Liability exposures in the horse world

Liability is when one person is held responsible for causing bodily injury to another person or for causing damage to another person’s property. This coverage is commonly called “trip and fall” protection because it is very common for claims to arise when a person walks onto the property of another person or into their home and trips and falls over something on the floor. 

Most all homeowner’s insurance policies have coverage for personal liability. The largest portion of the premium for auto insurance is for bodily injury and property damage liability protection. Commercial insurance policies have extensive coverage for the business’s general liability (or GL) and the other liability exposures in the business. 

The monetary responsibility can range from being relatively small to being significantly large depending on the expenses for medical concerns, loss of income, long term care, number of people involved, etc. Loss of life and permanent disabilities have a huge impact on the monetary responsibility. In the event of a judgement resulting from a lawsuit, the responsibility can go into the six, seven, or even eight-digit range. 

Umbrella policies are common in the personal insurance world. As the name implies, an umbrella policy is over and above the underlying coverages, and only kick in when the limits of the underlying coverages are exceeded.  In the commercial world, the term “excess liability” is commonly used in place of umbrella coverage, but the protection functions in a similar way. 

There are many liability exposures in the horse world: GL on a horse farm, liability when boarding horses, liability as a horse owner, liability as an instructor or trainer, liability when transporting horses, etc. It is important to emphasize that if you are sued and the judgement against you exceeds the limits of your liability protection, you are still responsible for the difference. 

Fortunately, excess liability is not commonly needed; as a result, it is not very expensive.  But you never know: if you need it and you have it, it’s a “life saver”. If you need it and don’t have it, your financial future could be destroyed. 

Seriously consider excess liability or umbrella insurance to supplement your existing liability coverage for the many exposures faced in the world of horses. You may be very glad you did! Call us and let’s talk about it.