24th November, 2012 Uberrima Fides and Caveat Emptor

One day I might use these two Latin phrases as names for New Forest ponies. The first, Uberrima Fides means "utmost good faith" and is the name of a legal doctrine which governs insurance contracts. This means that all parties to an insurance contract must deal in good faith, making a full declaration of all material facts in the insurance proposal, i.e. everything that would affect risk. For a business person or a horse owner, it means that you are under a duty to tell the insurer EVERYTHING that affects the amount of risk in the work that you do or the horses that you keep. for example, that you work with semi-feral ponies, horses with behavioural problems or that you ride in a Dually head collar rather than a bridle. If you fail to do so then the insurance company are entitled to say that you are not covered for your work or for your horse. The irony of it all thought is that it is very tricky trying to get an insurance company to say that you are covered for every single thing that you do and it is essential to pin them down. The title 'Freelance Instructor' on its own for example, does not cover the work of a Recommended Associate 

This contrasts with the legal doctrine caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) which rules the sale of most goods including horses. This means that unless a vendor lies, for example states orally or in writing that the horse does not bite when in fact it does, the purchaser cannot say that they were mis-sold the horse even if the horse is in fact dangerous. I have just written an article for the Spring IH magazine on the importance of setting criteria when horse-hunting and the importance of asking the right questions and testing what you are told.