School Insurance

Avenue Primary Academy is committed to doing everything reasonably practicable to ensure the safety and well-being of all pupils volunteers and staff, both on-site and during off-site activities.

Cirrus Primary Academy Trust arranges school insurance through the London Borough of Sutton. Currently, the Trust’s insurance provider is Zurich Municipal. Full details of each educational visit or off-site activity will be provided to parents and carers in advance of the event.

These insurance arrangements are subject to the condition that the procedures outlined in the Trust’s Educational Visits Policy are strictly followed. This policy is designed to promote the safety and welfare of all participants and is available to view at the school or on the school's website.

Educational visits and off-site activities are planned with considerable care; however, circumstances may occasionally require adjustments to these plans. Staff will exercise all reasonable care and diligence throughout, and we ask that parents support this by ensuring their child understands the importance of following the instructions and guidance of teachers and accompanying adults. Pupils are expected to adhere to the school’s general code of conduct at all times.

Please note that the school cannot accept responsibility for the loss of or damage to personal property during a visit unless such loss or damage is due to the negligence of the school or its staff.

Parents may also be asked to cover the cost of any damage caused by their child due to misconduct or carelessness, including damage to the property of others.

Pupils participating in visits should be in good health, and parents will be asked to confirm their child’s fitness to attend each planned activity. In the event of an accident or illness during a visit, every effort will be made to contact you. However, if this is not possible, parents are asked to authorise the teacher-in-charge to consent to any medical treatment deemed necessary by a qualified medical practitioner. This may include inoculations, surgery, or blood transfusions.

Parents may also be asked to indemnify the visit leader against any reasonable expenses incurred as a result of their child’s accident or illness.

The London Borough of Sutton Insurance Office handle all Public Liability and Employee Liability claims on behalf of Avenue Primary Academy.

If you are a Third Party Solicitor and wish to make a claim on behalf of your client, against Avenue Primary Academy, please would you register your client’s claim on the Portal against the London Borough of Sutton.

If your clients claim does not fall into the portal guidelines please send your letter of claim directly to: Claims Manager | LB Sutton Insurance Team, London Borough of Sutton, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1EA or email insuranceoffice@sutton.gov.uk

If you are a claimant in person please write directly to: Claims Manager | LB Sutton Insurance Team, London Borough of Sutton, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1EA or email insuranceoffice@sutton.gov.uk including sufficient information to enable us to start an investigation into the incident including:

• Date and Time of accident
• Exact location of accident
• Cause i.e. paving slab etc
• Details of the injury
• Details of accident circumstances

In order for your claim to succeed, it will be necessary for you to prove negligence or breach of statutory duty. Please note there is no automatic right to compensation.

A claims handler will be appointed from this department to investigate your claim on behalf of Avenue Primary Academy. This will involve liaising with the appropriate department to obtain the necessary information to determine whether Avenue Primary Academy, another organisation or third party has been negligent.

We may require further information from you and if this is necessary you will be given a clear indication of the information needed.

There are three possible outcomes to the claim process:

1. The claim will be accepted and subject to appropriate documentary evidence a settlement will be negotiated with you.
2. The claim will be rejected/repudiated if we can demonstrate that the council acted responsibly.
3. Our investigations may indicate that another party was responsible and we will advice you that your claim will need to be redirected. We will try to provide their contact details to assist you in pursing your claim against them.

You may wish to consider obtaining advice from your Solicitors or local Citizens Advice Bureau.

The Council participates in a number of National and Local schemes to reduce the cost of fraudulent claims to Council Tax Payers. Information may be shared between Council Services, insurers, claim handlers, loss adjusters and other agencies. The London Borough of Sutton’s Insurance office would be grateful for this reason if you could supply your Date of Birth and National Insurance number.