PUBLIC LIABILITY Public Liability (we call it PL) is an insurance that protects you/girlguiding against claims made by members of the public accusing you of causing damage to their property or injury to them. Simple as that. If someone gets hurt or has something lost or damaged, and they can show that it happened because of something you did wrong, they can claim compensation. But they have to prove that you caused it in some way. If you are responsible for looking after them or their belongings, you have what we call a Duty of Care. If you breach the Duty of care, and it causes them an injury or loss, you can be found to be negligent and legally liable. You all will have seen those adverts on TV injury lawyers for You, Underdog, where there s blame, there s a claim etc etc. You may even have seen them in the street handing out leaflets, have you had an accident that wasn t your fault, or in A & E. These organisations make a living putting in claims for people. They offer no win no fee claims and some take a proportion of the claim. The person who the claim is made against pays all the costs if the claim is paid. That s Girlguiding in this case. The new MOJ portal is now in use for claims under 25,000 and which happened since April 2014. This does mean that you won t see letters of claims like you used to. Let s now look at who is covered by the policy, who is a third party and what kind of claims we get. So who is covered? Girlguiding The Guide Association and all its Members including Branch Associations, British Guides in Foreign Countries and Administrative Units, Guides Cymru, Broneirion, Guides Ulster, Guides Scotland The Friends of Guiding The Trefoil Guild that s older Guide leaders Girlguiding UK Trading service Ltd Officers and Officials of any of the foregoing Any employee of the Guide Association Any British Guide operating abroad under the jurisdiction of the Guide Association
Any person not acting as a member of another organisation who is authorised to be in charge of or supervise or otherwise assist in Guiding activities Children of Members of the above whilst their parents are involved in recognised Guiding activities Prospective Members of the Guide Association Guide Association members of the Student Scout and Guide Organisation. o The Guide Association Trust Corporation The Trustees of and/or members of the Committee responsible for the management of any property or premises belonging to or leased to Trustees for any unit That s everybody who is representing Guiding even if they are not a member. If a claim is made against any of these people the policy will protect them and you. Even if you did do something wrong by mistake, the policy protects you and GirlGuiding supports you. There are things the policy doesn t cover or instance if you have done something wilfully, illegally or knowingly wrong. It also doesn t cover claims arising out of asbestos damage or motor accidents. It does not cover you for things that you agree to be responsible for that are not the same as legally liable - such as contractual liability It does not cover contractors or other companies, the Scouts, people hiring your premises or non guide members. Next who can claim against you who is a third party? Members yes all members can make a claim against Girlguiding as they are all third parties Parents dropping off or picking up their girls Employees no they claim under EL Visitors to your events and meeting Owners of the or hut or hall where you meet Church, Scouts, School, council Owners of camp sites where you stay if it is owned by Guides we wouldn t expect them to claim against themselves, but they do! Trespassers Yes, they are third parties as well and you owe a duty of care to them even if they are not supposed to be on your land! Examples Burns at camp fires (was the ratio adults to girls enough, did they have proper tools, had they been told what to do did they obey?) Falling off trees (why were they up them? Was anyone watching them)
Slippery slide plastic sheet and fairy liquid ( too fast, too heavy, too much fairy liquid!) Trips and slips (games mostly. Did they fall by mistake or were they not supervised) Knocking over a suit of armour at Hampton Court ( accident!) Cows licked car ( why was car in field with cow?) Tent hit a car ( was tent not put up correctly, was it very windy?) Gatepost blew shut ( gate post not secured properly) Fingers trapped in a door ( how did this happen) Sat on a toilet cistern which fell off the wall ( why were they sitting on it) Fell off a chair ( why were they standing on it) Paint on the floor (why wasn t the floor protected?) Burned on a hot radiator ( risk assessment?) Fell off a climbing wall ( who had the belay rope?) Trees falling on neighbour s car ( had the tree been inspected in the past) How could these have been avoided? Risk Assessments Don t go mad with these but so them sensibly and regularly. Look at new things which could cause an accident and find ways to remove the risk. Keep records of what you have done. Keep records of girls at the event, how many girls and how many adults. Stick to the ratios. Read the Manual. Try to stick to it. If you do, you shouldn t be found liable/to blame Take reasonable care to prevent accidents If an accident happens Fill in a NAF Take witnesses names and addresses and ask them to make a short note of what happened it is amazing how quickly people forget or misremember in the retelling. Sometimes it can be a long time before a claim comes in and you don t want to lose track of people. Take photos of the scene
What do you have to do if a letter arrives or someone says they might make a claim Don t panic Don t take it to heart. Accidents happen, we all understand that. Send the letter straight on to Guide support at CHQ. It s OK to say you are sorry the accident happened. It s OK to send a get well card or flowers. It s OK to explain what happened. Don t say it was your fault If it was, that s OK, Insurers will handle that. But you must let them make that decision, You can tell CHQ, or me, or the adjuster that comes to see you, in fact we want you to tell them exactly how it happened as this saves time and costs. Someone from Berrymans, (or BLM), will contact you and ask you for information. They are on your side. If anyone else asks you for information, check with BLM, Aon or Rachel King first if it is OK to send them anything. BLM will handle it for you. Undertaking to Indemnify for hiring out your premises new notes Motor Motor is different. If you are driving a car any claim will fall first on your motor policy and not on this policy so you need to make sure your insurers know you sometimes volunteer and take girls in the car. Use of golf buggies, electric carts, mowing machines and any vehicles you own. A recent ruling, called Vnuk after the claimant, in Slovenia, means that vehicles not registered to go on the road should be on a motor policy as the liability for an injury can be claimed under the motor policy Contracts Contracts come in two forms either one s for you to sigh or ones you ask other people to sign. As owners it is more likely that you will be hiring the hall or camp out to other groups. We use a hirer form which asks the hirer to confirm they have PL cover up to 1m. This is really low and shouldn t be a problem for groups but individuals probably wouldn t have cover so if it is a party or wedding they might not have PL. We understand that income is important to you and you don t want to turn away hirings so you can still let the hut top them but you should explain to them that
they can still be responsible for injury or damage and if they are your insurers could sue them. Other contracts could be for you to sign Employer s liability This is a policy that protects Guiding against claims made by employees for accidents and injuries for which they hold you to be legally liable. It is a statutory insurance for anyone who employs other people. Who is covered here? Cleaners Maintenance staff Office staff Instructors paid or unpaid volunteers You don t have to have a contract of employment but if the person is self-employed or has their own company they will probably be a third part so PL applies You don t have to buy this cover separately as Guiding buys it for you. Insurance Act This is a new law that comes into force next year for commercial policies and its main point is that the policyholder and their broker or agent has the duty to disclose all information relevant to a risk. It is important to make sure that you advise any changes in activities, ownership and things that might change the risk, like a fire alarm being installed or one that is not working. Heidi Dennis Aon Direct line 01737 783684 7 October 2015 Enquiries can also go through to Rachel King at CHQ at insurancesupport@girlguiding.org.uk