Do I need to give livery notice if my horse was PTS

I am so very sorry to hear of your sudden loss, it is hard enough when you know what is coming. IMO I think your yard owner is being very harsh and at a time like this, it should be the last thing that you should have to worry about, as you have said there is no contract between you, so you owe them nothing. I hope that they can sleep at night as they do not seem to have an ounce of feelings, Take care x
 
Good lord, even if you did have a 30 day notice contract, what sort of YO would implement it under these circumstances! We have a number of ancient old retired horses living on my farm and at some point or another, they die. My liveries all have a contract with notice period written into it, but there is no way it would even cross my mind to say to those people who have lost their horse that they have to pay for the next 30 days. Sometimes I do wonder about some members of the human species.
 
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Wow! Talk about insensitive! When a livery had her horse PTS here I actually REFUNDED the livery she had already paid for that month. I think your YO is just awful. However, I think that legally, she has the right to ask for the month's notice if you pay monthly.
 
sorry for your loss.
walk away, the YO has nothing to make you pay if they haven't bothered with a contract and you should not have to anyway. however, spoken words can sometimes be used as legally binding in some cases
when my friends horse died at my old yard she only paid what she owed and the YO even kept the stable empty until the lady was ready to see a new horse in it ( as she still visited often)
 
Wagtail said:
Wow! Talk about insensitive! When a livery had her horse PTS here I actually REFUNDED the livery she had already paid for that month.
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Well done Wagtail - your liveries are very lucky. Not quite the same but when my Mum passed away her care home refunded the care fees from the day she passed. We were surprised but their thoughtfulness was much appreciated.
 
Sorry for your loss :( I had a horse pts unexpectedly when I had just paid a months livery. Next day YO gave me a condolences card and inside was a cheque for the livery back. I was not expecting it and it was a lovely gesture. Your YO is being very thoughtless.
 
I'm not easily shocked but what a heartless cow and I would tell her so in no uncertain terms. After what your going through, and many on here have experienced such grief, to have the audacity to ask for money? Ooooh I'm angry for you!
I'm so sorry for the loss of your horse x
 
Shocking! No wonder the yard has vacant stables. No i would not expect a livery to pay a months notice in this circumstance. I have known a yard owner who gave a livery two months grace to decide if she wanted to purchase another horse, and they kept her stable rent free whilst they had a waiting list!

I assume the yard doesn't want repeat business if you decide to get another horse in the future.
 
Oh you poor thing, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. We're all here for you if you need us, sending massive hugs your way.
I think your YO is completely heartless, what an awful thing to say. If there's no contract, then just quietly move your things out and leave x
 
I'm so angry on your behalf....

One, you are going through a terrible time, and I am so sad for your loss. Two, you have no contract -YARD OWNER'S FAULT. Three, you are being asked to pay money you therefore DO NOT OWE in a time of dreadful upset.

I would quite simply get your gear (which in itself will be tough), and leave. Tell the YO that you have been to the Citizens Advice Bureau, and as there is no contract they can stuff their money. (or similar).

Sending you huge *hugs* xx
 
There is a verbal contract and an implied one by you paying the livery every month, the fact it isnt in writing doesnt make it not a contract. However........


.......even if it was in writing and written in blood, you would have to be the ice queen from hell to try to enforce it in such circumstances.

I think I would be tempted to say to her that she might want to reconsider her action and give it some further thought, since deciding to leave is you terminating the contract, you have not decided to leave , your horse has died.

Then I would suggest she asks around some other livery owners and clients and see what they think of her approach to this scenario.....

If she still wants to enforce it after that, then she's welcome to, you will be equally free to let the forums and local papers know!
 
Assuming no contracts are used for any of the liveries, the yard owner may just want to shut up. Is HMRC and the local authority aware of the business. Can of worms could open up for the yard owner if she is not totally above board in her business dealings in a situation like this.

A card and a few flowers left in your box would have been more appropriate.
 
Probably not the kindest thing to do - but how many people on here, expressing outrage can afford to lose about £200 income without any notice.

It is difficult, but personally I would pay the months livery - legally you owe it, and although this is a very tough and sad time in your life, you still owe bills. I am sure no-one on here wouldn't pay the vet for performing the PTS, so why wouldn't you pay for his/her livery for the last month?
 
EllenJay it's not the last month that's being questioned, the YO is asking for the coming month to be paid as 'notice'. At least that's my understanding of it, please correct me if I'm wrong OP!
Personally I think it's absolutely disgusting to demand notice pay when your horse has died, I'd take my things and go. Sorry for your loss.
 
EllenJay said:
Probably not the kindest thing to do - but how many people on here, expressing outrage can afford to lose about £200 income without any notice.

It is difficult, but personally I would pay the months livery - legally you owe it, and although this is a very tough and sad time in your life, you still owe bills. I am sure no-one on here wouldn't pay the vet for performing the PTS, so why wouldn't you pay for his/her livery for the last month?
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It appears there is no written contract, as long as all livery dues are paid up to the date of the passing of the horse, why should the client pay for an empty box under these circumstances. Your comment about not paying a vet is not relevant to the subject being discussed.

If the livery for the past month has not been paid and the facilities used prior to the loss of the horse, then, yes, there are monies outstanding. My understanding of the original question is, the yard owner has requested a months livery for the use of facilities that are no longer needed due to the passing of the horse.
 
Oh hun what a dreadfully sad time for you and as said previously we are all here for you.
With regards to YO words fail me of lack of compassion shown . just fail me. personally i wouldnt pay but would prefer to give money to a charity. But big big hugs to you x x x
 
AdorableAlice said:
It appears there is no written contract, as long as all livery dues are paid up to the date of the passing of the horse, why should the client pay for an empty box under these circumstances. Your comment about not paying a vet is not relevant to the subject being discussed.

If the livery for the past month has not been paid and the facilities used prior to the loss of the horse, then, yes, there are monies outstanding. My understanding of the original question is, the yard owner has requested a months livery for the use of facilities that are no longer needed due to the passing of the horse.
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When you leave a yard voluntary then you have to give a months notice - legally regardless of written contract (if you pay monthly)

Of course my comment about the vet is relevant - it is showing that regardless of your feelings you still have to pay your way.

As I said at the beginning of my post - not the kindest thing - but I completely understand why the YO is asking
 
So sorry for your loss.

Even if you had a contract, I think it would take a very hard hearted person to enforce the contract in this case :(

As there is no contract just leave and put it down to experience
 
I can't believe someone could be so hard and unsympathetic.
You have no written contract so legally you don't have to give a month's notice.
I'd collect your things and leave.
 
You do not have a contract which states a given notice therefore you are paying for the services of the yard. The services of the yard have ceased on the day you stopped using them therefore there is no legal entitlement for the yard owner to demand money from you for services you have not used. what a horrible person!
 
EllenJay said:
When you leave a yard voluntary then you have to give a months notice - legally regardless of written contract (if you pay monthly)

Of course my comment about the vet is relevant - it is showing that regardless of your feelings you still have to pay your way.

As I said at the beginning of my post - not the kindest thing - but I completely understand why the YO is asking
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If a yard is struggling that much that losing one month's livery would put it on its knees i'd be seriously concerned. Its about having a bit of compassion for another human being going through a bad time. It's also about good business, and good customer relations. It only takes one bad comment to put another potential livery off a yard, if you get a reputation for being a heartless b*tch it's not exactly going to reap in future liveries to fill that horse's stable. Anyone with a bit on sense would try to keep the livery who lost the horse on side; do something like waive the notice period, give the owner at least a month's grace to decide if they want another horse there on livery then discuss charging half rent til a new horse was found, if the livery is happy to pay it. Personally i'd rather keep an old long serving paying customer happy and here even longer than lose her, risk gaining a bad reputation and having no livery (or worse - an awful livery) to fill their space.
 
When I read the OP I thought oh I've never thought about that before.

And then I realised that I hadn't because I don't think any normal YO would be so callous as to request payment after such a loss unless the stable was to be kept for the owner.
 
Auslander said:
Wow! That's pretty hard hearted - partic within 24 hours of the horses death! I had a standard contract at my fIrst yard, which stated that on the death of the horse, the contract would be ended immediately, with no notice period required
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Same contract at mine - 30 days notice requested if you leave but it specifies that the notice period isn't required if your horse dies!

Surely nobody normal would expect otherwise?
 
We had a horse pts at the yard last year - I think it fell ill about the second day on the yard, and managed to last about 4-5 weeks before being pts. On the day of pts, the YO actually gave the owner her final bill!! I thought it was very insensitive - she could have put it in the post, or waited until the owner came back to get her stuff. Maybe the YO thought she wouldn't get the money once the horse was gone, particularly as the lady was only new on the yard, I don't know.

I think she also does not give refunds, so if your horse dies/pts mid month, then she doesn't refund the balance of the livery - we pay one month in advance.
 
AdorableAlice said:
I am so sorry for your loss, try to remember the good days and treasure your memories.

With no contract you are not under any obligation to the yard owner, and quite frankly, his/her behaviour is shocking.

Assuming you have no intention of using the yard again, I would just quietly collect your belongings and put the whole thing behind you. If you start again find a different yard.
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This basically......... as a YO myself I'm shocked and appalled by this. Most YO's I would have thought to have shown at least some compassion. We have lost a livery's horse here in days gone by (had to be PTS and she decided to take it away to have it done), and TBH a months notice was the last thing we were thinking about at the time, our concern was for her - and to be a sounding board and support her in whatever way we could as she was having to make difficult and heart-wrenching decisions. Plus we were losing a member of our horsey "family" from our yard. It was awful for everyone. But money was the last thing we would have burdened her with :(

Am so so sorry OP you've had to go through this. The last thing you need at a difficult time.

I do extend condolences (and hugs). Please don't think all YO's are like this, we are not. Some of us DO care.

I do hope that, in time, you do feel able to find another equine soul-mate. Give it time, allow yourself to grieve, and then, when the time is right, trust the Powers That Be to bring along another friend for you; horses have a way of finding the person they want to be with.
 
We gave notice verbally to the YO once we made the decision to have our horses pts. We had a monthly contract, and he wouldn't take a months money...it took a week to face going back to clear out everything and it was only that week we were charged for. We had rubber matting which took a time to scrub up and dry. It's heart wrenching returning to an empty stable with the familiar smells ...any decent YO would be there to help and support you through this difficult time, but, it is her business. If she could let your stable in a week or so, then she should return any monies paid. It's all so cruel for her to be concentrating on this right now. Maybe you would have offered to pay the next months livery anyway, but undoubtedly you won't want to now. Clear your things and go with your heart.
 
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