Insurance : Ex Gratia Payments - Home Page

Education Policies and GuidancePreviously FAG 4Insurance : Ex Gratia PaymentsCategory: Admin & FinanceRisk Management and Legal ImplicationsFailure to manage risk may impact on the delivery of Service objectives and theoutcomes achieved by Service users. The Education Service aims to mitigate theimplications by ongoing management and review of risk in all elements of workactivity.The production of this document is one way in which we aim to reduce ourexposure to risk. By providing staff with information on good practice, makingreference to other guidance that is available across the Council and providing clarityon how we should do things, we can ensure that the management of risk is intrinsicto what we doVersion: 01 Last revision: June 2012

Current version at June 2012 Page 2 of 6

Insurance : Ex Gratia Payments______________________________________________________________________________EX_GRATIA CLAIMS1. CRITERIA1.1 Incidents occur whereby loss or damage to property is incurred byemployees or third parties but the circumstances are not covered byinsurance.1.2 In these cases, consideration will be given to applications for ex-gratiapayments as long as there are strong moral grounds or some mitigatingcircumstances leading to the loss which the employee could not havereasonably foreseen. If the incident is an accident without this criteria it isunlikely that the application will be supported as it would be imprudent for theCouncil to assume responsibility for all such accidents irrespective ofcircumstances.1.3 Any agreed payment must be met from Service budgets. There is no centralfund to meet such claims.1.4 Heads of Service have authority to assess such claims up to the value of£1,000. The Chief Executive has authority of up to £5,000. However,payments can only be made following consultation on the legal position withHead of Law and Administration.1.5 Claims for more that the authorised limit should be processed by submittinga report to the Head of Law and Administration for consideration. Whereappropriate, the report will then be submitted to the relevant Committee.2. PROCEDURE2.1 A claim form should be completed by the claimant (see attached)Forms are obtainable from the Risk Management Section (telephone 7003630). They should be completed by the claimant up to and includingSection 14. The claimant should enclose copies of relevant receipt’s, astatement from an independent witness, and a letter from the claimant’shousehold or motor vehicle insurers rejecting their claim or advising that theirown policy does not cover the situation. The claimant should then pass theform to the Head of Establishment at which the loss/damage occurred.2.2 If the Head of Establishment at which the loss / damage occurred agreesthat the incident did occur in the way described by the claimant, he/sheshould sign the form at section 15, and pass it to the Head of Service. Anyadditional information which may help in the claim assessment should beattached to the form by the Establishment.2.3 The Head of Service should consider the circumstances of the claim and,where necessary, ask for further information from the claimant or staff toensure that all relevant details are known. The Head of Service should thentake into account the following issues:Current version at June 2012 Page 3 of 6

Insurance : Ex Gratia Payments______________________________________________________________________________• Was the employee/third party responsible for the loss?• Are the circumstances of the loss insured elsewhere – home contents ormotor vehicle policy?• Is there any suggestion of personal injury to the claimant?• Is there any suggestion that the loss did not occur as described by theclaimant?If the answer to any of these questions is yes then an ex-gratia paymentshould not be considered.2.4 If the Head of Service feels that the claim warrants consideration and he/sheis willing to meet the cost of an ex-gratia settlement from the Service budget,he/she should sign the form at section 16 and pass the form to the RiskManagement Section.2.5 The Risk Management Team Leader will check there is no existing legalliability claim against the Council and also advise whether the claim shouldbe more appropriately be dealt with as a legal liability claim. The RiskManagement Team Leader will liaise with Head of Law and Administrationfor advice.2.6 If objections are made then reasons will be given to the Head of Service whowill, in turn, advise the claimant.2.7 If there are no objections the claim will be returned to the Head of Service forpayment. Standard wording to be included in any payment letter is shown inAppendix 2.Current version at June 2012 Page 4 of 6

Insurance : Ex Gratia Payments______________________________________________________________________________FIFE COUNCILAPPLICATION FOR CONSIDERATION FOR AN EX-GRATIA PAYMENTAPPLICANT’S DETAILS1. Applicant’s Name (Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms) ....................................................................2. Applicant’s Address .............................................................................................………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………..3. Applicant’s Telephone No ....................................................................................4. If Council employee, which Service employed by ................................................INCIDENT INFORMATION5. When did the Accident happen? ..........................................................................6. Exact place of incident.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................7. Please give details of incident giving rise to this application..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................__________________________________________________________________FURTHER INFORMATION8. Original cost of item lost or damaged £................................................................9. Date of Purchase .................................................................................................10. Amount applied for £............................................................................................Current version at June 2012 Page 5 of 6

Insurance : Ex Gratia Payments______________________________________________________________________________PLEASE ATTACH THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENTS11. A letter from your Insurance Company rejecting your claim for this loss.Please note that your application cannot be processed unless this isproduced.12. A signed statement by an independent witness to the incident.13. Original purchase receipt for the items involved.14. I certify that the information given above is correct and I apply for considerationfor an ex-gratia payment................................................................................................Signature of Applicant.......................................................................................................................... DateCOUNCIL USE ONLY15. Approved by the Head of the Establishment where loss occurred.Signature .............................................................................................................Printed Name.......................................................................................................Designation..........................................................................................................Establishment ......................................................................................................Date .....................................................................................................................16. Authorisation of Payment by Head of ServiceSignature .............................................................................................................Printed Name.......................................................................................................Date .....................................................................................................................Note: Any payment will require to be met from the Service budget.When all the form has been completed, it should be submitted to the RiskManagement Section, Finance Service, Fife House (01), North Street, Glenrothes,Fife, KY7 5LTCurrent version at June 2012 Page 6 of 6