Claims Management

Last updated: Thu, Apr 7th, 2022

A personal injury or third-party property damage claim is usually submitted directly to the State Claims Agency, but in some instances a school may receive the notice of claim.

 

If a school receives notification of a claim in relation to incidents covered under the General Indemnity Scheme, it is important to get in touch with us as early as possible so that we can commence the process of review and assessment of the claim.

The following steps will take place on receipt of a claim notification:

  1. Forward the notification to us via stateclaims@ntma.ie, quoting the NIMS reference number if the incident giving rise to the claim was previously reported on NIMS.

  2. We will respond to the notification. The school may acknowledge the notification indicating that the claim is being managed by the State Claims Agency and that all further correspondence in respect of this claim should be forwarded to us.

  3. We will assign a claims manager who will link with the school to investigate the claim to assess liability.

  4. All information relating to the claim (other than that which has already been reported by the school on NIMS) should also be forwarded to us as soon as it is available e.g. report forms, witness statements, safety reports, CCTV footage. This information should be forwarded to the assigned claims manager or stateclaims@ntma.ie.

 

Your role/involvement will include, but not be limited to, locating and providing records, arranging meetings, making witnesses available for interview, providing access to any property that is the subject of a claim, providing copies of any internal/external investigations that may have been carried out in relation to the incident/claim, and the provision of earnings-related information, where required/relevant.

 

The following are specifically excluded in legislation:

  • claims involving a question as to the validity of any law having regard to the provisions of the Constitution

  • claims made in respect of infection, directly or indirectly, with Hepatitis C or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or both, through the administration of blood or blood products or in respect of related matters

  • claims for personal injury liability for defective products (unless specifically delegated to the State Claims Agency), injurious falsehood, malicious prosecution, malicious abuse of the civil process, deceit, or defamation

  • claim by an employee of the State or of the Government caused by a breach of the Employment Equality Act 1998

  • an application for compensation under the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Acts, 1941 and 1945

  • a claim in respect of an alleged assault upon the claimant by a member of the Garda Síochána or a prison officer, or a claim under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme

  • Damage to school owned property from the likes of storms, floods etc. would not be covered under State indemnity however there are means for the school to apply for funding for repairs under the emergency works scheme and/or make an application to avail of state indemnity to the Department of Education via the ACCS.

 

The ‘Governance Manual for Community and Comprehensive Schools’ outlines the procedures to follow where you receive formal notification of a claim that does not fall within the scope of State Indemnity.