ARE YOU INSURED WHEN YOU TRAVEL WITH YOUR GROUP?
Each year, thousands of student groups travel (often unknowingly) without any insurance coverage whatsoever. The information presented below is intended to assist group leaders in providing a travel experience to their students that operates under the coverage of an adequate insurance policy.
What is Tour Operators Professional Liability Insurance?
A Tour Operators Professional Liability Policy may include coverage of Bodily Injury, Property Damage, Hired Auto (coach) Liability, Professional Liability, and Injury Liability. While each coverage includes a list of exclusions, the intent is to cover the Insured Tour Operator, utilized Venues, contracted Clients, known Trip Sponsors/Chaperones, and known trip Participants.
Why is it important to work with an insured Professional Tour Operator?
In addition to the obvious benefits of working with an experienced travel planner, the coverages provided by a Professional Liability Policy will prove to be invaluable in the event that an accident occurs or a portion of the trip does not go as planned.
The easiest way to understand the advantages of Insurance coverage is to explore a few possible coverage areas*:
Bodily Injury – This may include medical expenses for Bodily Injury anywhere in the world. Common covered expenses include first-aid, medical care, surgical care, x-rays, ambulance, hospital, professional nursing, etc.
Property Damage – Like the Bodily Injury coverage, this may include property damage caused by an occurrence resulting as part of the Tour anywhere in the world.
Hired Auto – Normally covers occurrences during the use of and/or loading and unloading of a hired auto (including buses and motorcoaches).
Professional Liability – This usually covers any damages arising out of negligent acts or omissions on the part of the Tour Operator.
Personal Injury Liability – This normally entails any legal damages resulting from personal injuries incurred during the trip.
Does my school’s insurance cover our trip?
The easy answer to this question is that you should ask your administrators or legal council. School Insurance policies can vary greatly depending on the underwriter, country, state, and activity. Some policies may cover the teachers and students involved with a trip, but not sponsors/chaperones. Other policies may indeed cover all participants, but not the planning and contracting of the trip.
Often, educators are shocked to find that the school does not consider the trip as an official school sponsored activity, which mans that the school’s insurance policy may not cover the trip at all.
How do I ensure that I am Insured?
The easiest way to guarantee the coverage of yourself, your students, and your trip sponsors/chaperones is to work with a Tour Operator that maintains at least a $2 million Tour Operators Professional Liability Policy. In addition, require that your Tour Operator provides you with a certificate of insurance naming you and your group as Additional Insured.
*This document does not represent an actual insurance policy. Instead, it is intended to serve as a guide to the various insurance coverages available to professional Tour Operators.