Horse Election

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joburke321

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Hi, we recently encountered an awful accident with a filly being electrocuted due to rotten poles carrying the electricity cables falling onto her. The pole in question was extremely rotten, however the provider, Northern Powergrid has been extremely difficult and unsympathetic to deal with. We have asked to see the maintenance reports for the poles and they are not forthcoming. Has anyone else suffered a similar incident and if so can you offer any help or advice? I stress all landowners to check your poles with your providers to ensure they are safe and well maintained - especially as we go into Autumn/Winter
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/cou...ng-horse-electrocuted-by-fallen-pylon-5296185
 
Hi Jo, I'm sorry for your loss, and I too would be more than devastated.

As far as liability is concerned, they are not denying that they should pay for the horse, from what I understand? I would say that is pretty cut and dried, as their pole fell on your horse. Even more so as they have previously inspected poles on your land and said they needed replacement, then cut the number of poles to be replaced and did not replace this one. This would suggest they knew it was not in good order before it fell.

Obviously, they cannot bring the horse back, so it is a mater of paying compensation.

What is in contention is the amount you think they should pay. Sadly, I believe they would only owe 'market value' of the horse in this case. I don't think they would be liable on every expense you have paid out in bringing this horse up, especially as you have stated in the article that you enjoyed it.

I am unsure if you can claim for trauma, but I would ask a solicitor re that.

I would have a look for similar horses and their value to boost the paper value of the one you lost.

Again, it must be awful and I am sorry. Sorry also that your daughter doesn't feel safe enough to move about your property freely. I would ask for further examination of the remaining poles.

If they don't pay out on market value, plus some for your trauma, then you could submit a FOI request for the reports.
 
Thank you Jo Burke for bringing this to my attention as I hadn’t heard about it. There is a pole in one of the neighbouring horses field which is used as a scratching post and it is visibly moving so I’ll pass this information on.
What a terrible tragedy.
 
Thank you Errin for your reply and advice. You are correct that they are only looking to pay the market value and will not compensate for costs, emotional input or what the future may have been. Which in my opinion is wrong as we should be put back into the situation we were in before the incident with a dream to follow! But alas that is not the case. The value of racehorses is very subjective but we are fighting for a mutually agreeable settlement - we are not asking silly money but enough to go to the sales and purchase a horse ready to run.
The reports is the other bone of contention! Dec 24 they stated 12 poles needed replacement, this has now changed to 3 but they will not share the maintenance reports - only in a court! This surely is wrong! The poles are across our land and I believe we and any landowner for that matter should have access to the maintenance reports - that is another area we are fighting! None of it has been easy but we keep going!
 
Midlifecrisis said:
Thank you Jo Burke for bringing this to my attention as I hadn’t heard about it. There is a pole in one of the neighbouring horses field which is used as a scratching post and it is visibly moving so I’ll pass this information on.
What a terrible tragedy.
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Thank you! I am collating as many instances of accidents or potential accidents as this is becoming a wider picture amongst the farmers and equestrians! Please do let the neighbours know about this as it is a matter of time before another incident could happen! I would be happy for you to share the story - NPG and other providers need to make the maintenance records available to the public/landowners - this they are refusing to do!
 
Take them to court. Even if you don't but get a lawyer involved they may pay up more to make it go away and actually ensure the safety of the poles. I am so sorry this happened.

I have 2 poles on my land and neighbour has one. They used to come every 2 years to maintain the trees and poles. Now it's all been outsourced and we never see them. If a branch hits the cable it shorts all the electricity over the back where there's a posh country club and golf course but doesn't affect me. I just get the inconvenience of them wanting access at all times of day and night when it happens.
 
Thank you Nicnac - we had solicitors involved but did not really offer advice - kept waiting for us to give instruction and i am now out of pocket! So this became costly and a waste of time. Fly was to be raced, enjoyed and the plan would have been she returned home after racing to be a pet and maybe breed from. She was never a commodity to go to the sales with. They will not even offer enough to cover our costs to get her to the stage she was prior to being killed, it is appalling that we even have to have this fight. We have an offer on the table which is less than her costs and also would not allow me to purchase much at the sales, they have given me a deadline of Friday this week to accept !! If we don't accept, i do not know what we do ! If anyone has any advice it would be greatly received!! on the other hand NPG still will not provide HSE reports or pole maintenance reports - certainly feel like we are backed in to a corner - extremely unfairly!
 
joburke321 said:
Hi, we recently encountered an awful accident with a filly being electrocuted due to rotten poles carrying the electricity cables falling onto her. The pole in question was extremely rotten, however the provider, Northern Powergrid has been extremely difficult and unsympathetic to deal with. We have asked to see the maintenance reports for the poles and they are not forthcoming. Has anyone else suffered a similar incident and if so can you offer any help or advice? I stress all landowners to check your poles with your providers to ensure they are safe and well maintained - especially as we go into Autumn/Winter
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/cou...ng-horse-electrocuted-by-fallen-pylon-5296185
Click to expand...
Have you read this. Might he a legal precedent. https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/horses-electrocuted-low-power-cable-600387
 
If they are not giving you the correct advice then they are not the right Solicitors for the job. I suggest that you look for a Solicitor who specialises in this field.
 
Click the search box in top right hand corner, then put dangerous stallion in the search box, then in the member box put PeterNatt, then click search It will show dangerous stallion in the top display, click that and it will display #107 of the thread, it gives a list of Specialist Equine Solicitors
 
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