Legal Question - Freelance Instructors

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scally

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Has anyone else heard of this.

A friend living in the Home Counties, is fully insured instructor has been for the past 35 years. To cut a long story short, she has an arena she uses at home that she occasionally teaches. One student fell off, broke her leg and wrist and is now suing for negligence. (As far as I can ascertain the claim is that horse spoked at lawn tractor, bucked and deposited rider, lawn tractor should not be used when lessons are in school due to the hazard).

However, insurance company are at present denying the claim as Freelance Instructor insurance is not at your premises and as she is not registered for business rates at her premises, in indeed her planning permission for stables and facilities was originally 20+ years ago for "private use" only. The other point they are saying that if you teach at your premises you should be licensed by your local council as a "riding school".

I know all councils differ however, I always believed that a riding school is teaching on your own horses not others, although have checked my insurance tonight and I am covered to "teach at my own premises providing all necessary local authority conditions are adhered to, and clients on their own horse".

Has anyone else come across or indeed heard of this. She thinks she has come to an agreement with student to not take further action, however where does this leave the rest of us?
 
I thought like you do, that a riding school is when you teach others on your horses, teaching liveries on their own horses is just that - freelance teaching...
Scary world it is nowadays, isn't it?
 
Scary doesnt cover it, she is very very well known and respected and gobsmacked by her call tonight. She always thought she was fully insured as is very particular (being a lady of older years in fact should have retired some years ago) about everything especially something like this.
 
If I go to a driving school I drive their car, If I go to a riding School ,I ride their horse.(a useful analogy worth remembering because judges love them). The Inspection of riding schools is principly about animal welfare,so it is irrelevant here. Planning is also irrelevant and should not invalidate insurance. Your friend needs to keep all communications written and keep copies,because I think this might go the full distance . Get some heavy guns with a vested interest like the BHS involved. Good luck, Dont let the *******s grind you down!
 
Thank you Mike007, she has got a solicitor involved however at uhmmm just the other side of 70 she is a little bit out of her depth here, and just feels like throwing her hands in the air. It seems to be more the planning that her insurance is hung up on than anything else, she is not declaring a business therefore she should not legally be running one.

Have tried tonight to tell her to fight a) the actual claim and b) the insurance companies dismisal of her claim. I could understand a little more if her school was unsafe and that had caused the accident however this was not the case.
 
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I am sorry to hear this about your friend.

the insurance company is correct though!

A Freelance Instructor is a qualified person who visits a client at their OWN home riding their OWN horse.

therefore the Freelance Instructor is then a self employed person only and her own Instructor Insurance would cover her.

However, the fact she is using her OWN premises then yes she should be holding Public Liablity Insurance, Employers Liability (just like shops have to cover for the general public coming across their threshold)

Of course then obviously business rates then need to apply because of course it would be a registered business with correct planning permission.

The Court will obviously see this as an open and shut case really!

And with HM Revenue and Customs now being self funded and a percentage of fines going to the inspectors your friend could find herself in slightly deeper water with these guys for unpaid Revenue/Tax etc for not declaring a business etc!

In this TOUGH economic climate Insurance Companies are being tough and using the Law to help them which is fair enough. Rules and Laws are there to protect everyone out there. Gone are the days where 'trust' and 'mates rates' apply!

I do hope your friend can sort this out though-the stress must be awful.
 
Poor woman. Why couldn't the person having the lesson just say that she didn't feel happy riding while the mower was in use? I really cannot see why (morally) it is the responsibility of the instructor.
 
The trouble is we are becoming a more litigious society, gone are the days after a fall when someone gets up brushes themselves down and climbs back on board, its all about how much money can I make.

People who ride have to accept just by being in the saddle is a risk and with the onerous legislative, insurance, planning, tax issues that abound there maybe no where to ride soon never mind learn to ride.

I sincerely hope this poor woman isn't screwed into the ground and common sense prevails.
 
foraday said:
However, the fact she is using her OWN premises then yes she should be holding Public Liablity Insurance, Employers Liability (just like shops have to cover for the general public coming across their threshold)
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Just to clarify employers liability insurance has nothing to do with whether or not you use your own premises. You need employers liability insurance if you employ people, irrespective of where you operate from. A freelance instructor would not normally need EL cover.

However Public Liability cover is essential. I suspect that had the OPs friend declared that she taught from her own premises then her insurance would have been more expensive as there are more risks for which you are liable. It is more likely to be the case that the insurance company's issue is that she hasn't got sufficient cover for this type of event and the business rates is a bit of a red herring.

In terms of business rates, I believe that there is an exclusion whereby if you only use your premises for a very small amount of time you don't have to pay business rates. I'm being vague because I don't know, but my DH was told that he could legitimately hold a couple of "open studio" events at home per year without having to pay business rates. Might be worth looking into if the lady in question didn't teach from home often. If she did then I think she is potentially in trouble......
 
Insurance companies will try to get out of paying anything, so she needs to check the wording on policy document about where she can teach. I know mine only covers if im teaching a person on their premesis, and their horse. I can not do anything on my premesis.

I always email my insurance to make queries if soemthing is covered then you have it in writing from them for a worst case scenario.

Sorry not much help in your case but for others who use their own areans I would ask the question just encase an accident did occur.
 
LHS said:
The trouble is we are becoming a more litigious society, gone are the days after a fall when someone gets up brushes themselves down and climbs back on board, its all about how much money can I make.

People who ride have to accept just by being in the saddle is a risk and with the onerous legislative, insurance, planning, tax issues that abound there maybe no where to ride soon never mind learn to ride.

I sincerely hope this poor woman isn't screwed into the ground and common sense prevails.
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Exactly!

People also need to realise that making a claim like this is not "free money". It causes a lot of heartache for the other party, makes all our insurance premiums go up, and prevents many good instructors who have other jobs, from doing small bits of teaching, as the insurance is more costly than what they make. So everyone loses!
 
You fall off your horse, why should you expect someone else to pay!
I hate some peoples attitudes.
If you want a risk free enviroment stay at home don't get on/near a horse.
 
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