15 June, 2012

You may recall in October last year our Claims Manager, Paul Haddrell, wrote a piece explaining the importance of public liability cover for horse owners.  That remains an important message today.  However, in the light of a recent Court of Appeal decision we have asked Kelvin Farmaner, Partner and Head of the Insurance Litigation Team with regional Law Firm Trethowans LLP, to let us have an update.

Kelvin writes…

In the case of Kara Goldsmith v Robert Bradley Patchcott 2012 the Court of Appeal have provided a helpful decision for defendants.

The background to this case is that the Claimant had been riding a horse named Red, which was being looked after by the Defendant whilst he tried to re-home him. The Claimant was an experienced horsewoman and was considering taking the horse. During the ride the horse reared up and the Claimant was thrown to the ground. She was struck by the horse's hoof and suffered severe facial injures.

The Claimant claimed damages on the basis of strict liability which means a keeper of an animal may be found responsible, irrespective of whether he or she was at fault. The Court of Appeal decided that the requirements for strict liability were satisfied. However, there is a defence if the damage is suffered by a person who has voluntarily accepted the risk of injury. The Claimant argues that although she was aware Red could be startled and could buck she had only accepted the risk of normal bucking rather than the violent bucking which in fact occurred. The Court rejected this narrow interpretation.

This is a common sense decision by the courts and a helpful one for animal owners.  It is still important to make sure you have insurance cover for your animals but this does mean that not all claims will succeed.

This update has been provided by Kelvin Farmaner of Trethowans LLP Insurance Litigation Team. Kelvin and the team represented the successful party in the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords in the leading equine and animal liability decision of Mirvahedy v Henley (in which the courts defined the responsibilities of keepers of animals under Section 2 of the Animals Act 1971). The team has since gone on to develop a niche practice in this field.

Trethowans LLP is a major regional law firm with offices based in the South and South West of England.  For more information visit www.trethowans.com.