It is the responsibility of school administrators to help keep children safe while in their care. However, accidents can and do occur, which can put a school at risk for costly lawsuits. School accident insurance is designed to protect schools from potential lawsuits and liabilities, while still providing volunteers and students the medical care they need and deserve in the event of an on-premises accident.
Protecting Your School
School accident insurance is often acquired by K-12 school districts and other eligible establishments that may need coverage for their students and volunteers who may aid educators during school-sponsored events or activities.
In addition to public schools, these insurance policies can provide protection to private schools, athletic departments, preschools, licensed daycares, nonprofit organizations, religious establishments, and clinics. The right insurance policy can go a long way toward keeping your students and others safe from a wide range of incidents that could result in a serious injury or illness.
How School Accident Insurance Helps
School accident insurance is often purchased by educational institutions and may be offered to faculty, students, and administrative staff to cover medical bills and other expenses in the event of an accident. There are two main types of school accident insurance: school time coverage and 24-hour accident coverage.
With school time coverage, your faculty, students, and administrators are covered during regular school hours and during school-sponsored events, such as class trips, dances or sports games. 24-hour accident coverage protects these parties around-the-clock and during any activity, day or night, and on weekends and holidays. It also covers activities that are not school-sponsored.
Works During School & After School Hours
While accidents are more likely to occur during school hours when the bulk of the students are on the premises, incidents can also happen after school. For example, a student could trip and fall in front of the school while waiting for a parent to pick them up.
Students who participate in after school activities, such as sports or clubs, may also need extra protection against potential accidents. School accident insurance can keep your school and its students protected both during regular school hours and after school for a specified period of time outlined in your policy.
Protects with General Liability
Schools face unique risks during their normal operations. General liability insurance helps protect schools and other educational establishments from certain types of liability claims, such as bodily injury, property damage and advertising injury. A liability claim against your school can be very expensive. Even a simple slip and fall that caused a serious injury could result in tens of thousands of dollars if you were sued.
General liability insurance covers costs for property damage against your school, administrative costs to handle covered claims, medical expenses if someone is injured in your school, advertising injury claims against your school, and various court costs, settlements, and judgements for covered claims.
Covers Sports & Gym Class Accidents
If a child is injured while playing sports or during gym class, a judge may find the school negligent. Upwards of 40,000 kids are injured each year in gym class, resulting in costly emergency room visits. Oftentimes, these injuries are not serious and consist of soft tissue injuries like sprains and minor cuts. Other times, the injury can be severe, such as in the case of head trauma or broken bones. An injured child’s damages may include medical and therapy bills, lost wages for either parent or child, out-of-pocket expenses for medications and other supplies, as well as the child’s pain and suffering. School accident insurance can help cover sports and gym class accidents.
Ability to Personalize
Every school has different needs and faces unique levels of risk. Therefore, it is important to choose an insurance policy that is able to accommodate these risks. School accident insurance can be personalized based on your needs. Whether you are a public school, a private institution or any other type of educational establishment, there is a policy that will meet your requirements. For example, if your school has a lot of extracurricular activities, you may want to consider an around-the-clock plan instead of a school-time-only plan.
Talk to the Specialty Insurance Professionals
Schools are typically considered a safe place for learning. However, this does not mean that they are immune to accidents. Everyday, children are injured in classrooms, hallways, gym classes, and during after school activities and events. Having the right protection for your school and its students is crucial for the welfare of the children and school administrators.
As there are many different types of school accident insurance policies at different price points, you will want to compare your options. The specialty insurance professionals at John M Glover can help. Contact JMG Insurance Agency today for an insurance quote.