Horse vs. Truck, Insurance Question?

My husband drives a pulp truck, he's an owner operator. Yesterday he was driving and a horse ran out in front of him. The horse was running at full speed and he didn't see it coming until it was too late, he tried to stop but didn't have enough time. The police said they'd been chasing the horse all day. The insurance company says there's probably nothing they can do, he'll have to pay for the damage himself. He was obviously not at fault, the police agreed that he wasn't at fault. Has anyone ever been in a situation like this before? And does anyone know what would make a horse run like that?

This is the horse owners responsibility. I have had this happen with a dog that I hit and dented my bumper. The dog owner was found liable and required to pay for repairs.

He needs to speak with an attorney as soon as possible. This is a direct liability issue resting with the owner of the horse and, depending on the police report and associated facts, may rest on negligence.

He should read his policy and contact your state insurance department .

if he tried to file a claim with both his insurance and the insurance of the owner of the horse, then it is time to call a lawyer. they will take it on contingency. if it is not a great deal of damage, the lawyer may only have to write a letter.

he will ask for damages to the vehicle, as well as lost wages while the truck is being repaired.

you did contact both insurance companies, right?

This is not right. If your husband has FULL COVERAGE on his truck, then his insurance should take care of it. This is similar to if he had hit a pole, or something where no other person's vehicle was involved. His premium is likely to go up after the claim, or the insurance company may decide to drop him all together after they pay out the claim though. Now, he may have some recourse with finding the owner of the horse and try to collect damages from that person. perhaps the person had insurance on the horse, but not likely. Horses are pets, if your husband had run over a dog, and popped a tire or smashed the fender a bit, would he be looking to recover from the little girl who's dog he just flattened ?

the typical american driver will in this particular order; ***** with their hair, ***** with their cell phone, put on their sunglasses ( especially on an overcast day), ***** with the cd player and then pay attention to the task at hand of safely driving a 10 ton vehicle...MAYBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! your moron of a husband is completely at fault and everybody knows it!

If your husband has full coverage then his insurance has to repair the damage.

Now, if he doesn鈥檛 he need to find out how the horse got out, in most cases you can鈥檛 hold the owner liable for the damages caused. Now if you can prove the fence was down and the owner knew it and didn鈥檛 repair it you might have action, but it鈥檚 going to uphill battle. Some people think its funny to let horses, cows, etc loose or to pull down fence, or leave a gate open, and when that happens you can鈥檛 hold the owner of a animal responsible for the animal does.