Loan with view to buy - contract, insurance etc.?

[MagicMelon]

So as much as I said I would never loan a horse out again... Im in the situation where Ive found what I think is a good home, they want to loan with a view to buy. Are there any contracts to this effect online that I could use to cover usual things. They also asked if she's insured, she isn't. She's 16yrs old. What would normally happen in this instance, would I take out insurance for her and they pay me to cover it? Do they take out insurance even if they dont own her yet? Or is it totally my responsibility and Id have the outlay of insurance and also a vetting (I believe you need one to insure?) for someone else to have the use of my horse?

I want to cover every eventuality if anything went wrong or just to cover the usual things.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Orangehorse]

You don't necessarily need a vetting to insure, it depends on the company and the value of the animal. At 16 you aren't going to get a lot of cover, if it is a new policy. But shop around, there may be good policies out there.

I would personally like to insure the horse myself, and either get the money from the loaner or go 50/50 because they might not bother to insure it themselves. Although I always thought you had to own something to insure it, it seems that horse insurance companies are quite used to horses on loan being insured by someone else.

You need to agree on who pays vet's fees and under what circumstances, also think about major things like colic.
To operate, or not, bearing in mind that a colic operation is several thousand pounds.

If the horse has annual injections make sure the loaners will keep up to date, or have it in your contract that if they miss the critical date they have to pay for the whole course to start again (happened to me and they very graciously got it sorted).

The BHS used to have a very useful draft contract available on their website, that covered most things you should agree on, but in a way you have to plan for the worst and hope for the best!

I have had ponies here on loan and loaned out a horse, all were successful and all benefitted the owners and the animals.

If they might want to buy try to agree a price you would be happy to sell at, you can always negotiate a bit, and have a definite deadline that they have to agree to buy - unless you would be happy to extend the loan.
Do a detailed list of everything that goes with the horse, (condition, value?) take photos, and have them sign for it.

 

[fredflop]

The bhs contracts are a good starting point.

pay for the insurance yourself, you know exactly what’s covered then. Make sure insurance for other riders is on there as well. Make sure the loan contract is clear the loaner is to pay for an excess fee.

points also to include, as above vaccinations. If the horse goes with a full in date set, the loaner should be liable for the whole new set.

Stipulate how often back and teeth need doing and you want to see written reports from it.

if the horse has to be PTS whilst in their care, I put in my contracts they are to pay for it.

clarify in the contract that they are responsible to delivering the horse to an address of your choosing after termination of the loan. Also stipulate that the loan termination period (30 days) starts when the actual words “I want to end this loan” are written, not 30 days after they tell you they’ve broken the horse.

stipulate in the paragraph where it says the horse can be returned immediately if it’s not fit for purpose that this is for ridden behaviour In the first 30 days of the “trial”. Not when they break your horse and say I’m bringing it back tommorow.

put in that the horse must arrive back with you in the same physical and mental state, and that if they have been riding it, the ridden work must not have regressed. Any veterinary or behavioural problems caused (not covered by insurance) must be paid to be treated by the loaner, along with livery costs.