Ever been sued by someone who fell off your horse?

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birchave0

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As title really, a friend is in a similar position. Another friend fell off the horse in question whilst jumping, this happened 3/4 years ago. Nothing was said at the time, or since, now out of the blue a letter arrived from a solicitor.
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They are using the "Animal act 1971" however as this person was riding the horse at the time I'm not sure how it applies??? The horse did nothing other than jump and clear it by a foot or so. The rider fell off, the horse was not at fault.

They are also banging on about a badly fitting saddle, can't understand this as the saddle in question was purchased brand new and fitted by a saddle fitter
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Is this just a case of someone trying it on???
Help and advice please
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I think they are trying it on if they have taken this long to take any action. Also they may be relying on the 'strict liability' of owners for horses actions (ie taking all reasonable steps doesnt stop you being liable) which was indicated by a notorious court case a few years back when a horse escaped from a field and a car driver crashed into it and was badly hurt (Mirvhedy or similar name);, and they may be trying to get a case established before the government legislates to limit that liability as they were certainly considering doing recently.

If the facts are as you describe I would get a friendly local solicitor to send them a letter refuting the claim. If they have BHS gold cover ring the legal helpline, and even some car and home insurance legal add on cover would help here.
 
Get actual real legal advice, not second hand off a forum from people who don't know the full facts. That means, if she's in the BHS or another body that has legal advice as part of the membership, ring that number now. If the horse is insured she might also have a legal advice line as part of her cover there. You often get legal help lines as part of your household insurance that are there for any issue. If none of these apply, she needs to go and see a solicitor.
 
i wouldnt worry, she would have got on at her own risk anyway. i assume a gun was not held at her head and she was "made" to get on the horse!
also if it got as far as court, im sure your saddler will vouch for you that the saddle was fine.
not a leg to stand on personally! she is probably a bit skint and needs a quick few quid!
 
Agree with the posters who said ring the BHS Helpline or see a solicitor. Also if she has home insurance that may include liability cover for this, hard to know without seeing the policy.

Whether this woman has a legitimate claim or not your friend cannot afford to be lax about it. Compensation claims, sadly, seem to be the latest money spinner and lots of people make a good living out of them. So your friend needs to ensure she has proper legal advice and representation to defend herself.
 
thanks guys, the horse in question was sold a couple of years ago so no insurance cover there. I was present when it happened, in fact I then got on the horse afterwards dispite the fact that I had never riddden it before.

It was a simple accident, the horse was for sale and the idea was to take it to an event and do the clear round so the horse could have a pop over a course of fences. The rider fell off in the practice area over the practice fence, the horse jumped big, nothing else. The "friend" offered to ride the horse informing the owner that she was more than happy to.

It's a sad day when something like this happens, when I think about the amount of times I've fell off over the years, but that's horses for you.
 
I don't think the person would have a leg to stand on to be honest but I would get proper legal advice as stated.

There was a similar case fairly recently I recall where a lady fell off a horse jumping a xc fence when in a riding school lesson. I think she caught her hat on a low hanging branch or something. She tried to sue the instructor/riding school owner for her injuries and I think basically the judge threw the case out of court.

here are some details of it

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6563235.stm
 
I dont see how this person would have a leg to stand on.
They woudl have to prove negligence. they woudl have to prove the saddle didnt fit, and onlt a qualified saddlier coudl make that report surely. Also, if they knew the saddle didint fit why did they get on the horse?

I would be pretty naffed off if a supposed friend tried to sue me, years after a supposed incident.

I think that the person being sued needs to get legal advice just for peice of mind. However i would not admit anything.
 
Ok I'm legally qualified and I deal with cases like this. Your friend MUST forward a copy of the letter to the company who insured her or her horse at the time of the accident. She MUST do this immediately as there are consequences if she fails to do so.

From there on she should let her insurers handle the matter as that is what they were there for.

If your friend did not have public liability insurance at the time of the accident then this could prove an expensive lesson!

If the horse wasn't insured at the time then she should urgently look at all other insurance policies and membership organisations (unions, BHS, riding clubs, etc) and see whether she has any legal cover, she should contact them and ask their advice. If she still cannot access free legal advice then I suggest she gets the phone book out and looks for a local law centre. Claims under the animals act are not straight forward and if there is injury involved too then she really needs the help of a lawyer.
 
Yes they cover you for incident arising during the period of the insurance.

Although if you don't notify them of a potential claim at the time of the incident you can be in difficulty.

All this sort of thing depends a lot on the circumstances and the terms of your policy so that is why it is impossible to advise in general terms on a forum. It is vitally important to read your policy booklet when you take out your insurance and to be sure you know your obligations if you are going to avoid being caught out in a loophole. Late notification of an accident can lead to indemnity under the policy being refused.
 
In a liability claim, the claimant has several years (something like 3?? I can't remember exactly) to put a claim in against you so it wouldn't matter whether you were insured with that company now. If you were insured with them at the time of the incident then the insurer would be liable to settle a succesful claim.
 
Yes limitation for Personal Injury Claims is three years, for non-PI claims six years.

However that only relates to the time the claimant has to bring his/her claim. If you do not notify your insurance company of a potential claim immediately you risk them refusing indemnity (ie refusing to deal with the claim or make any payments under the policy) due to late notification as you have breached the terms of your contract with them.
 
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