Liability when someone is trying horse with a view to buying?

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soloequestrian

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I have someone coming for a second viewing - she rode in the school and now would like to take horse for a short hack. I have no particular reason to think that things won't go well but worry about what would happen in terms of liability if there was a random act of God and she fell off/ got injured/ horse got injured. What insurance should we each have?
 
I'm probably not the best judge but if it was me asking to take someone's horse for a hack I'd make sure my rider insurance was renewed to cover any damage I might sustain to myself. If I was the owner I'd check my horse's insurance policy to understand how/if horse would be covered in a situation where he was not being ridden/looked after by me.

I'm with Harry Hall, and they offer a free legal helpline too - if you're with them might be worth giving a ring :)
 
Skib said:
Could be affected by age of rider. One owner could not insure me to share her horse as I was over 70. That was fine as I didnt agree with her terms .
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Third party insurance offered by Harry Hall, WHW, and some others don't set any restrictions on who can sue you that they will defend, or pay out.

Everyone except people who have zero assets needs third party insurance if they own or manage a horse.

Regarding the original question, where the person trying the horse is riding it isn't relevant, you need third party insurance from the moment they drive onto the yard. The rider doesn't need any insurance, unless you would plan to sue her if she makes a mistake. If you would, then she needs third party too, but you'd be restricting your viewings of you insist all viewers have it, and putting big doubts in people's minds about what you think your horse might do.,
 
Also, trials of horses are often when things do go wrong (nervous riders on a strange horse in a strange place, horses only used to one rider, owner being tense, all makes for the perfect soup for "it's never done that before"), so checking your horse is insured to be handled and ridden by any rider is essential, as well as third party cover for any other damage or accidents it may cause.

And then if you are concerned about injury to the horse, that's a separate issue.
 
You would need 3rd party to cover rider injury (if you were deemed liable), standard insurance to cover horse injury arising from normal situations then legal cover to sue for horse injury where the rider was at fault.

Rider would only be successful in suing you if the horse behaved in a very irrational manner which would not be expected from a standard horse (eg not just normal spooking) or you had misrepresented the horse.

3rd party will cover you for any valid claim the rider makes for their injuries.

In terms of the horse getting injured your insurance will cover so long as the rider was suitably capable and sensible. If the rider did something stupid then you'd need to sue them for damages - so legal cover would be useful.
 
ycbm said:
I'm not sure this is true.
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Could you say why?

This was response from NFU when I asked them, but years ago. They said horses are allowed to behave as horses.

My question to them was in relation to a footpath through our fields and the possibility the horses could hurt someone in normal behaviour.
 
Jambarissa said:
Could you say why?

This was response from NFU when I asked them, but years ago. They said horses are allowed to behave as horses.

My question to them was in relation to a footpath through our fields and the possibility the horses could hurt someone in normal behaviour.
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Well first of all, define "normal". And then consider negligence, which is where most claims lie (as in proof of negligence is what wins cases).
 
Jambarissa said:
Could you say why?

This was response from NFU when I asked them, but years ago. They said horses are allowed to behave as horses.

My question to them was in relation to a footpath through our fields and the possibility the horses could hurt someone in normal behaviour.
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Well the most obvious case I know is where a teenager was paralysed coming off a horse when she cantered off across a field. The horse was a thoroughbred ex racer mare and did nothing very unusual. To cap it all, the teenager was more experienced than the adult owner, riding of her own free will, and was also the person who test rode the horse for the purchaser when the horse was bought.

She sued and won.

There was also a case which established liability when there was no negligence when two horses escaped from a field and caused damage to cars. They were just horses being horses but that case set a benchmark that owners are liable for what their horses do whether there's negligence or not and whether they were just horses behaving like horses or not.
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There is a risk with everything in life I suppose. In your situation I’d make sure I was happy with the level of competence of the buyer and then accompany them on a solid nanny, and if either horse or buyer are giving off worried vibes then I’d switch buyer onto the nanny.

Ultimately it’s important for most people who want to hack, to try the horse hacking.
 
You need to ensure that you have an insurance policy in place that not only provides Third Party Liability Cover but also covers other people riding your horse and will fund any legal fees that are incurred if a claim is made as it is the legal fees that could prove prohibitive let alone any damages.
 
So me having bhs gold covers me when visiting others horses I don't ride anymore but do visit and handle horses owned by said friends never more than a quick groom so is that enough hip problems but lucky enough to still be able to visit friends horses
 
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