School Insurance For Pupils Property

gordikin

For a minute can we forget blaming the school. Has the OP reported to the phone network and the police that the phone was stolen? The phone/sim and its location can be traced.

gordikin

shellnapier wrote: »

why must u all judge at what the kid should not have had etc tec, thats not the issue
the fact is she was told the classroom would have beeen lcoked and it was not

what if it was a semintal thing with no real value you that she had in her bag she trusted the school would have the room locked - and yes maybe less likey steelable but thats not her fault if she has people in her school who will steal

No classrooms in any schools are locked 100% of the time (science do try but fail). Have you worked in a school or understand how it is? Classrooms cannot always be 100% secure. 30 kids bags in a class, and all 30 have rights of access to them?....kids in and out, and believe me half of them will be back more than once .....more usually a third time...and 1 teacher trying to check up on them. £200 phone in school, yes...£3 calculator for exam, no.

peachyprice

shellnapier wrote: »

why must u all judge at what the kid should not have had etc tec, thats not the issue
the fact is she was told the classroom would have beeen lcoked and it was not

what if it was a semintal thing with no real value you that she had in her bag she trusted the school would have the room locked - and yes maybe less likey steelable but thats not her fault if she has people in her school who will steal

If the school has expressed that mobile phones should not be taken into school, and parents have signed a home/school agreement to this effect they won't have any comeback against the school when said phone is stolen. That's the precise reason they say they shouldn't be taken to school, so yes, it is part of the issue.

Teachers/the school cannot be held responsible because some madam decides she's going to bring her £200 phone into school, despite the fact that her parents may have signed a document advising they won't allow it.

Infact the H/S agreement with my sons school states that items of monetary or sentimental value should not be taken into school. In the words of our head 'If you'd be upset if it got lost, don't bring it into school, full stop.'

System

my DD school kids are allowed mobiles but they take them at their own risk, how much of a schools budget would be taken by insurance if they paid out for things like this.

dacouch

CHRISSYG wrote: »

my DD school kids are allowed mobiles but they take them at their own risk, how much of a schools budget would be taken by insurance if they paid out for things like this.

You cannot in UK law say you bring things into say a school at your own risk. If something happens to the phone and the law deems the school to be neglient / liable then the school have to pay for it irrespective of any disclaimer on them not being liable.

If the school have specifically told pupils not to take mobile phones into school then it MIGHT affect whether the school is liable but there are still possibilities they can be liable (Again depending on the exact circumstances)

Its the same priniple as the signs in say Tescos Car park saying you park here at your own risk and Tescos are not liable for any damage to your vehicle for whatever reason. If a tesco employee pushs a trolley into your car or one of their trucks reverses into it then you cansue them and if they are deemed to be liable under UK law then they will have to pay again this is irrespective of what it says on their disclaimer signs

mandragora_2

I agree with the above points about checking your own insurance, making sure the phone co know, and, if necessary, getting a log no. from the police. However, it's going to be difficult to prove negligence on the part of the school - are you sure the room wasn't locked during the assembly? The phone could just as easily have been pinched when the other 100/200/300 kids in the year group went to get their bags back following the assembly. Did she have other options (like a locker?) available to her? How quickly did she report it to a member of staff? What steps did the school take once they'd been notified? Have they acted reasonably and responsibly? I wouldn't assume that the school has insurance agianst theft of possessions - they aren't obliged to, and the cost is so prohibitive, it's usually not something they'd spend their budgets on.

dacouch

It does not matter if the school have insurance against it or not, if they are liable then they have to pay.

Whether or not they are liable or not, I cannot say as there is not enough information posted, hence why I would advise speaking to either the CAB or using the legal advice on your home insurance.

FlameCloud

dacouch wrote: »

You cannot in UK law say you bring things into say a school at your own risk. If something happens to the phone and the law deems the school to be neglient / liable then the school have to pay for it irrespective of any disclaimer on them not being liable.

If the school have specifically told pupils not to take mobile phones into school then it MIGHT affect whether the school is liable but there are still possibilities they can be liable (Again depending on the exact circumstances)

Its the same priniple as the signs in say Tescos Car park saying you park here at your own risk and Tescos are not liable for any damage to your vehicle for whatever reason. If a tesco employee pushs a trolley into your car or one of their trucks reverses into it then you cansue them and if they are deemed to be liable under UK law then they will have to pay again this is irrespective of what it says on their disclaimer signs

UK Law? Sorry to be pedantic, but there is no such thing!

English law allows you to put whatever you like into a contract, as long as both parties agree to it and it meets the terms of the Unfair contract terms 1977/99. These (amongst other things) prohibit putting in clauses that exclude liability for things that are barred by statute- almost all relating to death or physical injury.

To my knowledge, there is no statute law on compelling schools to take responsibility for pupils possessions (as for example, hoteliers have too).

In this case, if the school put it in their pupil agreement that they are not to bring phones into school the parent would be bound by this- if they want to get around it and force the school to pay they would have to sue the school for negligence, which, given the contract terms in place and the circumstances would be very hard to do.

dacouch

I agree flamecloud, I did not say in any part of my posts that the school are liable, I said that they could potentially be liable and it would also depend on what if any rules they have.

I also did not say schools are responsible for pupils possessions, however if they have told pupils they must lock their bags in a certain room and this room is then not locked there is a possibility they MIGHT be liable in these circumstances.

The reason I said that even if there are rules about taking say phones into school there is also a chance they can still be liable is that if the rules were not communicated to the parents and were only given to the children then in SOME cases depending on the age and individual circumstances on the child then a court may say that it is not reasonable to expect a child to understand and abide by the rule.

With regard to the laws covering a school, they have to abide by the same as anyone else in the country so if they are found to be negligent / legally liable by a court then they would have to compensate the person just like any other person or company etc would have to

You might find this interesting, note it states the teacher could be legally responsible for the item irrespective of whether the item should have been brought into school or not

"Responsibility for student property

You are legally responsible for any property that you have confiscated. You could potentially be held legally responsible if items were lost through negligence. Saying that a pupil should not have had the lost item with them in school in the first place is no defence.
You should take reasonable care of items by keeping them either on your person, or in a locked receptacle until they can be handed in to the school office (or other designated place) with identification showing to whom the item belongs, when and by whom it was confiscated.
If reasonable care is not taken and the property is lost, students are entitled to claim compensation against the school or college."

freezspirit

A bit of information for future:

This is going back about 15yrs but when my brother was at school, my parents had to pay for insurance on all his electrical belongings - pc, laptop, portable recording devices and music players etc as they would not be covered by school insurance policy as they were not bought by the school.

I can't remember the name of the insurance company now but it specialised in providing insurance for school children equipment. I do remember one of the clauses was if equipment was to be left in school unattended or over night it had to be left in a lockable cabinet or storage room and only two named people were allowed to have the keys to it - my brother and member of staff.

I think its the society we live in now kids feel safer to have a mobile when going and coming from school, when I was at school we were not allowed to bring in any personal belongings and if we did we were clearly made aware it was at our own risk. Mobiles were banned in school as they said they provide a pay phone to call parents or in extreme cases the receptionist could call the child's home. Not really helpful when on the school bus and it breaks down.

Going back to the situation of the mobile phone, like everyone esle has said was it reported to the police. Alot of school's now have a zero tolorance and will call the police out straight away basically to cover their own backs. Contact the school and lea to check what policies they have over this matter.

A friend's daugther has what her mother calls a displosable phone, basically a cheap mobile with a payg sim thats always got under £10 credit on it.