School governors across the UK need to ensure they have protected themselves fully against the growing threat of litigation in the UK a specialist insurer has warned.
The warning has come from Angel Underwriting following the case of a vicar who resigned from his role as the chair of governors at a Primary School in Staffordshire, after he was threatened with charges of common assault following a complaint by the mother of a 10-year-old girl he kissed on the forehead when publicly congratulating her for her improvement in maths.
Angel Underwriting says that school governors without personal liability insurance in place are leaving themselves wide open to attack should a situation arise that results in legal action being taken against them based on a decision they made or an action they have taken.
According to the company, checks must be made by governors with their Local Education Authority to determine what type of cover, if any, is provided automatically by the LEA on their behalf.
“School governors provide an exceptional service for schools, completely voluntarily, through their devoted and unstinting work. However they also have a great deal of responsibility within their remit and with that responsibility comes potential pitfalls.
“The recent case serves to demonstrate how easily school governors can find themselves on the receiving end of potential litigation. It is very easy for a governor to overlook the fact that, in the course of their role, they are exposed to potentially damaging actions from a wide variety of sources including pupils, parents, teachers and other staff, suppliers, and indeed other governors.
“That their intentions are worthy and that they are selflessly working in the best interests of the school can, unfortunately, blind them to the fact that the world is becoming increasingly hard-nosed where pursuing actions for damages are concerned,” said Mr Shreeve.
According to Angel, without insurance in place, a school governor may have to pay personally for the cost of defending any claim against them, which can be an extremely costly process.
