My horse was hit by a car - where do I stand legally?

little_flea

little_flea

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The other day my sister took Vanilla for a hack. They were on a narrow country lane when a car approached. He showed no signs of slowing down and my sister was shouting and waving but no reaction from the driver. He hit Vanilla. Driver stopped and asked if the horse was ok, my sister replied no, she needs to see a vet and you have to help me find the nearest yard. The driver agreed, got in his car and just took off...

We have the license plate and have reported to the police.

My beautiful Vanilla is badly hurt and in hospital, she has a huge wound on her stifle. Luckily no fracture or infection but we are looking at 8-12 weeks off work at the least, but she is predicted to make a full recovery.

Where do I stand legally? Should I sue? Let the police deal with it? I am obviously devastated, I love this horse so much. Vanilla is insured and I hope the drivers insurance company will cover the extensive vet bills, but the horse is insured as a show jumper and will obviously not be able to do her job for a long time.

This is an absolute nightmare and I don't know what to do next so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
sorry to hear this, i hope she is okay and recovers, i have no advice but do hope you can sue the pants off them and let it be a lesson to other drivers.
 
How awful.
My advice is let the police do their job and in the interim speak to the legal team from your insurers/BHS.
I'd want to make the driver take some responsibility and if legal teams thought the case was viable I would sue the pants off the driver.
 
So driver left the scene of the accident without exchanging details. Get the book thrown at him.

Inform police of what happened, advise that you will be giving your insurers his regaistration details and police now need to pay him a visit to get his insurance details. Push for dangerous driving.
 
I spoke to my insurance company and they said this is nothing they would persue right now. I guess if I make a claim they may feel more strongly.

And for the record - Vanilla is 16'3hh, white and the rider was wearing hi-viz so it is pretty damned hard to understand how the driver would not have seen them...
 
driving without due care and attention, he hit you, then injuries sustained, call the dvla they will tell you who the car is insured with, you dont need to wait for the police give your insurers the police ref.
 
I think you should speak to a solicitor to find out what's the correct way forward .
You could sue ( if you can prove fault in law ) for your loses which could include lots of things the loss of value in the horse , your insurance excess , the fact that the horses ongoing insurance position will be affected by any claim you make against your insurance .
I would be chasing up the police too to find out what their doing .
 
have you asked to speak to the man/woman at the top with your insurance company, call them and say you are making a damages claim, thats what you pay your monies for, dont let them knock you down.
 
little_flea said:
My insurance company said they won't do anything at this stage... Police not being especially helpful so far. Should I hire a solicitor?
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I would make an official complaint to the police to start with. Driving off at the scene of an accident?
Do you have BHS membership? They should give you legal advice for free (or maybe through BSJA?)
 
Are you register with BS - do they have a legal helpline like the BHS (if you're not a member). I would push the insurance company as well as I am guessing that you will need to make everyone aware this is being claimed for (I know my old vets would ask at the beginning of a lengthy treatment whether insurance being involved as they had to complete their side of the process before the full claim put in).
 
How bloody awful for you. How's Vanilla looking? Hope he's getting better, what a terrible thing to happen.

Did you try the BHS yet? I am surprised that the police and insurance are being so unhelpful. I would be tempted to get a solicitor involved but would prob speak to BHS first.
 
BTW just in case you don't know if you have the car details you can find the drivers name and address by doing a DVLA check ( assuming the vehicle is taxed correctly ) I forget what it costs but it not a lot google DVLA check to find the page on their website .
You don't need to wait for the police .
 
Vanilla is as good as she can be, all things considered. The would looks terrible but she is her bright and cheery self and allowed to come home tomorrow!

I am not a member of the BHS but both me and Vanilla are BS registered, but I was not the rider at the time of the accident - my sister was riding. She is registered with British Dressage though.

However, my vet said these types of policies are just to cover damage to third party - eg if my horse had kicked and damaged a car?
 
little_flea said:
Vanilla is as good as she can be, all things considered. The would looks terrible but she is her bright and cheery self and allowed to come home tomorrow!

I am not a member of the BHS but both me and Vanilla are BS registered, but I was not the rider at the time of the accident - my sister was riding. She is registered with British Dressage though.

However, my vet said these types of policies are just to cover damage to third party - eg if my horse had kicked and damaged a car?
Click to expand...

If you have legal cover (even on home insurnace) it should be for all things legal, not just 3rd party. No harm in checking and calling :)
 
I would also be going to local newspaper.

You can do a car reg search for £6, its on lots of the "money saving" forums, that will give you the insurers details, you can then call them and tell them that their "driver" has been involved in an accident.

I would be calling the legal advice line at BS as that gives you a starting point.

Fingers x for a happy outcome!
 
I'm really sorry to hear about this and hope your horse makes a full recovery. Without witnesses I think you may struggle with this, unfortunately. If you have legal cover on your home insurance they will tell you if they think you have a successful case or not anx take the case forward for you if they agree you have a chance of success. Hope you can pursue this, what a prat. So sorry.
 
That is terrible I am so sorry! I hope she makes a quick recovery.

If I were you I would keep pestering the police to go after the driver for leaving the scene and possibly for reckless driving. You can usually get a first appointment free with a solicitor so you can always have a chat with a specialist equine solicitor to see if he can sue for vet fees and loss of use while the horse is out of action until she recovers.
 
As your sister is BD registered she can call their legal helpline. They are very good with advice and are specialist equine solicitors
 
Hope Vanilla makes a full recovery.
With regard to the accident if he didn't give you his name and address, with which you could contact him for insurance details, he legally should go to the police station or report the accident to a police officer within 24 hours of the accident.
You need to contact the police to see if the accident was reported to them, if it was not, ask them to file a report as the driver has committed an offence. The offence is not failing to stop it is failing to report, it is a reportable accident as a horse was involved.
 
Oh no, how terrible, please that Vanilla is in good spirits and I am sure that she will be pleased to get home.

I can't help you with any legal advice, but I just think it is shocking that it is you that has to chase the police and insurance, really shocking.
 
sorry to hear this, i hope vanilla makes a fast and full recovery and is ok with traffic.

i cannot believe yur insurers don't want to etc, dare i ask who they are?
 
little_flea said:
My insurance company said they won't do anything at this stage... Police not being especially helpful so far. Should I hire a solicitor?
Click to expand...

A very similar thing happened to me: car came up behind us on a very narrow lane (going into sunlight, so alleged he "couldn't see" us) - and ran straight into the backside of my old horse, poor old chappie.

I wasn't injured, the car driver gave his details........... didn't seem keen for me to get the vet. Luckily horse was OK, tho' might well not have been.

BUT....... when I rang the police to "report" it, they said there was really nothing they could do. It would have been up to me/insurance co, to pursue any expenses like vets bills from the guy. But had I been injured, that would have been a totally different story (motto of this tale being that if something has to happen to your animal, make sure YOU get injured :()

So, OP, am SO sorry, but don't think you'll get anywhere with this one, I hate to say it. By god, we'd all like to see people who drive into horses given the highest penalities, but unfortunately unless YOU were injured the police don't want to know.

But do report it to the BHS as they're collecting data on this.
 
My OH is a solicitor and has let me browse his 'bible' - Wilkinsons Road Traffic Offences (Sweet an Maxwell). Under Ch7 sec 170(1)-(4) and 168 it quotes...

The 1988 Act (as amended) requires the driver to stop his vehicle is an accident has occurred... ... in which either personal injury is caused to someone other than the driver of the vehicle... ...or to an animal.

The driver must stop and give his name and address and if no other person is there to do so, report the accident to the police as soon as possible and at lest within 24 hours.

FWIW it also goes on to state that there doesnt even have had to have been an injury if there was dangerous driving involved (which there was as rider signalled to slow and driver didnt thus hitting horse)

Failing to stop also includes stopping to see if the person is injured but driving off without leaving name/address (as in this case) 7.09

Act carries a maximum of level 3 fine (high level community order with a fine, up to 26 weeks custody with 6-12m ban or 9 penalty points)

So push with the police for something to be done - it is not something to be taken lightly...

And push with the insurance company for them to pursue the driver for costs!
 
Complain to police, get a specialist solicitor, keep any related cost reciepts, take pictures of where it happened, what was worn etc, write all the details down. Any witnesses?
My mare Also got hit and im still in the process with a solicitor.
 
Also if they refuse to act put a complaint in to the chief of police and if THEY fail to act put in a complaint to the Police Complaints Commission...
 
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