Dear Kris,
I understand that the situation you and the other residents face with the shared garden and trampoline is a cause for concern. The public liability cover is meant to protect the land and trampoline owners in the event of a claim, and it is indeed worrying that the insurance may be refused if the users have not followed the policy’s terms.
In the worst-case scenario, a child could get injured, leading their parent to make a claim, even if that same parent ignored the exclusions clearly stated on the Garden Committee’s sign. It’s ironic, but unfortunately, the law may allow for such situations. Whether you and the other owners could be held personally liable for any compensation depends on the specific facts of the case, such as how the injury occurred and who is responsible.
While a parent disregarding the warning signs could be seen as contributing to their child’s injury, other factors like the trampoline’s design and the child’s age and behavior also come into play. Luckily, the law recognizes that freak accidents can happen without anyone being at fault.
As seen in a 2008 Court of Appeal case involving bouncy castle owners, they were not held liable for a child who suffered brain damage. The court emphasized that the level of supervision for children engaging in risky activities should be proportional to the potential harm. Since bouncy castles are not usually associated with serious harm, a “reasonable” level of supervision was deemed sufficient.
Applying this logic, the Garden Committee sign may be enough to protect the owners from liability. However, it might be better to have a more detailed sign that strongly emphasizes the need for parental or adult supervision.
Dealing with a personal injury lawsuit can be less stressful when you know you have solid insurance coverage. However, disputing liability for an injury becomes uncomfortable when there is uncertainty about your level of protection. Your insurer will consider how actively the policy’s exclusions have been publicized and managed. While the Garden Committee sign is helpful, if everyone knows it is ignored and no action is taken, the insurer could use this as grounds to deny a claim.
Personal injury claims involving children and young people can be substantial, as they may cover lifelong care and needs. If your insurer refuses coverage, the owners could be personally liable. This could lead to a legal situation where the parent of an injured child sues the owners while the owners countersue the parent for disregarding the trampoline rules. The only beneficiaries in such a tangled mess would be the lawyers.
To avoid this predicament and ensure you have adequate protection, you could explore the option of obtaining wider public liability insurance coverage. However, this may prove difficult and costly. The only other solution would be to collectively accept the risk of not being covered, but it’s unlikely anyone would choose that route knowing that some garden and trampoline users are disregarding the rules and potentially jeopardizing the insurance coverage.
There is one final solution: removing the trampoline.
If you have any legal questions, feel free to email Gary at [email protected].
Sincerely,
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