Equine Law Blog

Consider Addressing Insurance in Your Equine Contract

The right contract language can help avoid disputes or reduce your expense if a dispute should arise.  Details can separate marginal contracts from effective ones. Details can also help prevent legal disputes.  A key detail to consider for a contract is insurance.

Different types of insurance exists for numerous horse-related activities and interests. Here are a few examples of how a contract can address insurance:

Leases

A lease can specify, for example, who is responsible for keeping the leased horse insured with liability, equine mortality, loss of use, or major medical and surgical insurance while the lease is in effect.

Boarding Contracts

Stables can require customers to provide the names of their horses’ mortality insurance carriers as well as the insurers’ emergency contact numbers.  This can help the stable notify an insurer when a horse becomes injured or ill, if the horse’s owner is not available to do this.

Waivers/Releases of Liability

Some stables and equine professionals – acting on the assumption (right or wrong) that uninsured customers could be more likely to file a law suit against them after an injury occurs – require guests or customers to specify in the contracts that they have their own medical insurance.

Discuss these and other provisions of contracts with a knowledgeable lawyer.

Categories: Contracts, Insurance