hacking incident - am i accountable?

ester said:
brighteyes the OP says in first post her and horse both hi vized :)

hope it all dies down and is sorted op
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Yes high vized to our eye balls - the new girl on the yard has since confessed to thinking I was a bit mental with all the high viz but after what has happened will be buying some before she ventures back out onto the road. So at least we have raised awareness of the importance of high viz!
I took a picture of us in all our gear as soon as I got back to the yard as evidence and have a picture of the road too - not sure i will have time to venture back down for a pic of us both in situ as tonight will mostly be spent packing and freaking out and tomorrow is moving day!!
 
Nothing further to add than what has already been said, however I would like to thank the OP as I have now rang my insurance company (Stoneways) to check that I have PL on my policy - I didn't so have now added it.
 
have just phoned n checked and thankfully i do - also asked them if i wasnt wearing hi vis would i still be covered and apparantly i would which surprised me!
 
I had some idiotic young men pull very close behind me and my mare when we were riding on a road, they started to pip their horn and were laughing. My mare at first took no notice as I was frantically thinking should I trot on or get on the foot path to get out of their way, whilst I was thinking and looking behind me and waving my hand for them to stop I heard a smashing sound.
Turned out my mare had got fed up of them pipping their horn and kicked out their very expensive chavvy light kit, they stopped to look at the damage and I very quickly trotted off up a road I did not plan to ride up but it got me out of the situation as I was very scared of reprecussions. I got home with my mare and checked her all over and there was not a scratch on her, sat in the field in total shock for about 1/2 hour and rang my hubby and told him what had happened and then started to walk home. To my dismay as I walked home they pulled over and started giving me grief about how much money I owed them, thank god my hubby had left home in the car to fetch me and saw the car and two young men shouting at me.
Hubby is quite a big fellow and went mad at them and threatened them back, they said they were going to call the police as my horse had committed a criminal damage to their car :eek:, hubby said dont bother I have already rang the police and they will be interested in why you were driving without due care and attention. They became less lippy and got in their car and drove away, I did ring the police but nothing really happened I was interviewed and they went to see the men. Obviously they denied all knowledge of the pipping of horns etc and said that my mare had just kicked out at their car for no reason, police did tell them well if you were close enough to be kicked then you were too close to the horse and should of given way.
They were given a caution and a telling off :(, and that was it really.
 
Goldenstar said:
As the others have said you ought to just refer it staight to your insurance company and let them deal with it.
You dont have to be negligent to be held responsible for damage your horse has caused.
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This ^^^^

Emilieu said:
Zaminda she works on the other yard!
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Go to the yard and make sure they know she could have caused a serious accident.

zaminda said:
If she works on the other yard, then in court she won't be able to say she didn't know she should slow down. I strongly suggest that you contact your insurance company, then go round and get her details, making sure she has reported it. If you had been in a car, how exactly would she have got round you, as you would have been considerably wider!!
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This ^^^

ladyt25 said:
'Technically' your horse kicked HER car so 'technically' you are liable. However, SHE does not know your horse kicked her car, only you know (or think) that. As far as YOU are concerned this woman drove at you at speed on a road that was too narrow, you signalled for her to reduce your speed as you knew there was little or no room for her to pass. She ignored your signal and, as a result spooked your horse as she passed, your hrse jumped and her car collided with it! :)

There you go, that's what I would be saying! The main point is that you did not admit liability there and then? Tell you insurance company what happened but SHE hit YOU! I would not mention your horse kicked out - you can't actually comfirm that to be honest, you just think that's what happened. In my mindshe hit your horse's legs.

My pony hit a car once as it passed us - he spooked out sideways and hit the door of the car. Driver slowed, saw horse was ok and then just drove off! Guess better for us as that WAS our fault. Pony had red paint on his hocks afterwards!

Let your insurance companies fight it out. They may settle it 50/50 at the end of the day although it's doubtful the damage will actually cost that much.
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Most definitely this ^^^^

TeamChaser said:
Ha - I'm glad Deano left a hoof shaped dent in her door ... may serve to remind her of her stupidity!


I hope you get it all sorted though, I can't see how you can be held as liable when she is so clearly at fault

Let us know how you get on and hope both you and Deano get over it quickly - horrible, scary thing to have happen :(
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Could not have said it better :)
 
Emilieu said:
Yes high vized to our eye balls - the new girl on the yard has since confessed to thinking I was a bit mental with all the high viz but after what has happened will be buying some before she ventures back out onto the road. So at least we have raised awareness of the importance of high viz!
I took a picture of us in all our gear as soon as I got back to the yard as evidence and have a picture of the road too - not sure i will have time to venture back down for a pic of us both in situ as tonight will mostly be spent packing and freaking out and tomorrow is moving day!!
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Teach me to dive in and out just before setting off to work! Excellent move doing the pics as soon as you got back, too :) And a good start. You really cannot overdo the hi-viz and you might have saved a few more lives with this unnerving incident. If you find she has rattled your horse for future roadwork, add that to your statement.
 
Stupid woman :mad: - Glad youre both ok!!

she has a cheek to try and claim from you. She ignored all the highway code principles, all your warnings and any common sense she obviously doesnt have.

If horses werent breakable I would say its a shame she only got a dent! she deserves a tonne of ***** dumped on her drive :D

She should be taking it as a warning and think herself lucky it wasn't worse for all three of you!

Good luck with it im sure it will all work out in your favour!!

Highway code
Hi Viz
Speeding
Ignored your polite signals
Irratic driving without due care and attention
No regard for you or the horse .. just afew things to chuck at her ;)
 
Thank you peter, that's lovely of you :) and ginger yes - very stupid woman. hope for the sake of ny friends who will still be hacking up that road that she has learned to take her time leaving work - late or not!
 
PandorasJar said:
Has this gone anywhere Emilieu?

I hope your and Deanos move went well :)

Pan
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Hello!
No update on this whatsoever - I haven't heard a thing from her or her insurance company. Was thinking I should tell you all but then thought maybe I should leave it another week in case I jinxed it! Was expecting to have to fill in some forms at least detailing what actually happened but... nothing.

Our move went smoothly thank you, Deano settled right away and we have been enjoying exploring the off road hacking :D Thank goodness it doesn't seem to have knocked his confidence at all and he is happy to pass the little traffic we encounter without a fuss.
 
Well, we can only hope that this muppet has learnt her lesson and has decided NOT to persue a claim. However, having not read the entire thread, please forgive me on this - I hope that you fully wrote down everything relating to the incident, including road conditions, weather, witnesses, width of road etc. as well as your signals, high-viz etc. Even if nothing comes of it, if you do all of this, at least you have a copy of it if she decides to try and claim.

I would also speak to BHS legal team who are excellent as they helped me with Boris and his situation (not road related).

Hoping that you and Deano are back to normal now :)

ETA - In addition, you may want to notify the police of this incident (leave out the damage to her vehicle part ;) ) because she was driving dangerously, something which I know they take very seriously where horses are concerned. Hope you got her number and a description of her...
 
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PandorasJar said:
Hopefully it stays that way and she's realised what a muppet she was!

That's great :D
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I know, i'm chuffed. She really didn't seem like she was going to drop it however so i'm not relaxing quite yet!

Hey Mrs B - you are forgiven. I took photos of everything (in which Deano looks bemused and I look comically tragic - was worried about his leg!) including the road, my high viz, the damage etc.

I told the police that evening - only because she told me that she already had which turned out to be a lie! They weren't massively interested I have to say but didn't think she had much a leg to stand on since she had clearly been far too close to us.
 
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