Animal Injury Claims

When you first contact us, we’ll arrange a consultation with an animal accident claim expert, whether it involved horses, cows, dogs or anything else. They’ll take time to understand what’s happened to you and how we can help. If we believe you’ve got a claim, we’ll discuss funding options available to you. 

Next, we’ll gather evidence to support your claim. This includes medical reports, any witness statement or CCTV, and the opinion of independent medical experts. These experts will be crucial when it comes to settling your claim, as they’ll be able to advise us on how your injuries will affect your life.

Once we’ve got the evidence, we’ll take your claim to the owner of the animal, if applicable. If they immediately accept fault, we’ll start working to get you interim payments to help cover any expenses you’ve had already. These payments will be taken off your final compensation amount.

If the other side doesn’t accept fault, or disagrees with the compensation amount, we’ll have to start court proceedings. Although we always try to avoid going to court, sometimes it’s the best way to resolve your claim or get you the best settlement amount. We’ll be with you every step of the way.

Because every animal accident claim is different, there’s no set amount of compensation. The amount of compensation you’ll be able to claim depends on:

• How severe your injuries are and how well you’ve been able to recover
• The costs of your current and future medical care, including treatment costs for the rest of your life if necessary
• If you’ve lost (or will lose) any income through work absence or unemployment
• Any adaptations you’ve needed to your home or vehicle because of your injury
• Training costs for alternative employment, if applicable
• Out-of-pocket expenses caused by the accident.

In cases involving injuries caused by any horses or ponies you might own, the compensation amount also depends on:

• Veterinary fees to treat your animal, if applicable
• Retraining costs for your own horse or pony, if there are issues when riding on the road
• Loss of value of your horse or pony, if their injuries are likely to cause this
• Damage to your riding equipment and additional expenses (if you’ve had to pay someone else to take care of your horse during your recovery).

While bumps and bruises often happen when working with and riding horses, more serious injuries can be life-changing and prevent you from enjoying horses in the future.

A kick from a horse could leave serious bruising or broken bones. Falling from a horse, especially at speed, can have devastating consequences, including spinal damage, head injury and paralysis.

If riding a horse on a road, it’s likely that you will come across travelling vehicles. Most of the time, there is a mutual respect and common courtesy between drivers and horse riders. Drivers should slow down to pass horses on the road.

But this isn’t always the case. If you believe a driver could’ve caused your accident, you could make a claim.

While riders and those working with horses know that a certain amount of risk is involved, they also have a right to protection from preventable accidents.

If you work at a stable, livery yard, trekking centre or similar, your employer must make sure that:

• They provide you with the correct equipment and training
• Their facilities meet safety requirements
• They give you horses you're capable of handling.

If any animal has a history of aggressive or unpredictable behaviour, your employer should tell you. These precautions also apply if you’re taking riding lessons or going on a hack.

While falls sometimes happen at competitions and gymkhanas, venue owners and event organisers must make sure that the correct safety measures are in place. Common examples of negligence include:

• Faulty jumps
• Unsuitable riding surfaces
• Obstacles left in the wrong place
• Insufficient barriers between the riding area and the audience.

In certain circumstances, the owner or keeper of the horse may be strictly liable for the injuries you sustained. Our specialist lawyers will discuss your accident circumstances with you and advise you about a possible claim.

If you’ve been injured by a cow or a dog, it’s important to contact us as soon as possible.

To help support your claim, you should:

• Keep a record of the police incident number if you have one
• Get the name and address of the farmer, landowner or owner of the cow or dog
• Collect contact details from any witnesses who saw what happened
• Keep records of any medical appointments you attend
• Keep receipts for prescriptions, travel, and medical costs you’ve had to pay
• Take photos of your injuries immediately after the incident if possible, and any scarring that follows.

We understand that when you’ve been injured, your first concern isn’t collecting evidence. When we take your claim, we’ll start by collecting any other evidence you might’ve missed.

Although cows are generally docile, they can be unpredictable, and you may be  injured while working with them. We could help you make a claim if a cow injures you.

We can also help if you’ve been injured, despite not working with cows directly. Without the correct safety measures, cows can escape their enclosures, stampede, or become very distressed. They can then endanger or injure other farmworkers as well as their handlers. Your employer has a duty of care to make sure you’re as safe as possible at work, whether you work with the animals yourself or not.

If you’ve been injured by a cow while at work, our lawyers are here to help.

We’ve helped clients claim for several injuries caused by a dog bite. This includes:

• Nerve damage
• Facial scars
• Cuts and lacerations
• Infections
• Bruises and soft tissue damage
• Psychological impact.

Under the Animals Act 1971, any person who keeps animals may be found strictly liable for the harm or injury caused to other people.

This means that if a cow injures you, you can potentially make a compensation claim against the owner.

The Animals Act is often criticised for being difficult to navigate, as it often seems ambiguous or unfair. As specialists in cow injury claims, we know the ins and outs of the Animals Act very well. We’ll listen to what happened to you, and we can tell you if you have a claim.