Introduction
Pupil insurance, or to be exact Personal Accident, Fees Return or Pupils’ Property, can bridge the moral predicament should a situation arise with a pupil, and therefore with the parent or legal guardian, but where the school is not legally or contractually liable to provide recompense. We have provided below some examples of claims to demonstrate how these policies can benefit both the school and parents or legal guardians.
Personal Accident (school usually purchases)
A school took a group of pupils on a skiing trip to France. This was an annual trip and most of the pupils and staff on the trip were experienced skiers.
Unfortunately, one of the pupils lost control whilst skiing and crashed, resulting in a broken arm and damaged teeth. The pupil was immediately taken to hospital where they were given emergency treatment for the broken arm which also included an overnight stay. It was established that no emergency dental treatment was needed at that time, but on their return to the UK a few days later, the pupil visited their usual dentist and was given a course of treatment for the dental injuries caused by the accident.
Any travel policy would meet the hospitalisation costs, but it would be the Personal Accident policy that would pay for the ongoing dental treatment, and there would be a one-off payment for the broken arm via the fractures extension (temporary disablement). There was no negligence on behalf of the school, therefore a liability claim would not be accepted, but with the enhanced Personal Accident cover, the school was able to liaise with the parents in an emphatic manner, with financial solutions.
Although the cover provided under this policy can assist with costs relating to life-changing injuries following an accident, it is this kind of example when the cover is frequently called upon.
Fees Return (parent usually purchases)
A pupil was ill with a bad case of glandular fever and was unable to attend school or undertake any virtual learning for 4 weeks, which included weekends and a half term period. The school was not contractually liable to reimburse the parents for the lost education.
The parents had opted into the Fees Return policy, and as such the policy reimbursed the parents for fees paid against the absence period, incorporating the weekends and half term period.
The claim was handled directly with the parents, with the school only validating the parents had opted into the policy, the absence dates and the termly fee. As the absence period was for over 14 consecutive days, the parents needed to provide medical confirmation of the illness and the claim was paid in a few days, direct to the parents. Had the absence period been for less than 14 consecutive days, no third-party medical details would have been required, only good faith.
The set annual premium for this cover is 0.64% of insured fees and as an example, a termly fee of £7,500 would cost £48.00 per term to insure.
Pupils’ Property (parent usually purchases)
A pupil at a school had been taking violin lessons for quite some time and so the parents decided to invest in a new, better-quality violin for their child that cost £1,000. Unfortunately, after only a few weeks, the pupil dropped the violin in the school boarding quarters whilst practising, resulting in it being damaged beyond repair.
The parents had not extended their household policy to include the new violin but had opted into the Pupils’ Property policy.
The claim was handled directly with the parents, with the school only validating the parents had opted into the policy. Upon providing proof of purchase and showing the damage caused, the claim settlement was paid directly to the parents.
