With school budgets being squeezed, it’s important to maximise value for money on essential outgoings, such as insurance. Specialist academy insurer Zurich Municipal has responded to this need by providing a comprehensive insurance package for academies, with additional benefits that add value and save money. These benefits include a complimentary safeguarding mobile app for schools, as well as free advice from specialist legal and risk management helplines.
For Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, an academy in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, Zurich’s flexibility and competitiveness translated into significant savings, cutting the academy’s premium by more than ten per cent. ‘Our customer account manager at Zurich took the time to fully understand the school’s requirements,’ says chief financial officer Sandra James. ‘We wanted to include cover for our school, as well as hired-in vehicles. A combination of a significant financial saving and excellent customer service helped us decide to insure with them.’
When the academy subsequently joined with three other schools in December 2018 to create the Horncastle Education Trust, Zurich saved the trust more than £2,000 with a cover package. ‘Zurich reviewed our needs to make sure we had the necessary cover for each school,’ says Sandra James. ‘As well as covering the core needs of our schools, we also included cover for professional negligence, engineering equipment and occasional use of motor vehicles.’
With safeguarding such a major concern in education today, Zurich has also launched a Safer Schools app – available to all academies buying its insurance package. The app was developed with Ineqe Group (the largest independent safeguarding organisation in the UK), and can be customised by schools to suit the age range of their students. It helps educate adults on the latest trends in social media and the platforms children use, and provides valuable guidance to children on how to stay safe online. As well as providing information and notifications about emerging risks, threats and trends, the app also provides a CPD-accredited course for teaching staff. The three-hour online training enables staff to take a Safeguarding Level 1 test.
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