Liability Insurance?

[MyMiniGal]

I hadn't thought of this, until yesterday. I was with Halo and walking her around, and I had a 7-8 yr. old boy, come and walk beside us and kept touching Halo, and just getting in the way. I was nice to him and tried to teach him what to do and what not to do around horses. But is made me nervous, as ever since I have had Halo, no child has ever touched, her that I know of. It made me think about liability insurance. Do you all have that on your mini's? Since I board, I honestly, don't know what is happening with her, when I am not there. I certainly don't want to get sued, because someone wasn't smart enough to not let their child around a strange horse, no matter what size they are, and as you all know, our min's are so cute, we draw that sort of attention, and that people don't think of them as "horses". Anyway, I am doing a search, and was going to check that out. But if you do have insurance on your horses, what companies have you gone through and was sort of prices are there, for just one mini?

 

[MountainWoman]

If you board, you're boarding barn should be carrying liability insurance. If you have instructions with your barn manager not to let anyone other than her staff handle your horse then I would think (I'm NOT an attorney) if someone got hurt, she/he would be responsible. If on the other hand, you have given permission for barn visitors to be able to interact with your mini then yes, in my opinion you need insurance. You might want to have a talk with your barn manager about what kind of liability insurance they are carrying and when and if it extends to boarders.

Not sure if your homeowners will extend to a boarding barn situation. Maybe someone else can answer that.

 

[targetsmom]

We have our liability (and all the farm, home, and auto) coverage through Farm Family. You may THINK you are covered by your homeowners policy but unless you have special coverage, you probably aren't. For example, if you take your horse to a show you are probably not covered..... Check with your insurance agent.

 

[MyMiniGal]

I am pretty sure, we aren't covered, by our homeowners, as since I board, she isn't even here, but I will check anyway. They may have some sort of insurance, I can get through them, I guess. I plan on asking the boarding place, on exactly what they have, but that wouldn't cover us, if I take her someplace. I feel we need something on her, I just don't want it to be super expensive, since we already have to pay for boarding. Thank you for the replies, so far.

 

[MyMiniGal]

I did just find, a 1 million liability policy, for $20 a month. That sounds really reasonable, and it covers no matter where your horse, is , I think.

 

[Max's Mom]

I had similar questions so I checked in with my homeowner's policy company a while ago. I'd recommend doing that before spending extra money on another policy. It is my understanding that if your horse is being boarded and you aren't giving lessons, pony rides, inviting kids to work with your horse, etc. you'd be covered by many homeowner's policies if someone climbed a fence or otherwise interacted with your horse without your knowledge or permission. But you do need to TELL your insurance agent that you have your horse, and what the situation is. I'd also recommend talking with the owner of the barn to see what they are covered for.

 

[Riverrose28]

For your situation I think Liability would be enough. We also do parades and demos, 4-H, ect. and the organizations carry ins. just in case something happens. In fact one time during a parade the blue angels flew over and one of the horses backed into a car, and it was covered. another time a little girl was kicked by a horse at a 4-h event and broke her arm, her family didn't have health care, so it was also covered.

 

[MyMiniGal]

Thank you, I will call my company next week, as most places are closed today and then of course, on Monday. At least, I did find something affordable, if our homeowners, doesn't cover it. I hadn't even thought about telling them, since I didn't have her at our home. Wasn't until a child, I didn't know, was petting and walking with us. I had to tell him several times, to leave her face alone, as she was eating. I wasn't sure how she would be with that. He at least is leaving today, and won't be there anymore, but want to be prepared for another kid, if they show up. They have RV parking and he was visiting his grandparent's.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I did not know ANY homeowner's policy covered equines. This question came up a couple of years ago and there was lots of discussion and research. Policies will cover almost any animal EXCEPT equines. Horses are too unpredictable and are out and and about in public places.

Cities do not cover us for our horses in parades. Fairs do not cover us when we take them for demos or petting. No one wants to touch equines with a ten foot insurance pole.

I checked in OK for insurance at that time and there was nothing under $300+ a year.

Every state is also different. No one should assume he is covered.

 

[MyMiniGal]

What I found, was a policy that would be $250 annually. It is probably what I will have to go with. I can't imagine my homeower's policy covering it.

 

[Minimor]

My case is a bit different since we live on an acreage

And have "farm insurance" rather than "homeowners insurance"--I have $1000000.00 liability coverage on the horses at no extra cost--it is simply a part of my farm insurance.

As said no one should assume they have coverage--always confirm with your insurance company. I also wouldn't assume that a boarded horse is covered by the barn owners insurance. If something did happen and someone got injured by your horse, that person would berkeley to sue everyone involved--the horse owner, the handler and the barn owner--that is how it usually goes. Sue everyone and hope for a good payout from at least one party.

Here we can also join our provincial horse sport governing body (Manitoba horse council or Saskatchewan horse federation for example--the provincial bodies are all affiliated with the national organization, Equine Canada) and for $45 per year we get a membership which includes really good liability insurance. Can't beat that price, nor the coverage! One horse or ten or fifty, that $45 membership covers them all.

 

[MyMiniGal]

Forty-five, for a whole year, would be awesome! I really doubt we have any on our home policy, especially, since we live in the city limits, where we can't even have a horse.

 

[MyMiniGal]

I did find out today, that the state I live in, Oregon, does have statutes to cover a lot of issues with Equine that would come up, but from my understanding, it wouldn't cover like...if I was out and about on a trail, or walking my mini down the road and a child came running out and she kicked them. Things are covered, as with boarding, and any put on activies like clinics, shows, parades, things like that. So for now, I am covered with everything I do with her. If I start taking her places and out and about, then it would have to be to some Equine thing or I would then need insurance, but it does sort of let me get the cheapest insurance, if I need any at all.

 

[amysue]

Most home owners policies do not cover equines, and if they do the coverage is very limited and they would not cover any injury or damage if you were boarding other horses at your house or offering lessons/ pony rides etc. I carry 1 million dollars liability and 2 million in property damage for my boarding facility through equisure. I also use farm family for auto and commercial insurance. If you call around looking for quotes, just explain what your situation is and they will be able to help you buy the right amount of coverage. Also you may look into the United States Equestrian federation, as a $32 non competing membership gives you coverage for some things non commercial (like riding lessons/ coaching) which is probably all you need.

 

[MyMiniGal]

Thank you, I am going to check out that United States Equestrian Federation. That sounds like a good way to go and have some extra coverage, that the state may not cover. Thank you so much.

 

[Jill]

That's been a concern of mine whenever we do things with the horses, or let people come and do things with our horses. It's been a long time ago now, be we used to have a dad come by with his son, and his friend with his friend's son, every other weekend -- when they had their boys. They'd come for cart rides. One boy was deaf and autistic. His dad said he never laughed so much as when he was in the cart and he would throw his arms around Eclipse when we were done. AND the "relationship" between us started with me thinking some stupid redneck was trying to make me wreck my cart when he yelled out his truck window at me LOL! It went from me wanting to basically flip the bird to a situation that routinely had me in happy tears.

My advice would be to talk to your agent about what is and is not okay to do on and off your property. I'd also recommend most people consider an "Umbrella Policy", which is a policy that picks up after the limits of your liability under homeowner's and auto leave off. In our case, there are restrictions regarding what we can and cannot do, to maintain coverage, with our horses when it comes to other people interacting with them.

Part of my career involves the insurance industry, but on the life / health insurance side (and honestly, just really because I need that licensing to do fixed / guaranteed annuities for clients it makes sense for -- I am not licensed for liability insurance or property and casualty insurance). But because part of my job is to help my clients make sure they are protected as best as possible against financial loss, I do always recommend looking into an umbrella policy. It is not expensive, and it's the kind of thing you would get from the agent who handles you home and auto coverage.

One bad thing about our world today is that you don't have to be wrong or doing anything bad to be successfully sued. You basically just have to be unlucky. So this umbrella coverage is a good thing to look into, along with being sure you are not doing anything to jeopardize the coverage you already have in place. If so, you may be able to have an attorney draft a waiver for not a lot of money, or even find one online, that would be at least some form of protection.

The situations vary from state to state, and a lot of people have different understandings of how things would really work (and the best of intentions). Lots of people will give advice with the best intentions, but without a full understanding of the rules, regulations, laws, etc. It just varies so much depending on where you live and one person may think their own situation was similar, or advice they heard and thought was good applies, but it really may not be the case. I think your first step should be a call to your P&C Insurance agent and ask her / him what you have posed here (and also, ask about that umbrella policy!).

Good luck.

 

[shorthorsemom]

There was a case locally a few years ago that made the papers... Horse got loose, folks were chasing horse around in dark with flashlights. Horse was wearing blanket with reflective strips and even with folks waving and yelling and waving flashlights a car went around them and hit the horse on the road killing it. Driver was drunk. Horse died. Owners of horse were sued for drivers injuries which exceeded 100K. Driver of car won law suit. I put a rider on my insurance to cover in case my horses should ever get out and get hit by a car. My insurance company couldn't believe that driver won that law suit, said it set a new guideline on what could be sued by. I think they put a lein on her property and everything. I also heard of another girl whose horse made it out onto the road and folks that hit the horse sustained major injury and she was barred by the courts from owning horses.

Also I have heard of cases where owners use invisible fences for their dogs and somebody tresspasses on their property and successfully sues dog owner for dog bite.

I have another friend who was visiting a friends house and the friends dog was zooming around and accidently hit her in the knee causing extensive damage. When her insurance company found out that the dog injury was not caused by her own dog but by somebody elses dog on their property they would not cover her injuries and instead forced her to sue the friends insurance company to cover the cost of repairing her knee. Her friend was heartbroken that she would sue them, but it was really out of her hands. her company would NOT pay any medical expenses. In hindsight if she had told doctor her own dog had injured her knee she would have been paid for and other friend would not have been sued. Don't think it is your choice. My daughter fell in the barn and got stitches in her chin. I was bombarded by insurance calls that wanted verification that this injury occured on my property. When my horse bit off my thumbnail and broke my thumb, same thing... many questions as to whose horse did the injury.

you just never know what you will be sued for.

 

[MyMiniGal]

See, this is my point...one can't be too careful. Too many variables can happen. I'm going to get something as extra, as the state doesn't cover everything.

 

[MountainWoman]

Jill gave you very good advice. Things happen today and unfortunately many people want to find someone to blame and sue. The only one who can really tell you the facts are a local, licensed insurance agent but I still say check with your boarding barn owners and see what their policy covers in relation to their boarders or ask if you can call their insurance agent to discuss how the policy applies (or doesn't) to your horse. In Vermont, barns that board have to be carrying liability insurance that usually extends to boarders in some situations.

Every state is different and can even vary by county.

That being said I always want children who are supervised by me to be around the minis. It's good for the horses, good for the children and you just can't socialize your horses enough to different people and situations in my opinion. That's really the first step in getting out and having fun doing parades and therapy work, etc. - socialize those horses to all different situations that might arise. And I've learned from working with my full size horse that if you are holding a lead line (leash on dogs too) and you tense up and tighten your muscles, the dog or horse is going to think something is wrong since you are the alpha and respond as if there is a threat.

Maybe that's a different topic though and one can never have too much liability insurance.

 

[MyMiniGal]

Yes, it probably is another topic, but yes, I want Halo use to all kinds of people, my nerves came due to, I am still new at dealing with Halo and if she startles or spooks. Didn't want that child getting pushed over by her, if she happened to, as we are new to that boarding place and still figuring out what is startling her...like yesterday, we walked by the lawnmower, that we have walked by several times already, but for some reason, she was scared of it and pushed really hard into me. If that had been that child, he would of fell over, I am sure. Certainly, didn't want to only be at a place, for under a week, and have an accident happen.