ASKHQ: PUBLIC LIABILITY COVER

Q: What is public liability cover and how does it work? When can or can’t you claim?

A: Public liability cover is insurance cover that you can purchase to protect you in the event that your horse causes damage to a third party. This damage may be either an injury to a person or damage to property. Without public liability cover, you as the owner of the horse causing the damaging could become responsible for the costs.

A court of law would determine if you are or are not responsible. Sometimes it may be decided that you are fully responsible and other times it may be declared that you are only partially negligent. Even in the case of partial negligence, however, it is likely that you will be responsible for some of the costs and some of the legal fees incurred in establishing responsibility.

The most important thing that you can do to protect yourself is to keep accurate records. If there is ever an incident where another person is involved, it is a good idea to record all the details of what happened, while not admitting any wrongdoing. This should be done at the time of the incident so that the details are fresh in your memory.

If you have public liability cover, you can, at this point give your broker a call and hand over the details of the incident. Your broker or insurer will then deal directly with the third party, and perhaps their broker or insurer.

Your insurer will, dependent on the circumstances and facts, either settle the claim on your behalf or defend it – either way you will be protected from the cost of the claim, which can be very high.

Answered by Equipage Insurance Brokers