The risk factor

Organising a group is always a painstaking task. The degree of preparation that goes into planning every element from itineraries to transport can make the mind boggle, and it always seems that there is something that has been overlooked until the last minute, or worse.
   
When it does come to the crunch however, things can always be sorted out and ultimately it all seems to come together just in the nick of time.
   
The same cannot be said for personal insurance liability. This sadly is one area that cannot be rectified after the event and is one that from an individual teacher’s perspective can become an issue.

All too often, the emphasis is on the teacher being covered by the liability insurance that the school or college has. This is fine for areas where the school itself, and therefore the teacher as its representative have liability. Liability in this sense would cover accidents or other issues that effect something that was reasonably under the control of the teacher. It is worth pointing out that parents or carers signing disclaimers against accident or injury for children taking part in hazardous activities would only provide limited protection, and none at all if negligence could be demonstrated. On this note negligence would include any acts of bravado, or in fact anything that was not as precisely required by either the teacher himself or herself or the responsible leader of the activity.

IN BREACH OF WHAT IS EXPECTED
Personal liability insurance is a specific cover where the group leader could be deemed to be in some way in breach of what was materially expected from the trip. If, for example, the night before a visit to a specific museum or attraction, it burned down but entrance had been paid for in advance, the teacher may well not be able to get a refund in time and an alternative would need to be found, and paid for.

Some students might feel (however unreasonably) that this was a core element for their trip and therefore not accept an alternative. The teacher could be held liable (again however unreasonably) for that disappointment and a refund could be expected directly for that entrance fee.

Equally, if the school paid for an alternative excursion, the parents could not reasonably be expected to pay twice whilst waiting for a refund from the first venue, leaving some potentially damaging overheads unaccounted for.
   
These would be areas that the teacher could take refuge in the cover provided by organisers liability insurance.

OUT OF POCKET
Another example would be on a day trip to a theatre show where the coach broke down on the journey. The theatre may wait for a few minutes, but if your group arrived at a point where the next suitable time to enter the auditorium was the interval, many parents and indeed students would want a refund. The coach operator would be limited to a liability whereby they would provide a replacement vehicle, or possibly a free journey in the future, but the theatre has no responsibility for those that arrive late and people can and will be refused admission until a suitable break in the performance.
   
Even if ticket replacement insurance is taken, there will be no cash alternative for those that do not wish, or are unable, to attend a future performance leaving the teacher and school potentially out of pocket.

TRAVEL INSURANCE
There are so many variations on the theme of what could potentially go wrong that they are too numerous to list here, but here is a final area for your consideration. Travel insurance is something that is an absolute must for all individuals going on a trip overseas. As an absolute minimum for groups traveling to Europe, each traveller should have a European Health Insurance Card which can be applied for on line. Whilst this may seem obvious to the majority, I was recently asked to support a group organiser that had decided in their wisdom to take a group policy for health and travel insurance rather than insist on individual policies. Three travellers were forced to cancel their trip less than three weeks before travel for health reasons, which was beyond the final cancellation date from the hotel. When the travellers requested a refund, they were told that the cancellation policy prevented them for receiving one. The travellers then looked to the group organiser for compensation through their travel insurance policy.
   
The process that unravelled at this point involved the organiser having to fend off requests for refunds whilst at the same time getting doctor’s certificates for each individual, hospital admission details and more in order to satisfy the insurance company.

Processing took several weeks during which time the organiser was under huge stress because their decision meant that throughout the process they were personally liable, as they had taken out what had been described and therefore subscribed to as a suitable insurance policy in the event of cancellation due to ill health.

ASSESSING THE FACTORS
Organisers liability insurance is offered on different levels according to a variety of factors, including risk, distance, duration, number of trips per year, and other factors.

The cost of the insurance will again depend on these factors, but it is likely that it will run to a few hundred pounds per year with a small fee applied to the number of people travelling in each group.
   
The first port of call would be to contact a specialist broker that can advise on the specific policy that will cover you with regard to the trips that you take. This will then be taken to the underwriters who will assess your level of risk exposure and will create a policy on that basis.
   
Individual liability insurance may be seen as being over cautious, or unnecessary, so I will end this article with an anecdote that involved the organiser of a group trip that was sued in the small claims court over what was effectively a difference of opinion about a suitable alternative when something went wrong on a trip. The case was won by the defendant (the organiser) without any question, and the plaintiff was questioned as to the wisdom of such a pedantic action. The costs to defend the organiser against the claimant included a legal defence and time away from work. The costs were settled by the insurance company without question, but they ran to £12,000.

FURTHER INFORMATION
www.gtoa.co.uk