Horses and liability

Don't forget OP this is why you have liability insurance if the other party's insurancer thought you where responsible they would have come after you , I would not enage with these people at all I would ring your insurer give them the address and let them deal with it.
 
elliefiz said:
I have moved yards (unrelated to this matter) so I dont have to see the owner face to face to discuss the issue thankfully!
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That makes life a lot easier for you :)

Personally I would email them or recorded letter and not pay a penny.

However if you are worried about it I would pay a soliticitor (last check around £10-£25) to send of a standard letter saying that all proceedings should be dealt with via the insurance company and any future direct contact will be ignored. Then block their email :) Don't put yourself in a situation where you can be bullied into it. I'd also advise current YO if there is any chance of someone popping up there.

Pan
 
OP you haven't bored people with this, I can't speak for others but my concern was that if advice in your favour, from a bunch of random strangers on the internet, wasn't enough to reassure you last time then perhaps you needed more official help. There's never any point in running round in circles achieving nothing, is there.

I find it shocking how many people will try their luck this way these days. There seems far more people willing to blame anyone but themselves for their problems. They chose to leave their horse in their sharers care and should take responsibility for that. It may be worth you phoning their vet and saying that at no time did you agree to pay for the horses treatment, so you don't have the vet chasing you. It sounds very much as though they've told the vet you're responsible for paying, if they're asking you to send direct payment.
 
You have been sensible to have an insurance policy. Write to your insurance company and advise them of the incident and claim. Forward them copies of any E-mails etc. They can then deal with the matter on your behalf. If you have any more comunication from the people claiming from you simply refer them to your insurance company.
 
I can't remember if I replied to your earlier thread, but my friend's horse (definitely not a kicker, a bit of a wuss really) apparently kicked and severely injured a "child's pony" in the field. This was a field that was rented to all comers on a daily basis so neutral territory but you took your chances. The victim apparently had to have 50 stitches and the bill was high, but the owner would accept £125 (his excess). My friend refused on the grounds that the owner had just opened the gate and stuck the horse in without introducing it over the gate first at least, and horses will be horses. By chance I saw the daughter riding this "pony" a few days later, which was over 15hh, had a bit of a scratch on its shoulder and no sign of stitches or lameness whatsoever. Idiot daughter should have been wearing a hat too. I subsequently heard that they'd tried this trick before - presumably that is how people who couldn't afford £125 could drive a Jag!!

If they persist I would suggest that you say you will counter-sue for endangering the safety of your horse by allowing an under-age and inexperienced idiot to chase two loose horses around in an enclosed area. No doubt they were armed with a lunge whip if the teenagers I've watched over the years were anything to go by.
 
Horses were chased by sharer of horse that got kicked as they wanted horses cantering for a photo.

And has the owner said anything to the sharer for being a complete numpty and chasing the horses in the first place? I also wonder if her insurance would have paid up knowing numpty sharer had been chasing them whilst in a menage. She wants to think herself lucky your horse wasn't hurt in the ruckuss
 
I spoke to my insurance company. They said I'm not in any way liable- the fact he was being chased exonerates me completely.

Fatpiggy - i believe a lunge whip was involved- you have psychic abilities!

I think I would be getting a solicitor involved if I found out my name was giving to the vet as bill payer! Surely someone wouldnt be allowed to do that? I have never spoken to the vet- he isnt my horses vet.

ETA The sharer has gotten in trouble. The sharer is only a youngster and i do feel sorry for them. Prob what I should add is owner of horse was there whilst horses were in school together, she saw my horse get kicked when her horse was first turned out (mine was in there on his own whilst i mucked out). this was witnessed by others. I wasnt told about this as my horse was not injured and apparently she dismissed it as "just horses playing". She wasnt there when the kicking started a second time and her horse got injured but funnily enough when a vets bill is involved she no longer considers it horses playing! I would bet my life on it that if it had been me with the vets bill i would have gotten short shrift looking for money from her.
 
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elliefiz said:
I spoke to my insurance company. They said I'm not in any way liable- the fact he was being chased exonerates me completely.

Fatpiggy - i believe a lunge whip was involved- you have psychic abilities!

I think I would be getting a solicitor involved if I found out my name was giving to the vet as bill payer! Surely someone wouldnt be allowed to do that? I have never spoken to the vet- he isnt my horses vet.
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I'd be very surprised if you ever got a bill through. They're just winging it.
 
if you paid the excess have you not accepted some kind of liability?
then id this horse doesn't return to sound, could they come back again?
I am not an insurance expert, but would be seriously concerned about paying anything especially if it implied I was in some way responsible.
 
Just don't pay say no tell you do not wish them to speak to you again and let your insurer deal with it.
If the vet contacts you just say nicely this nothing to with me at all and I have no contract with you.
 
eggs said:
Pearlsasinger said:
I'm sorry but that is just plain wrong.
You are only responsible for injuries/damage caused by your horse, if YOU were negligent. QUOTE]

Definitely not correct as the law of strict liability applies (there was a notorious case - Mirvahedy) that means the owner does not have to be found to be negligent.

Although having said that I have never heard of someone being asked to pay an insurance excess. Is there confirmed independant witnesses who saw what happened?
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That case and the 'strict liability' ruling were an entirely different matter to this case. In that case the horses had escaped from a field and were involved in a RTA. The owners were deemed to be liable, just as if they had left the gate open, because their fencing was obviously not adequate to keep the horses in (although they expected it to be strong enough).
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I am not 'plain wrong', as the question was posed she would be liable,with the follow on information she is not:

Statutory Liability
The Animals Act 1971 contains, amongst other things, provisions about the civil liability of owners for damage which is done by their animals. This act governs owner’s liability for damage caused both by dangerous and non-dangerous animals. In the case of non dangerous animals, the owner will be liable for damage where three conditions are met:
The damage is of a type which the animal would be likely to do if it was unrestrained;
The damage was due to characteristics which were not normally found in that type of animal, or which were found in that type of animal only at specific times and in specific circumstances;
The special characteristics were known to the owner
This act is unusual in that unlike many other acts of parliament which impose liability on people, it does not limit this liability to situations in which that person is careless or reckless, or where he fails to take reasonable steps to prevent the risk. This was considered by the House of Lords in 2003, which decided by a two to one majority that in the absence of any such provisions, the act must be interpreted as imposing a strict liability on the owners of horses.
Strict liability is a problem for horse owners, because it means that even if they have taken all reasonably precautions to prevent the risk of damage from materialising, they may still be legally responsible for that damage under the Act.
 
The sharer has gotten in trouble. The sharer is only a youngster and i do feel sorry for them. Prob what I should add is owner of horse was there whilst horses were in school together, she saw my horse get kicked when her horse was first turned out (mine was in there on his own whilst i mucked out). this was witnessed by others. I wasnt told about this as my horse was not injured and apparently she dismissed it as "just horses playing".

Words fail me, or at least what's acceptable to post on here....

You've done nothing wrong, she clearly knows that the sharer is at fault and is just bullying you. If you must, send an E-mail as you've stated above and you'll be paying nothing.
 
My loan horse got a horrid kick through the fence the other day with resulting open flesh wound and Sunday vet callout, it wouldn't even have occurred to me to try and get the other horse's owner to pay, they didn't make the horse do it and they were winding each other up as they do!
 
So the owner who is complaining is the one who caused the situation in the first place, by allowinging their horse to be turned out in the arena with yours. When your horse is kicked its "playing", when theirs is kicked and injured its suddenly the end of the world and someone else's fault. Utterly rediculous.
 
elliefiz said:
I spoke to my insurance company. They said I'm not in any way liable- the fact he was being chased exonerates me completely.

.
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Tell them this, and tell them if they want to persue it they must go through insurance companies. Ask them for their details too - show you mean it.. You're not at the same yard, so don't have to face an atmosphere or anything. Tell them you're very sorry the horse got hurt but you do not consider yourself or your horse the cause of the accident...

Had it been you chasing the horses and causing the kicking, then I would have said you should have offered to pay.
 
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