Land/livery insurance

Devon-Rider

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25 April 2015
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Hi all,

I wonder whether anybody can help me... I need to look into what may be two separate kinds of insurance and it seems to be tricky!

First, I would like to take out an insurance policy for the land itself, for three reasons.

A) so that if for example a tree along the roadside boundary were to fall on somebody's car, i would be covered. However, I think i am being told that if I am considered 'negligent' in this situation (for example that I could have predicted that the particular tree was likely to come down in the wind imminently but had not addressed it) then the insurance company would not pay out, and if i were not considered negligent then the person who owned the car would not be able to claim anyway.... so what's the benefit to insurance?!

B) I understand that such a policy might also cover me for any injury a person sustained while on my land, but bizarrely, on the part of the land which is designated as 'open access' by the CROW act, I think i may not be liable in any such instance anyway, although if somebody injured themselves tripping over a tree root for example on the private part of the land (on which they were trespassing), I would be. Surely this can't be right...??

C) So that if my horses escaped from the land, and caused any damage to a third party or property then i would be covered, however, is this subject to the same problem as (A) (for example, a weak spot in the fencing were cited as the cause of the escape)? And/or would this instance be covered by my BHS gold membership?

Second, I would like to look into the cost of an insurance policy to cover a grass keep/grass livery business, so that I was protected where any injury to or loss of an owners horse gave rise to a claim against me, or where damage to a third party or property caused by somebody else's horse escaping from my land gave rise to a claim against me.

Can anybody give me any advice on these things, or suggest good brokers who can advise me, or companies that offer such cover where you have had positive experiences discussing these things with them?

I'm getting nowhere fast so far and its all very frustrating! TIA!
 
Sadly not when I asked them! The girl didn't seem very clued up and then insisted that i needed a home contents policy with them in order to take out a policy for the above and then I spent an hour answering questions about my home contents instead of her answering my questions about the insurance i actually wanted....
 
Thanks ever so much poopicker- they're actually local to me as well by the looks of it! Hopefully they will be able to give me some good advice and straight answers...
 
I have recently had a problem with my grassland third party public liability insurance with NFU as they dropped me as they reduced the amount of land they would cover on a household policy.
They then suggested a Landowners Policy but then refused to provide cover because we had some cross country jumps.
For some reason they don't like cross country jumps which seems odd as I would have thought that most landowners/farmers with kids or an interest in hunting would have some cross country jumps on their land.
 
NFU seem to be very hit and miss don't they. They've been great for my horses cover but quite frankly over this matter they were useless. Its a complicated situation because the residential property I live in (which does border the land i want to insure) belongs to my parents and they have landlords buildings insurance for it already, but the land belongs to me, so that totally baffled them. I have just telephoned the people in Exeter (thanks again poopicker) and they seem helpful and straightforward so hopefully i will get somewhere soon!!
 
Thanks Fuzzy Furry! I would rather get one company/policy who can do it all or tailor make something just for the benefit of having less admin but i'll give them a go if i get no luck!
 
Good morning :)

Just regarding point C:

"C) So that if my horses escaped from the land, and caused any damage to a third party or property then i would be covered, however, is this subject to the same problem as (A) (for example, a weak spot in the fencing were cited as the cause of the escape)? And/or would this instance be covered by my BHS gold membership?"

If your horses cause damage to a third party or their property and you are liable, then yes, you'd be covered by the insurance provided with Gold membership.
 
Worth a go, I use them & my land/yard is nowhere near my house, nor many other houses :)


Ditto.
(3) Horses are covered by BHS Gold membership.

(1) and (2) was covered by NFU with a ContentsAway extension when I had my NFU home buildings/contents insurance.

However the renewal fee was too expensive so I shopped around, found a much cheaper house buildings/contents insurance elsewhere and then took out a specialist land insurance with this company:

www.versatileinsurance.co.uk
 
I have SEIB for land liability cover. It covers me against clumsy oafs falling over their own feet on one of my footpaths.
 
Thank you so much everybody, I feel like i am finally starting to get somewhere but it really is a minefield isn't it!

BHS-Official, can i ask, does my membership cover me for any damage that somebody else's horse might cause to a third party while i was riding or handling it, if i were being paid for that activity?

Many thanks.
 
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