Insurance for a groom

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Emily91

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Hi
I have just got a job working as a groom. I have worked with horses before but mainly casual stuff. I have always been insured as a rider but since I no longer have any horses the policy that I had has been terminated.

My question is this:

Do I need to take out insurance to work as a groom? And if so is it me that gets myself insured or should my employer do it?

Also someone mentioned joining BHS as they include insurance in their annual subscription fee. Has any one used it? Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Emily
 
Hi, techinically if you are employed by someone working full time then they should have insurance for you. However be carefull as some employer's don't! You should have public liability insurance (which you would get if you joined the BHS, BD, various other organisations etc.)

The British Grooms Association http://www.britishgrooms.org.uk/ Offer personal accident insurance as part of one of their membership packages, may be worthwhile especially if you are self employed. Have a read of their website as this explains it much better than I do!
 
Hi,
BHS gold insurance does not cover you when you are working for reward, e.g. working for money. Looked into this when I was looking into groom work can;t remember how much i was quoted for insurance though.
 
It may be worth talking to your employer as when I've enquired, they've had me down as "self-employed" so I actually had to deal with my taxes and everything myself.
Each job I've had, I've also had to have my own liability insurance.

Is your employer approachable enough to ask them to recommend what to go for?
 
martlin said:
Your employer should have employer's liability insurance that will cover you, but it's always worth to take out your own.
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Agree.

Our Groom is self employed but only works for us, therefore she is in charge of her own insurance/tax etc. Are you actually employed by the yard?

I think you should definetly get some personal accident insurance AND public liability insurance. If a horse in your care damages something it may be your responsibilty. I have dealt with many insurance cases where the employee, rather than the employer, has been liable in these instances.
 
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Hey thanks for all the advice guys! :)

My employer is quite approachable so will sit down and have a chat to her about what happens with regard to this.

Thanks again

Emily
 
Hi, Im a groom, I work for one lady regularly, she has liabilty insurance if I get injured by one of her horses etc.
I am classed as self employed, i have accident insurance with Swinton, they cover me for riding accidents aswell even though it is my job.
BGA are good for insurance if you are self employed as you can chose your level of cover to match your salary, so if you have an accident and earn up to £300 a week they will pay this, although the premium is higher, its less if you earn less.
 
martlin said:
You and your groom are on a bit of a dodgy ground here, I'm afraid. It only takes a random check from Inland Revenue and you'll be in hot water...
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I'm not the owner fortunetly :)

It is a private yard, I only get to keep my horse their because the very wealthy neighbour next door owns it. They do it all legitimatly, I know that much.

I agree, it's a bit of a weird one with regards to the groom...but I keep my nose out.
 
Legitimately or not (or so they think), the Revenue takes a dim view over self employed people who provide services to only one client over long period of time ;) Saves NI etc..., holiday pay - generally naughty, really :D
 
martlin said:
Legitimately or not (or so they think), the Revenue takes a dim view over self employed people who provide services to only one client over long period of time ;) Saves NI etc..., holiday pay - generally naughty, really :D
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OOOOOOOH really?! Can this have any affect on the owner????? The groom does little jobs (mane pulling, clipping etc) for other people

My experience with the tax man is having a heart attack everytime I open my payslip. It stops there, I daren't scare myself any further.
 
kaylouise67 said:
OOOOOOOH really?! Can this have any affect on the owner????? The groom does little jobs (mane pulling, clipping etc) for other people

My experience with the tax man is having a heart attack everytime I open my payslip. It stops there, I daren't scare myself any further.
Click to expand...

I'm not quite sure who gets the slap first :D The employer or the employee...
But, as long as the groom declares some income from other sources, they will be fine, so might be worth invoicing for the little jobs here and there ;)
 
Regarding the insurance, as far as I understand it (I'm not an expert, but this is what I understood when I looked into it when we hired a P/T groom) there are two kinds of insurance:

- the employer should have employer's insurance which covers them if an employee is injured while working for them. Hope I am not wrong on this, but I think that this kind of insurance only kicks in if the employer was negligent. So, e.g., if a job requires certain equipment, the employer provides faulty equipment and the employee gets injured, then the insurance pays. However, if the employer has not been negligent and the employee gets injured in the normal course of events, then the insurance may not pay out.

- personal insurance which you can take out as a groom working with horses. This will cover your lost income from incapacity, compensation for any permanent injuries, jobhunting costs, etc.
 
Martlin is quite correct regarding the Inland Revenue and their policy regarding self employed people only working for one employer.
The Inland Revenue will re-claim any National Insurance and Tax contributions which have not been paid as a result of claiming that the person was self-employed.
There are several criteria which must be complied with to be able to be self-employed in the eyes of the Inland Revenue.
 
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