Private Horse Owners Liability Insurance

[Seasons]

Hello all!

I figured this may be a good place to ask - I apologize if this has been discussed previously - but I really need some advice, tips, etc. on what it takes to keep horses at your own home. Hubby and I are house hunting, and I am looking at the benefits (well, mostly financial benefits) of keeping your horse at your house. I do understand the physical labor that goes into keeping a horse at your own home. I have owned horses for years (boarding though) and I do understand the commitment and demands of caring for one (no matter the weather, if you’re sick, what have you…)

I am wondering what type of insurance you have (or suggest having) when keeping your horse at your home. I have been doing some research and I have been looking into what it costs for Private Horse Owners Liability Insurance. I believe where I live it is not mandatory to have, but, of course I would certainly not think about NOT having it. Would anyone mind sharing what company you use, if you have this type of insurance, and if so, roughly what it costs (if you’re comfortable sharing)? Is there any other type of insurance you suggest carrying (for private barn, not commercial)? I should say that I am planning on having two horses at most on property, and will not be boarding any horses. I’m looking more into the purpose in covering myself should horse run out into road and injure someone, etc.

I am totally open to any advice, wake-up calls, or tips you would be willing to share. I currently board my horse right now, but would like to see the cost of keeping horse at home vs. boarding (besides the obvious benefits of not worrying about taking vacations, having someone on property 24/7, etc).

TIA

[SMF11]

I thought your own horses at your own private farm were covered under your homeowners’ policy.

In case I am wrong, my liability policy for my small farm boarding retired horses is $500/year to give you an idea of costs. I use Broadstone as the insurance agency, they specialize in horse properties/businesses.

[casper324]

Your Homeowners will cover your liability for your horses up to xxx dollar amount your policy calls for…

The USEF includes a 100,000 liability policy with membership, best 65.00 per year I spend IMHO as additional “horse” insurance.

[SPF10]

Keep 2 at home, we have a general liability umbrella policy coverage is $1M for only $400 year. Covers if anybody tries to sue for anything, we also own a business as well as horses so we must be rich right?? people tend to see $$$ signs when they hear that, little do they know…

[Seasons]

Ok, I was not sure if Homeowners covered horses or not. I was reading up on it, and it had said that Homeowners only covers dogs and cats, not livestock. But, that’s what I get for reading some random website on the 'net.

Yes SPF, didn’t you know?!? You own horse, horse = $$$$$ Duh!

Apparently we have struck windfall if we own a horse (sometimes I do feel that way, but you know, when the vet comes, or when board is due, I get knocked back down to reality.)

Thank you for sharing everyone!

[LauraKY]

Talk to your insurance agent. We have a $1M umbrella policy, but since we have a boarder, we also have care, custody and control.

[ryansgirl]

I use Corinthian Insurance for Private Horse Owner’s Liability - $150/year for my two horses… but I do board my horses and I don’t own my own property so not sure how this insurance would affect you. But this company is great to deal with :).

http://www.corinthianinsurance.com/

[Rabtfarm]

@SPF: When we bought our farm, the seller, an eighty plus year old widower, kept singing " Free at Last, thank God Almighty, I’m free at last…" and he didn’t own any livestock!! He was just glad to be out from under the farm ‘life sentence’… so if anyone sues us, I’ll make sure that all our assets AND LIABILITIES get passed right along…haha.
We have an LLc here because we offer cross country schooling to eventors. We try to vette as many riders as we get, and have strict rules regarding ground folk, helmets, etc. Because of this we also have a farm liability package as well as our homeowner policy.
Most homeowner’s policies cover up to 5 horses of your own as part of their coverage. This definitely calls for an insurance agent call. Unfortunately that will just cost you more insurance money (somehow) but it beats finding out you have none. Homeowners plus umbrella should cover your needs.
Sometimes I am unsure about the financial rationale of keeping horses at home. It still runs us about $200 per horse per month in shavings, hay and shoes and vets, etc so the savings is about half an oiutside board bill. For two hundred a month I do all this? Ha, you just have to love it!

You will also learn about mini-vacations. That is where you go to a show/event and get 2 days off from the farm. This is where you learn to cultivate a core group of responsible adults who allow you to leave the farm and know that these folks will take good care of the farm, the livestock, the rest of the menagerie(dogs, cats, chickens, etc).

So Seasons, have fun, enjoy the ride and good luck on your farm hunting.
PS: Do not be afraid to knock on the door of the farm you really want. That’s how we got our farm. It took a year after an initial no, but eventually it came to fruition.

[Bluey]

I just reviewed all that with our insurance agent.
As long as you don’t charge anyone for anything, no lessons, leases, boarding, you are insured just from your regular homeowners and farm liability insurance up to whatever that may be, generally 1 mil.

That doesn’t mean someone may not sue you, just that the insurance will go to bat with you and pay up to that of any settlement.

Landowners are a sitting duck if something happen, just hope no one can say you didn’t take care of things and you were negligent.

[drawstraws]

Hallmark Equine Insurance (www.hallmarkhorse.com). You can get a policy ranging from $150 to $250 for the year, depending on which limit of coverage you choose ($300,000, $500,000 or $1,000,000, all with a double aggregate) and it will cover up to five horses for that price. Very easy to get in place - one short application and payment and you’re all set.

[Seasons]

Thanks again everyone!

Rab, funny you say that. There was a house for sale two years ago that DH and I really liked and walked through it during an open house. It was the right location, right amount of living space, was up to date, and had three horse stalls in the barn, with two pastures (one of which they used as an outdoor arena). Unfortunately, the timing just wasn’t right for us. Before we even had a chance to second guess ourselves, the house sold two weeks later. We still drive by that house and often think “if only…” We know the house sold for $40k less they were asking. Now some kid lives there and, of course, does not have horses. His house, his decision, but I do get a little sad and think what a waste of beautiful pony space!

I was just telling DH that I know the kid has only lived there for two years (and no, I am not a stalker, but happen to drive by all the time on my way to work), but I was thinking of just knocking on the door and being like “yeah, so I like your house…wanna move?..” But then I worry that they think I am desperate and will say “sure” and double their asking price! LOL.

Our price budget isn’t high (under $200k), so it can be hard to find everything on our “want” list (which isn’t even a lot, really!), but I know that there have been a couple of houses that have been in our price range with the acreage, etc. I think it’s because now we are serious about buying that we are jinxed! Grrr. If there’s no barn, we have to figure out ok, what type of fencing? Can we build a pole barn? How much? Check county/township ordinances. “Will the neighbors hate us if we have ponies?”… “Will the neighbor kids try to feed my pony chocolate while I am at work?”… “Will neighbors try riding my pony while I am work?”… “Hopefully neighbors think mucking stalls is fun and will clean pony poop while I’m at work!” … my brain just. won’t. stop.

Thanks again for all of the input you have given me! We will get there, hopefully soon. Just a frustrating process (whoever said house hunting was fun had to be mistaken!) :-/

[SLW]

[QUOTE=SMF11;6249284]
I thought your own horses at your own private farm were covered under your homeowners’ policy.

In case I am wrong, my liability policy for my small farm boarding retired horses is $500/year to give you an idea of costs. I use Broadstone as the insurance agency, they specialize in horse properties/businesses.[/QUOTE]

And so did I for 15 years until last summer when I was double checking something with my agent. I needed an additional policy to cover problems my horses might cause here at home. Thank my lucky stars nothing stupid had happened prior to this. :winkgrin:

[lilitiger2]

We have an umbrella policy in addition to our homeowners.

I love having my horses home but as others have said, it is a big logistical consideration. Here, I put out something close to $2100 every July (depending on the hay season) for 17 tons of hay and then usually buy 3-4 more tons in March. Not to mention farrier, feed and the logistics of hauling to the vet, manure management (we bought a skidsteer which I love but another expense) and care coverage.

But, I just love wandering out whenever I feel like it, just checking, saying hi, checking flymasks, scratching, burying my nose in their coats. And, most importantly, at MY house, things get done MY way:D and that ALWAYS goes better!

[pony_grandma]

Our State Horse Council is a great bargain.

Membership gets you a free ticket to the equine fair each year and they offer a $1M umbrella policy to top off my home owners that covers us. $25 for membership + $20 for the insurance. Nice price! Check into your state and/or organizations that you can join. And the membership helps give their numbers clout.

[Frank_B]

Five years ago I had an Assurant $1 Million per event, $2 Million annual aggregate policy that cost $235 per year.

It was purchased through BroadstoneEquine.com.

[PortPonies]

Be careful if your barn will be big in proportion to your house. We have just one horse and no commercial activity, but to properly insure our buildings (indoor arena and barn valued at appx $80K, house & garages valued at appx $120K), we found we had to carry farm insurance – which was much more expensive because of the equine liability. Up to 2 horses were allowed with the residential policy, but the residential policy only allowed for 20-25% of the home value for coverage for “outbuildings” (enough for a typical garage, but not enough to cover the barn structures).

[Chocz]

General liability insurance cost are ranging from 350$ - 700$ depending the coverage like legal and medical cost. Since you are planning to keep your horse in your home, homeowners can also give you insurance for that. There are lots of companies offering their services for that. You can get their quotes online.

[KYdiana]

An update to this discussion. I have had all my insurance with Sate Farm for decades, including an umbrella policy. I have owned horses for most of that time and had them at my home for a number of years. Never had a claim even remotely associated with the horses. I have now been abruptly advised by State Farm that they are cancelling my umbrella policy because of my horse ownership and involvement in competitive endurance riding. They found out about the endurance riding because I made the mistake of inquiring about liability, in addition to property damage coverage, for my new LQ horse trailer. The reason I inquired had nothing to do with horses but instead about the LQ aspect (if, for example, a guest was injured while staying with me in the LQ).

I have been told they will not insure anyone with more than 2 horses and then ONLY if the horses are basically just ridden around the pasture for fun. It makes no difference that I currently have no horses at home–they are all boarded, that KY has an equine liability shield statute, that I have excess liability insurance with 3 different organizations I belong to for horse-related accidents. I am as mad as a hornet and wondering when they are going to tell me that they are cancelling my homeowners.

I am posting this both to ask what companies others have their homeowners and umbrella policies through AND as a warning. Apparently this clause about horses has been in the policy for a couple of years (not an exclusion, a total refusal to issue any coverage whatsoever). I am now wondering if they would have denied coverage for ANY claim under the umbrella policy if I had had one regardless of whether it involved horses by claiming that the policy was fraudulently obtained (because I had horses). I obviously never tried to hide my horse ownership from them because I have had a number of different horse trailers and my horse barn insured with them for years, but we all know how insurance companies operate.

[mmeqcenter]

Homeowner’s insurance covers liability for the horses on your property, usually up to 5 horses (some companies may be more, some less). For more horses, you’d need a Farm Insurance policy instead.

[Palm_Beach]

For most people, a $1 million policy is excessive, unless they have $1 million to lose. For someone to sue you, they need to hire a lawyer. The lawyer will have an agreement to bill them hourly or the lawyer will work on contingency, meaning the lawyer will get a percentage of any award. Before agreeing to work on contingency, a lawyer will absolutely confirm that you have the means to pay an award. Let’s say it goes to trial and you are found to be liable and the plaintiff is awarded $500,000 - which is unusual. How will you pay that? You’d start by selling everything, but any liens would be paid before the plaintiff. So how much money do you think will be in your pocket after you liquidate and pay off all the loans? THAT is what the lawyer will determine before agreeing to file a suit against you and work on contingency.