Posted: 8th September 2020 | Back to news feed
The majority of our horse insurance team here at SEIB own and ride horses themselves and therefore have a true understanding of what makes a good livery yard and how much work goes into making one successful.
Running a livery yard can be extremely challenging, with a lot of responsibility for both keeping the business profitable and keeping the animals in your care safe. Whether you have a home yard, just renting out a couple of stables, or if you’re running a large equestrian centre, having the right insurance cover to protect you and your business is critical.
SEIB Insurance Brokers’ in-house Equestrian Liability expert Kathryn Purcell has been advising Livery Yards on insurance for 12 years. We spoke to her to find out what cover she considers to be the essential for livery yards.
“One of the biggest misconceptions we see with regards to Livery Yard Insurance is that customers often think that if they are running a DIY livery yard they don’t need insurance – this is not the case. If you’re running a yard and offering your services – DIY or full livery – it is down to you to take full responsibility for all aspects of the business.
With that in mind, I recommend that all livery yards ensure they consider all of the types of cover detailed below:
Public Liability Insurance
Despite this not being a legal requirement, this is arguably the most important aspect of cover for a livery yard business. It covers you, as a business, if a client or member of the public suffers an injury or loss on the premises - for example they are injured when tripping up on your premises–and they decide to make a claim against you for compensation. This protection will also cover any other legal costs related to that claim. Even if you ensure all the Livery clients have their own Public Liability Insurance, there is still the potential for a claim to fall back to you as the Livery Yard owner, for example the livery horses escaping from the field due to a fault in the fencing.
With a specialist Livery Yard Insurance policy from SEIB you will also be covered for Care, Custody and Control which provides cover for the horses should they be injured whilst you are caring for or handling them and you are found responsible for the injury or death.
Employers’ Liability Insurance
As an employer, you are responsible for the health and safety of your employees while they are at work. If an employee suffers an injury or falls ill, you may be held liable.
Employers’ liability insurance cannot prevent accidents from happening, but in the event that they do, it will cover the legal and compensation expenses arising from a claim.
Buildings, contents and stock
This type of insurance will cover any damage or disastrous events that affect the use of your buildings. If you rent the yard, land and buildings you will need to have a conversation with your landlord to decide whose responsibility this insurance is.
We often see that people overlook certain types of buildings, so it’s important to remember that you not only need cover for your stables, but also any other outbuildings such as storage barns and any items or stock stored inside them.
Do you cut and store your own hay in a barn? If the barn were to flood and ruin a whole year’s worth of hay, this policy could provide compensation.
SEIB are also able to cover domestic properties and their contents if it’s on the same premises as the Livery Yard business – a benefit as it keeps your Livery Yard Insurance and household in one place.
Business Interruption Cover
Many livery yards choose not to include this cover but it is extremely important and could keep you out of financial trouble if your business ground to a halt because of an incident that resulted in property damage.
Business Interruption cover is closely linked to Buildings, Contents and Stock cover as it would come into play to protect you against any loss of income (or increased costs of working) resulting from the property damage incident.
An example would be if you were a livery yard owner who has 30 horses, but less than five acres of turnout. The stables flood and there is not enough turnout for all of the horses to be turned away whilst the stables are drained and repaired. Your clients temporarily move their horses elsewhere and you are left out of pocket. Business Interruption insurance would cover this loss of earnings.
About SEIB
SEIB have been arranging Horse Insurance, Livery Yard Insurance and Riding School Insurance for over 50 years. If you would like to request a quote for your Livery Yard Insurance please click here. Most of our horse insurance team own and ride horses themselves and have a true understanding what makes a good livery yard and how much work goes into making one successful.
Request a quote for your Livery Yard Insurance .
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