Yard with no Public Liability Insurance, is it breaking the law?

No. There is no legal requirement to carry public liability insurance - although it is prudent!
 
And prudent for liveries to check they have it, a very remote possibility but if they are negligent and cause you major physical disability there will be limited funds to pay for lifetime care, if they are insured at least you could be cared for appropriately
 
Hi Shay, thanks for your reply. I realised after posting, that I might be a bit confused, in that I don't think she's got any insurance, not specifically public liability. Do you know what sort of insurance they should have to provide livery - it is not run as an official livery yard, I am the only one there on livery at the moment, but she is and does take on other liveries from time to time... thanks
 
Looks like you had a lucky escape leaving then, hope your new yard has everything they need. It's a good reminder that cheap yards are cheap for a reason, even if they have flash facilities they'll scrimp on feed/ hay/ unseen maintenance/ turnout/ insurance etc to make it pay!!
 
A recent court case demonstrated that horse owners should have no less than £10,000,000 (Ten Million Pounds) public liability insurance for each of their horses as it is the horse owner who is responsible for any accidents that their horse(s) may cause. Animals act 1971 Section 2 (2) as now interpreted by the highest court in the land says that horse owners are liable for any accidents their horses may cause. This is as a result of the Mirvahedy v Henley case
 
I think OP is still there, they haven't left Polo's mum.

We didn't have insurance when we had a couple of DIYs, and it was one of the reasons I stopped doing DIY. We only had two DIYs at £15/wk and insurance would have meant we wouldn't have made a thing. It doesn't mean we scrimped on anything else though, thank you, if anything, we probably maintained everything better because we didn't have insurance!
 
Sorry for confusion - my fault. I meant moved onto the yard, I am still there but moving tomorrow hopefully! The yard is full livery at £100 a week. Plus been paying for training on top. Also buying own haylage to feed in field as there is no grass and owner 'doesn't have time' to take hay to field.....Anyway, deep breath and start again somewhere new and better hopefully...
 
PeterNatt said:
A recent court case demonstrated that horse owners should have no less than £10,000,000 (Ten Million Pounds) public liability insurance for each of their horses as it is the horse owner who is responsible for any accidents that their horse(s) may cause. Animals act 1971 Section 2 (2) as now interpreted by the highest court in the land says that horse owners are liable for any accidents their horses may cause. This is as a result of the Mirvahedy v Henley case
Click to expand...

True,although the no fault liability ruling in that case has come under some severe criticism and probably will not stand for much longer in its current form. Horse owners should definately have insurance to cover this ,but so too should yard owners . Merely because the first claim will be against the owner ,this does not prevent the owner cross claiming against the yard ,if the yard has been neglegent.
 
No insurance where I am, DIY £15p/w.
YO had me sign a contract to say I was aware there is no insurance so I can't sue if something was to happen!
 
Having no insurance does not prevent one being sued sucessfuly. However DIY at£15 per week would be seen to be merely providing basic premeses and no involvment on top . None the less there does remain a small element of liability and it is not easy to sign away ones legal rights. But at 15 pounds a week its probably best to keep quiet about that.
 
I agree most of the above re-insurance, but won't a lot depend on the contract and the circumstances?

When I did livery, horse owners signed an agreement stating that they'd inspected the fencing and found it suitable for their purposes. Not sure whether that would have got me off the hook, though, if a horse had strayed onto the road and caused an accident so I had public liability AND employers (so was probably over insured).
 
This is one of the things that really ticks me off about some horse owners! I don't know if this is just a problem in my area but they want livery as cheap as chips, but are the first ones to complain if the facilities are not up to scratch. I'm not suggesting the OP is doing this, but I think livery in general is a very difficult industry to be in. I have a small DIY yard and I DO have full insurance, including care, custody and control cover, however, I won't take anybody onto the yard that doesn't have their own public liability cover. I pay about £1200/1400 per annum for insurance and with only 17 DIY liveries, it does take a huge chunk out of the annual income. That said, I have the liveries for company more than anything so am not that bothered about making much money out of it ( which is just as well!). I would like to bet a large number of yards don't have any insurance at all, but i already have trouble sleeping at night as it is, I don't need another worry! The sad fact is, if insurance etc., were to be made a legal requirement, a lot of yards would close, meaning less choice, pushing the cost of livery to levels that the average horse owner would never be able to afford. Would anybody disagree with this?
 
So far as I know the only insurance a YO has to have is employer's liability if they employ staff. Because of the current state of the Animals Act and subsequent jurisprudence the horse owners may well have a greater liability than the YO as they are liable for the actions of their animals pretty much no matter what the circumstances. Although as Mike007 says hopefully that state of affairs will not persist much longer - it is how it is now.

To run a riding school you have to be licensed by the local authority; and of course the BHS does have a voluntary recognition scheme both of which would require insurance. But outside of that - if they choose not to insure they don't have to. It needn't put anyone of suing though - and your insurance company certainly will seek to recover losses if you claim against them. A successful suit can force the sale of your house, the yard and other valuable assets. Risky for insurance which really costs only a few pounds a week!
 
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