Liability Insurance
Liability Insurance.. Understanding your dream and helping you protect it
Click On Name Below To Be Taken To That Section
Equine Personal Liability If you have a standard Homeowners Policy, your liability coverage may not extend to incidents involving your horse. Most Homeowners Policies provide coverage for your personal liability only. The equine liability policy provides protection for bodily injury or property damage caused by your horse ownership or equine activities including boarding, breeding, training or giving riding instructions. This policy provides coverage for the horse owner who is not involved in any other equine professional activity and does not operate their horse ownership as a business. You are protected from liability arising from bodily injury or property damage caused by your horse both on and off premises. Note: If you are involved in a commercial equine operation such as boarding, breeding, training or instructions, you will need to purchase a Commercial Equine Liability Policy. Download a Equine Personal Liability Application To Section List Vital coverage if you perform any commercial equestrian activities such as boarding, instruction, training, breeding, or horse sales. The policy covers liability claims resulting from bodily injury or property damage to others resulting from your horse-related activities. Download a Commercial Equine Application 3 pages, please be patient on download. For a quote of Commercial Equine Liability click below:
Race Horse Owner’s and Trainer’s Commercial General Liability If you own or train racehorses, this policy will provide liability insurance protection for bodily injury or property damage to others caused by your equine activities. The policy can include care, custody and control liability for non-owned horses in your care including during transportation from one racetrack to another. Download a Race Horse Owner’s Trainer’s Commercial General Liability Application large file, please be patient on download
Care, Custody Or Control Liability This is legal liability coverage for horses entrusted to you by their owners. Consider this coverage if you board, train, or breed horses for others. If one of these horses is injured or dies while in your care and you are found negligent, this policy will provide coverage for the medical care or replacement cost of the horse up to the coverage limits. Defense costs are also covered. Various policy limits are available on a per horse/per year basis. To secure a policy, please fill out and fax in application. Care, Custody and Control cannot be placed as a stand-alone policy. You must also place a commercial equine liability policy. Download a Care, Custody or Control Liability Application For a quote of Care, Custody or Control Liability click below: To Section List This coverage is designed to provide liability coverage for member organizations and their public event days. Public event days are those activities to which non-club members or the general public are invited. The basic program provides coverage for up to seven public event days during the year with coverage for additional days available. Riding Clubs And Associations Liability Application (2 pages, please be patient with down load)
For a quote of Riding Clubs and Associates Liability click below: Horse Show and Competition Liability Application Liability coverage is available for single horse shows, clinics, or equestrian events. Coverage is provided for the actual event days and includes days for both set up and take down. Horse Show And Competition Liability Application ( 2 pages, please be patient with down load)
For a quote of Horse Show and Competitve Liability click below: |
Liability Risks
Are You AT Risk?
• More than likely you have protected your equine investment by obtaining mortality insurance and even other coverage such as major medical on your horses.
• However, are you protected if one of your horses injures someone either on your property, at a boarding facility or horse show, racetrack, or even during a trail ride?
- In the event of an injury caused by one of your horses, legal action could be taken against you. The legal fees, court costs, and settlement or damage awards could cost you thousands of dollars if you have not insulated your liability by obtaining Equine Liability Insurance.
- An example of your exposure: You keep your horses at a boarding facility. You are completely detached from the day-to-day supervision of the animal and have entrusted your horse to the boarding facility or trainer. Even though the boarding facility or trainer may have liability insurance, YOU, as the horse owner, will not be exempt from exposure or liability for damage or injury caused by your horse’s bad acts.
- If your horse maims, kills, or injures another person or causes property damage, the boarding facility or trainer’s policy will cover them, if they have such a policy, but what about you? Simply because the boarding facility or trainer has coverage DOES NOT mean that the injured party will not seek damages from you personally or even take legal action against you.
Does Other Insurance Protect Me?
- Protection under the liability insurance obtained by the boarding facility or trainer is not guaranteed and does not prevent the injured party from seeking damages from YOU directly or pursuing legal action against YOU, which will not be covered under the boarding facility or trainer’s policy. For liability to fall solely on the boarding facility or trainer, the negligence would need to be completely theirs. Should that prove to be the case, it would still not prevent you from being named in the lawsuit, requiring you to hire an attorney and incurring legal expenses.
- Homeowner’s policies typically disclaim coverage if you own a horse business under the standard “commercial” or “business pursuit” exclusion endorsement.
- If horse associations provide “liability insurance” as part of their membership, the liability insurance may be excess personal . If that is the case, it likely will only provide coverage to you in excess of your personal liability insurance and coverage may be denied if your horse operation is a business.
- State Equine Liability Immunity Laws may determine liability and reduce settlement values, but they likely do not prevent legal action against you.
What Can I Do?
- Obtain Equine Liability Insurance that protects you and your personal assists in the event your horse causes bodily injury or property damage to others.
- Policies are designed for the Personal Horse Owner or Commercial Operation.
- An Equine Liability Policy will:
- Provide coverage for claims asserted against you for your horses’ acts causing bodily injury or property damage to third parties.
- Include a Duty to Defend clause, which will cover the full cost of defending you in an action brought by the injured party, including attorneys’ fees and court costs.
- Protect you from paying thousands in legal fees and damages.
SMITH-EMBRY INSURANCE ASSOCIATES, INC. CAN HELP!
- We have a number of different policies available for horse owners offering protection from the liability exposures involved with horse ownership.
- EQUINE PERSONAL LIABILITY POLICY: This policy provides coverage for the horse owner who is not involved in any other equine professional activity and does not operate their horse ownership as a business. You are protected from liability arising from bodily injury or property damage caused by your horse both on and off premises.
- EQUINE COMMERCIAL LIABILITY POLICY: This policy is vital coverage if you perform any commercial equestrian activities such as boarding, instruction, training, breeding, or horse sales or operate as a business. The policy covers liability claims resulting from bodily injury or property damage to others resulting from your horse-related activities.
- We also offer a complete line of equine insurance products developed through our association with superior-rated insurance companies specializing in equine insurance products for horses, horse owners, equine businesses, and horse farms.
- Please contact Smith-Embry Insurance Associates for all your equine insurance needs!