argue over. From now on in they should try to avoid contacting these people - if they get in contact they should just give them their lawyer's postal address and tell them that that is the only way that they will correspond with them.
Click to expand...

If they are insured they will just have to refer them to their insurer they will have no need of a lawyer of their own.
 
Goldenstar said:
If they are insured they will just have to refer them to their insurer they will have no need of a lawyer of their own.
Click to expand...

I think its a matter of choice. When a bus ran into my car and broke my car and my sternum, I used my own lawyer rather than the insurance company's.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top