You may have read on the BBC this week about a nine year old girl who was thrown from a startled riding school pony on a beach in Lincolnshire. This story has multiple elements and parties involved who could potentially be legally liable for the incident should an insurance claim be made.
We caught up with our Horse Insurance Specialist Anthony Burnett for a closer look at the insurance side of this incident:
“This scenario touches on a couple of our key insurance products; riding school insurance and pet insurance.
Thankfully, from what we can see in the video the young rider doesn’t appear to be badly injured. The video does however make you wonder who would be liable in this situation had she not have been so lucky and sustained injuries as a result of the fall.
As part of their risk assessment of this young rider, the riding school should have carefully assessed her riding ability and the pony on which she was riding before they were taken out of the riding school and into a public environment.
If however, despite appropriate risk assessments, the riding school were found to have been negligent, their public liability insurance would respond to a claim for injury and/or damage to property. Public liability insurance is necessary in order for a riding school to have a valid licence, which is a legal requirement.
If the dog owner was found to have been negligent then a claim could be made against their pet insurance policy, provided the dog was insured for public liability.”
About SEIB
SEIB Insurance Brokers are specialists in equestrian insurance, funeral directors insurance and private hire insurance. We are able to provide flexible policies to suit individual client needs and provide advice on what cover is needed. For more information call the team on 01708 850 000.
