Risk Management

When things gets personal

Accidental falls and trips in the playground may seem innocuous, but they can lead to serious injuries that have a huge impact on the child, the family and the school. Jon Taylor reports on how to cover eventualities

In the UK, 360,000 children are injured at school every year (source: Child Accident Prevention Trust). Accidental
injury is also one of the biggest single causes of death for children over the age of one. There is no automatic right to compensation when a child is injured at school, nor is there any automatic legal recourse.

Liability is only established at law and compensation awarded in the form of damages if it can be proven that the school has been in some way negligent. While the duty of care owed by a school to the pupils in its care is high, it is not always possible to prove negligence: there are still such things as “accidents”. The process of establishing negligence, or otherwise, can be a prolonged, emotional and traumatic experience.

In the absence of legal liability, what then? If the school has done all that could reasonably be expected of it, there has been no negligence and, therefore, no legal liability attaches. But who will compensate in these circumstances? The answer lies in personal accident insurance (PAI), which is designed to provide compensatory payments in accordance with a predetermined scale of benefits for permanent disabilities suffered by accidental means, regardless of negligence.

Who requires cover?
PAI cover can be arranged individually or through a group arrangement, such as a school scheme. The more cost-effective option will generally be a group arrangement, due to the large numbers insured. Where cover is arranged through a school, it can usually be provided to pupils on an opt-out or compulsory extra basis, with the parent paying the premium, or by including it within the fee as an inclusive arrangement.

Apart from providing a cost-effective way of providing a high level of PAI protection to pupils against the risk of
injury, putting in place a scheme can provide the school with tangible benefits. If compensation is available
through such a scheme, parents may be discouraged from pursuing an action against the school for negligence.
A school scheme also ensures that all pupils have the same measure of protection in the event of a single
incident resulting in more than one injured pupil.

What cover is available?
PAI covers vary considerably. The factors to be taken into account include:
• the operative time;
• the level of benefit payable;
• policy exclusions; and
• the maturity of the scheme.

Many PAI schemes provide around-the-clock cover, rather than just school time and school activities only. A significant proportion of claims made under schools’ PAI schemes occur outside school and many parents have
been grateful to schools for this additional benefit.

The benefits payable under PAI policies vary considerably. The benefits provided under pupil schemes are, however, generally high, with maximum benefits of £600,000 or £1,000,000 being the most common. These benefits are payable for the most severe disabilities, with reduced benefits payable for less severe conditions.

All policies will contain exclusions but these should be kept to a minimum eg self-inflicted injury. The exclusion
of certain activities defined as “hazardous” can make a policy difficult to administer and lead to uncertainties
that are best avoided. Similarly, policies with the exclusion of injuries arising out of acts of terrorism could prove
inadequate if the worst were to happen.

While it is thankfully rare that the most serious injuries are suffered, it is impossible to say where, how or to whom they are going to happen.

Jon Taylor is head of sales and marketing at HSBC Insurance Brokers’ specialist education practice. Jon can be contacted via enquiries.schools@hsbc.com

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