School insurance (France)

School insurance combines two covers. Liability cover pays for damage the child causes to a third party, an injured classmate, broken equipment. Personal accident cover pays for bodily injury the child suffers, even with no one liable, through payment of unreimbursed medical costs and lump sums in case of disability. Legally, it is not compulsory for compulsory school activities, those taking place during school hours as part of the curriculum. It is, however, required by the school for optional activities: outings beyond school hours, trips, stays. In practice, the child's liability is often already covered by the personal liability included in the parents' home insurance, and the question comes down to personal accident cover, which is the product's real added value. Parents' associations and specialist insurers offer it at every start of the school year, often for a few euros a year, and distribution at back-to-school time, with forms handed to families, makes it a mass product. For the analyst, school insurance illustrates overlapping covers: the same risk can be insured several times, and cumulative insurance does not allow compensation beyond the actual loss for property damage.