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I think the point here is that there was no common civil wrong or breach of the Health & Safety at Work Act (HSWA) by Ian or the owner. As pointed out earlier in this thread there has been no demonstratable negligence on Ian’s part. Most Employers’ Liability and Public Liability insurances only cover breaches of the HSWA or civil wrongs.
Chris Kinane’s lawyers are trying to use this Animals Act (which non specialist insurances may not cover) as they know they cannot demonstrate negligence on the part of anyone but can possibly prove strict liability just because someone owns or trains the animal. They may claim a civil wrong (tort) just for owning/training an animal that causes damage. You would think that a business working with animals would have insurance specifying cover for breaches of the Animals Act 1971. Most stables probably do not and that is probably the lesson they all should be taking from all of this. Working with animals may require specialist insurances. Many businesses just buy the cheapest rather than the most appropriate.
Looking at this Animals Act it is clear that it does not extend to Scotland (there might be a Scottish Act I have not found). Shame a Scottish trainer is caught out down south. Even with the strict liability of the Animals Act I think that a robust defence could be fought looking at say contributory negligence by others or the damage was not reasonably forseeable. The cost of this defence without insurance is possibly very expensive.
There have been a few very high payouts concerning injuries recieved due to horses.
Katie Whitcombe who was a schoolgirl at the time was helping out in an equestrian centre. She was about to collect her horse in a field when another horse run into her causing her severe injuries that now require her to receive 24 hour care she won 2.1 million pound damages although she was deemed to have been 30% at fault.
Lincolnshire Arab Horse trainer Sally Wilson received 1.5 million when a horse reared up and caused her severe injuries. Her lawyers proved the owners had not warned Sally Wilson that their horse was ”prone to rearing up as it had done so in the past”.
Horse riding establishments have also have been closing due to the high rate of claims for injuries. They estimate 650 have closed since the Mirvahedy V Henley claim was ruled by the House of Lords to be correct.
When Brighton Marina first started everyone who had a berth there had to have an insurance policy (which covered them in the event they crashed into another boat or damaged the mooring berths) the sum had to be a minimum of £1.5 million and for a 25 foot sailing boat it cost £227.00 a year. As there are some motor cruisers there valued at a few million it was well worth it for just the ‘peace of mind’ aspect.
Racing is a big business but run sometimes very poorly in a lot of ways and it should be a rule that every owner has some sort of insurance policy in place to cover horses not only on racecourses but on gallops and in stables where the majority of accidents take place.
Good luck to them, Linda Perratt would’ve been the last person I’d’ve picked to take over the reins. Still, Cree Lodge is going to be vacant for someone, great.
Quote from seagull – ‘it should be a rule that every owner has some sort of insurance policy in place to cover horses not only on racecourses but on gallops and in stables where the majority of accidents take place.’
Absolutely. It should be a condition of registering a racehorse that a valid insurance certificate is presented, renewed and reviewed annually.
Couldn’t be simpler, could it?
Who would be responsible for introducing this?
The ROA are to introduce a Third Party Liability Insurance Scheme on January 1st which will provide cover for all members. The details have yet to be finalised but the limit is likely to be £5m minimum.
Finally members of the ROA are to receive a significant benefit from what is a fairly hefty membership fee.
So far, though, there has been no move from the BHA to compel all owners to be covered by this type of insurance.
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A great shame that Ian Semple has been put in this position and "Racing PLC" (which will happily hold a black tie dinner for poor old Graham Bradley) has stood by and done absolutely nothing to help him.
We have a few distinguished journalists who read and contribute to this forum – somewhat surprising that none of them have picked up the baton on this subject?
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