Property insurance

Claims procedure

In the event of any incident involving damage to property, use the online form - Reporting loss/damage to any council property/equipment. 

The form must be submitted within seven days of the incident. 

• Take colour photographs of the damaged property/items
• With losses which potentially are greater than £20,000, the Insurance Team must also be notified by telephone. (0333 014 3385)
• Upon receipt of notification of an incident, the Insurance Team will issue a claim number with instructions on how to proceed
• In the case of minor claims, a minimum of two estimates should be forwarded to the Insurance Team. Authorisation will then be given for repairs to proceed.
• To make safe, emergency works, and repairs can go ahead without prior authorisation to ensure the school is safe to reopen.
• For larger claims, the Insurance Team will instruct a loss adjuster to assess the damage before repairs/replacement can proceed. The Loss Adjuster will then undertake the claims handling along with the Insurance Team claims handler.
• If the damage to the property is caused by a third-party vehicle (impact damage) please obtain details of the vehicle (make, model, registration) and details of the driver.

Exclusions

Please note that the policy does not cover any losses relating to:

• External underground utility pipes (for example burst pipes outside of the property/failure of pipes due to age)
• Portable items left unattended in a vehicle
• Portable equipment left outside for example trampolines/goalposts
• General wear and tear to the property 
• Staff personal belongings
• Where there is no insurance coverage, schools should meet losses from their delegated budgets.

Telling us about property amendments

• Please notify the Insurance Team immediately by email should there be any amendments to your property, such as internal building works, or an external extension.
• Similarly, if you buy/receive any new equipment, please contact the Insurance Team with full details, including its valuation, so it can be added to the policy.

Hiring of premises

Schools may wish to hire out certain areas of their properties to generate additional income.

• If you hire out your premises, the building must be fully checked by a member of staff pre-hire to ensure it is fit for purpose and free from defects.
• Areas not in use must be secured, with any portable pieces of equipment locked away.
• A full risk assessment should be completed in conjunction with the hirer.
• Hirers should have their own public liability insurance cover to the sum of £5 million
• If the hirer doesn’t have their own cover, schools can take out third-party hirers insurance, on behalf of the groups/individuals and include the cost in the hiring charges, this would be assurance that if the hirers were proven to be negligent for damaging property or causing bodily injury, the claim would be settled by the county council insurers.
• The premium charged is based on the hiring fee and is intended to be recharged to the hirer as an inclusive payment. This policy should therefore not cost the school any money.
• The school will be asked to provide details of their estimated hiring income for the coming year. The premium charge will be based on this figure. At the end of the year the school will be asked to provide details of the actual income for that year and a premium adjustment will be made.
• A member of staff or school governor should, where possible, unlock and lock the premises for the hirer. Keys should only be handed to the hire as a last resort following strict risk management procedures. Please contact the Insurance Team for a copy of these should this circumstance be required.

Engineering cover

• Certain items of plant and machinery require regular statutory inspection by law, which are different to the routine servicing of the equipment.
• The Pressure Systems Safety Regulations (PSSR) 2000 apply to most pressure systems used at work.  Types of equipment include steam boilers, pressure cookers, steaming ovens, steam engines, autoclaves, air receivers and pressurisation vessels
• The Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) 1998.  Types of equipment include passenger/goods lifts, service lifts, stair lifts, patient hoists, tailboard lifts, vehicle jacks, hoists, winches, runway tracks, steam engines scaffold towers and all forms of lifting tackle.
• This insurance provides for an inspection service as well as cover for explosion or collapse of the equipment.
• Details of all such equipment bought or sold should be notified to the Insurance Team immediately who will add or delete them from the insurance schedule.
• Unless the equipment is specifically named under the contract/policy, inspections will not take place and cover will not be in place. If you are unsure whether any equipment at your establishment is covered, please contact the Insurance Team by email insurance@oxfordshire.gov.uk.