why do some diy yards insist owners have horse insurance?

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darkhorse123

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Just wondering really - how does it affect the yo?
My horse is insured but I know many who arent due to exlusions etc making it more logical to pay for vet bills as and when required.
Ive never heard of this condition before ie your horse must be insured - is it common?
 
I am not sure why you would have to be insured for vets bill - although as you say, some people chose not to or have exclusions.

I can understand wanting proof of third party insurance for liability purposes though.
 
I've never known one to expect more than 3rd party - which is fair enough, imo.
 
You mean you have to insure the horse not have third party cover if so I have never heard that before.
Third party yes of course they are wise to insist you have it but horse / vet fee cover cane see what it's got to do with them.
 
ah im not sure what type of insurance but even if its third party how would not having it affect a yo - as in if your horse caused damage you would be responsible and have to pay? Not him/her?
 
darkhorse123 said:
ah im not sure what type of insurance but even if its third party how would not having it affect a yo - as in if your horse caused damage you would be responsible and have to pay? Not him/her?
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That's all very well if it's a low level accident - e.g. 50 quid for some broken fencing. But if your horse causes a serious accident which would leave you liable for millions of pounds in compensation - which the average uninsured owner can certainly not afford...
 
Because if your horse damages something/ someone, the yard owner may end up footing the bill instead. And sometimes the yos own insurance might require it.
 
OP: You'd need 3rd party incase your horse injures another horse/person/property whilst you are a client on that yard. Quite a reasonable request, I think. At least people at that yard know that all the other liveries are covered in the event of an unexpected accident. What if another horse at the yard was seen to injure your horse, or it ripped one of your expensive rugs to shreds? Or what if your horse cause damage or injury and someone claimed costs from you. You'd be glad of the 3rd party cover. A livery yard business cover does not cover everyone's individual liability.

darkhorse123 said:
ah im not sure what type of insurance but even if its third party how would not having it affect a yo - as in if your horse caused damage you would be responsible and have to pay? Not him/her?
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It shows a level of responsibility in the liveries being accommodated and certainly negates the potential for fallings out and arguement amongst the liveries in the event of an issue arising. It also protects the YO from having their property damaged and not being able to claim compensation from a 'skint' livery. Let's put it this way, if I had a livery who's horse went ape and kicking 7 bells of **** out of one of my loose boxes and caused considerable damage - I would expect compensation to put the repair right. Insurance cover is a wise precaution!
 
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If you were on a yard, you could reasonably expect safe fencing to keep your horse in, therefore if the horse escaped and you weren't insured 3rd party, they would probably go after YO. I rent off a farmer, and I know he asked, something to do with as the land owner he would also be deemed responsible.
 
ty for your replies - i understand now.
Quite scarey when you think not all livery yards have it - i certainly never knew yo could be responsible if livery wouldnt or couldnt pay for any damage to others
 
My horse has been kept on DIY yards for the mjority of the time I have owned him, have never been asked to prove I have insurance.
I don't insure my boy and would never move to a yard that asked for you to be insured.
 
3rd party isn't so people come after the YO! And quite frankly, if you don't have 3rd party liability insurance I would say that you are totally irresponsible.

3rd party liability insurance is also be for situations where say you horse sat on a car or escaped from a field and caused an accident. What happens if your horse escapes from its field, causes an accident and somebody tried to sue you if they were badly injured because your horse was on the road??
 
olop said:
My horse has been kept on DIY yards for the mjority of the time I have owned him, have never been asked to prove I have insurance.
I don't insure my boy and would never move to a yard that asked for you to be insured.
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So what exactly would you do if your horse caused claimable damages to someone else's property, person or other animal? Daft not to have 3rd party IMO. Actually, quite irresponsible when you think about it. Like people who drive without any insurance and don't give two-hoots if they can't be pursued for at-fault damages, :rolleyes:
 
Miss Bean said:
3rd party isn't so people come after the YO! And quite frankly, if you don't have 3rd party liability insurance I would say that you are totally irresponsible.

3rd party liability insurance is also be for situations where say you horse sat on a car or escaped from a field and caused an accident. What happens if your horse escapes from its field, causes an accident and somebody tried to sue you if they were badly injured because your horse was on the road??
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Im not arguing with that at all miss bean - i have always had full insurance for that and vet bills.
Ive just never known it to be a yard requirement - and was asking why yos ask for it as a condition of livery whereas others dont
 
Fair point, guess the one's that don't are like the people that don't bother insuring their ponies 3rd party. Personally, I've never been on yard where I've not had to have my horse insured 3rd party :)
 
I've only ever had one horse insured and that was because my father insisted - since he has had nothing to do with my horses I've not been insured. When I was a BHS member I had automatic 3rd party.

For the past 25 years I've had no insurance for my horses, for the riding school I had 3rd party insurance - because it is the law here that I do.

If the YO has insurance it should be covering any damage livery horses do - or should do if they have declared all ways they earn a living from the property and business.

I have a clause in my grazing lease in that if my horse damages anything then I fix it. So far this has been a few rails over 40 odd years of horse owning.

I would be asking them why they want the horse insured and also what their insurance covers. If they have no insurance then I would not be using the yard
 
We must have third party at the very least - which I understand. At my last yard your horse wasnt allowed out in the field till it had insurance
 
We should all have 3rd party for the reasons stayed by Beans.

However some yards will not allow you on without it for the very reasons that a claim could be made against them should there be a claim against a livery, by another, who did not have insurance.
 
If you hack out you should be insured

What if- something spooks your horse, say a deer jumping out right in front of you. You part company and the horse runs home. On the way a mother and child collide with the horse, a hoof goes through the wind shield and brain damages the mother.

You will be expected to have sufficient insurance to pay over £1m into a trust for the mother

This is why 3rd party ought to be compulsory for every owner
 
Spyda said:
OP: You'd need 3rd party incase your horse injures another horse/person/property whilst you are a client on that yard.
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I can guarantee you that 3rd party liability insurance does not cover you in this event - from personal experience
 
I totally agree thats its irresponsible not to have 3rd party insurance.

However I am a bit surprised at some of the things people think you might be liable for.

I'm sure the legal people will put me right if it is not so. Surely to claim against you negligence has to be proved.

Thats easy if you knowingly or were careless in doing something which causes injury or damage to someone else or their property.

I'm not seeing how this means they could claim against you for ripped rugs or injuries in the field. These arise our of normal behaviour for horses. If I put my horses in a group I expect that these things will happen from time to time.

Even a horse going nuts and damaging a loose box can be expected to happen sometimes, its hardly the owners fault, if you dont expect horses to behave in unexpected ways you are in the wrong business. Surely that is what yard insurance is for.
 
The yard I'm on you have to show the YO your insurance docs before you move on.
They require you to have a minimum of 3 million Public liability as part of your insurance. However they don't care what else you insure for.

I would have thought that the YO has yard insurance in case "the Yard" is responsible for an accident and you need insurance in case you or your horse are responsible for an accident.

For example if your on a hack and your horse kicks seven shades of **** of a parked car then you will be responsible to pay for the damage however if a tractor on the yard hits you then the yards insurance pays out?
 
^ This - tnavas, I expect my yard to be insured *appropriately* but why would I expect that to cover me if my horse boots a car etc. while out on a hack or at a show (and then there's the moral inclusion of same thing happening while on the yard)? Hardly anything to do with the YO, which is why third party is so important, as others have said.
 
littlelegs said:
Because if your horse damages something/ someone, the yard owner may end up footing the bill instead. And sometimes the yos own insurance might require it.
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I'm one of the YO/Dragons who's always insisted on liveries having PL insurance; also I recommend they take out vet & tack cover. But don't insist - but do insist on PL.

My boy was in a professional yard once where they insisted on owners having PL plus tack insurance, and vet insurance to cover up to £5000-worth of treatment; you had to show the YM your insurance certificates when you went there, so suggest its not unusual to have to provide proof of insurance.
 
Spyda said:
OP: You'd need 3rd party incase your horse injures another horse/person/property whilst you are a client on that yard. Quite a reasonable request, I think. At least people at that yard know that all the other liveries are covered in the event of an unexpected accident. What if another horse at the yard was seen to injure your horse, or it ripped one of your expensive rugs to shreds? Or what if your horse cause damage or injury and someone claimed costs from you. You'd be glad of the 3rd party cover. A livery yard business cover does not cover everyone's individual liability.



Whilst I agree that all horse owners should have public liability insurance, I do hope that people are not getting the idea that if another horse rips their rug (no matter how expensive) a claim can be made against that owner's PLI. Our excess, with Bhs, is £1000. I doubt if many rugs cost that much. Also PLI is for something which could not easily be foreseen. If you were involved in a RTA and there was a legitimate claim against you, the insurance would pay the injured party. I'm afraid minor damage, such as to rugs and fencing is just a part of keeping horses.
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Pearlsasinger said:
OP: You'd need 3rd party incase your horse injures another horse/person/property whilst you are a client on that yard. Quite a reasonable request, I think. At least people at that yard know that all the other liveries are covered in the event of an unexpected accident. What if another horse at the yard was seen to injure your horse, or it ripped one of your expensive rugs to shreds? Or what if your horse cause damage or injury and someone claimed costs from you. You'd be glad of the 3rd party cover. A livery yard business cover does not cover everyone's individual liability.



Whilst I agree that all horse owners should have public liability insurance, I do hope that people are not getting the idea that if another horse rips their rug (no matter how expensive) a claim can be made against that owner's PLI. Our excess, with Bhs, is £1000. I doubt if many rugs cost that much. Also PLI is for something which could not easily be foreseen. If you were involved in a RTA and there was a legitimate claim against you, the insurance would pay the injured party. I'm afraid minor damage, such as to rugs and fencing is just a part of keeping horses.
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Most of my winter rugs cost around £220 -£250 each and I'd be well annoyed if chunks were ripped out of them. Actually, here's a photo of what happened to my Horsewear Ireland Rhino rug last year after the YO's x2 2 year olds (both recently gelded) broke into my filly's paddock one night last summer. Thankfully that was the only damage caused (my filly was okay) and the rug was an old well used one so I simply binned it, but my view would have been considerably different had it been a new and expensive rug I'd just spend £200+ on......

MyRhino3rdJune2011.jpg


Okay! An unlikely example for making a 3rd party claim on insurance but I was just trying to point out the avoidable hard feelings that can arise if others aren't prepared to cough up when their animals cause injury or damage to someone else. Maybe a damaged rug/saddle/stable, etc wouldn't require a 3rd party claim on against an insurance policy but people DO need to realise they ARE morally responsible for the damage their animals intentionally or unintentionally cause other people. It's NOT okay for someone to just shrug their shoulders and say, "It's just horses" and expect someone else to cough up for the problems their animal has just caused. Sorry. How's that reasonable? :confused:
 
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