The University has a combined liability insurance policy for PL and EL, a confirmation of cover letter is available on our website.

The Employers’ Liability Certificate should be displayed in every building.

The policy runs from 1st June to 31st May each year and the cover is continuous. The new certificate will be issued by the insurance company as soon after 1st June as possible each year and posted on our webpage as soon as possible thereafter.

Send the letter to the Insurance Office to deal with.  Do not respond to the letter yourself.

There is no obligation or legal requirement to have home insurance and it is up to individual members of staff whether or not they wish to purchase this type of policy.  However, there are obvious benefits to insuring your home and property and if there is a change in your home circumstances (such as working from home) and you do have a home insurance policy then it is a good idea to notify your insurers of this change.

No.

No. Any equipment that you require for your job will be provided for you by the University, you should not be expected to replace the item yourself or to provide insurance for the item yourself.

Small items of University equipment, such as laptops are not insured by the University because it is not cost effective to do so. Laptops are low value, high turnover items, if your laptop (other item of equipment) is damaged, lost or stolen whilst on the University premises or at home it will be replaced by the University but not by the insurance company.

The University's Employers and Public Liability policies remain in force and are not compromised by staff working from home.  However, while staff are working from home they are only covered by the University’s insurance when undertaking safe admin or computer-based work. While at home, staff should not undertake any University work that involves higher risk activities such as heavy lifting, heat or chemicals.  Even on campus, this kind of work requires significant controls for health and safety reasons – the home environment is not normally risk assessed or equipped to do this work safely.

There are no specific insurance requirements necessary if you are expecting a visitor or work experience person.

If a visitor is coming to the University it is essential that all necessary and appropriate risk assessments are carried out and the person must be properly supervised at all times.

The work experience person should not be asked to do anything that they would not reasonably be expected to be able to do.

The University might be asked to provide the placing organisation with a copy of its Public Liability insurance to show that the University has insurance in place which provides cover for activities for which we are legally liable. This cover is automatic and you do not need to do anything to arrange it. A copy of the Public Liability insurance confirmation is available on our webpage.

Anyone visiting the University is protected by our Public Liability policy regardless of their age.

If a younger person comes into the Office it might be appropriate to check that the staff that he/she would be working with have been DBS checked where appropriate. All necessary and appropriate risk assessments should be carried out and the person must be properly supervised at all times. They should only be asked to do activities that they should reasonably be expected to be able to do. Additional preparation and/or adaptations to your risk assessment may be required, further advice can be found on HSE’s website.

The University’s public liability insurance will only cover activities that are the legal responsibility of the University of Manchester. When you are undertaking a work placement in another organisation it is unlikely that anything that you are doing is going to be the legal responsibility of the University of Manchester.

The work experience/placement provider has a legal responsibility to visitors irrespective of whether there is insurance in place or not but they would normally provide cover on the same basis as they do in respect of their own employees.

If the placement organisation does not have any or sufficient insurance cover in place then it may not have the resources available to meet any claims made by or against the work experience person/student. The decision as to whether or not to accept a placement on this basis is up to the School.

For UK placements, you should be covered by the placement provider as a matter of course, otherwise the placement provider will be in breach of their placement agreement with HEE.

For non-NHS placements and overseas, the normal expectation is that you should receive cover via the placement provider. However, if this is not possible because of local laws, etc, then the University’s medical malpractice policy can provide cover for all students while on non-NHS placements. A condition associated with this is that the student must be supervised at all times by a suitably qualified practitioner from the field the student is working in.

The way that the University’s motor insurance policy works is that the University maintains a list of insured vehicles and anyone who wishes to drive a University insured vehicle must have a valid driver’s licence, be over 21, have at least two years driving experience and have completed a University Driver Approval form.

Drivers must also have the permission of the University contact person for the vehicle.

If you hire a vehicle for University business then you should use one of the approved suppliers and take out the insurance of the hire company.

If you are unable to use the hire company’s insurance then the University’s motor insurance can be extended to insure vehicles on temporary cover in exceptional circumstances only.

In order to arrange temporary cover, please email the Insurance Office with the make, model, registration number of the vehicle the hire company, age of driver and the reason why you are unable to take out the hire company’s insurance.

The use of private vehicles should only be permitted when all other means of transport i.e. University supplied vehicles (including hire vehicles), trains, buses etc. are impractical.

The vehicle must have current and valid insurance which includes cover for ‘business use’.

Drivers must notify their own personal insurance company when renewing their policy of any claims that they have made on the University’s motor insurance policy due to an incident in a fleet, leased or hired vehicle regardless of fault.

The University’s motor insurance does not cover vehicles hired abroad.  When hiring a vehicle abroad, the member of staff must purchase fully comprehensive insurance cover from the hire company.  The cover offered by the hire company should be checked carefully as it may be third party cover only, with the option to upgrade to fully comprehensive cover.

The University’s travel insurance will provide cover for all staff and students who are travelling on University business or undertaking an activity overseas that the University is responsible for, subject to the terms and conditions of the policy.

All activities during the trip that the University is responsible for should be risk assessed and the whole trip pre-approved by the School.

If you have any doubt whether your trip is official University business or not, seek confirmation and approval from your School.

If you are on secondment and are required to work temporarily away from the University, but you are working full time for the University, then your trip during secondment will still be covered by the University travel insurance subject to full compliance with the University Travel Policy in respect of health & safety risk assessment and pre-travel approval.

If you are self-employed or a contractor providing a service to the University, according to HMRC rules, you should provide your own travel insurance cover.

If you are from another organisation working on a joint project with the University, then your own organisation should provide insurance cover for you.

If a third party is responsible for your travel arrangements, then in the event of cancellation, rearrangement or curtailment, or any other expenses associated with your travel, you will need to make a claim against the third party, not the University’s travel insurance.

You will still be covered by the University’s travel insurance for emergency medical treatment and repatriation if your trip has been approved by your School as official University business travel.

The use of the University’s appointed travel agent for bookings is a requirement of the University Travel Policy and the University Finance Regulation and Procedures. All University business trips that have been risk assessed and approved by your School will be covered by the University’s travel insurance.

In exceptional circumstances where the University’s appointed travel agent are not able to provide the service required, you should obtain specific approval from your School to make your own travel arrangement elsewhere. Such trips will still be covered by the University’s travel insurance so long as you have fully complied with the risk assessment and approval requirements.

If you are ill with an infectious disease, including Covid, whilst travelling on official University business, your medical expenses will be covered and any additional costs incurred as a result of being ill, such as changes to flights and accommodation, will also be covered.

If you are ill, including Covid, before departure, you should contact the University’s appointed travel agent in the first instance to make changes to flights or accommodation, negating the requirement to make a claim as there would be no personal out of pocket expenses incurred. Should there be any financial loss following such cancellation, you may be able to make a claim.

Please be aware that the cost of tests is not covered by the University travel insurance, neither are the costs of isolating if they are the entry requirements of the country. This is similar to other types of entry requirements such as visas, vaccinations, blood tests etc. the cost of which is not covered by the travel insurance.

Cancellation of a pre-booked University business trip due to illness is covered by the travel insurance, including Covid, as long as the traveller was fit to travel at the time of booking.

In the event of such a cancellation, confirmation would be required from the travellers’ GP or other medical professional that they were fit to travel at the time of booking (in the event of a pre-existing condition) and are now unable to travel.

The University does not support the use of unregulated accommodation, therefore, the University’s travel insurance policy does not cover any claims that are caused as a direct result of staying in AirBNB type accommodation, or any unregulated accommodation, such as friends’ houses, hosts or private houses etc.

Other aspects of the insurance policy are not affected by this rule.

If the University’s appointed travel agent cannot provide the service required and you wished to book unregulated accommodation, you should note this in your travel risk assessment; recognising the reduced levels of assurance that are available for such properties. Even if you as the booker of the accommodation or the traveller are willing to accept the increased risk personally, you should not impose this on other colleagues or students without their full knowledge and understanding of the increased risks.

Please note that any travel booking outside the University’s appointed travel agent requires specific approval from Head of School or equivalent.

If you plan to use AirBNB or unregulated accommodation, you should consider purchasing your own insurance cover due to the risk involved.

You can download a personalised insurance certificate using the AIG Travel Assistance App.

AIG registration and login instructions for new users:

i) To access the mobile app, go to the Apple App Store or Android Play Store from your smartphone and search for AIG and tap on AIG Travel. This app is only available for smartphone – not tablets.

ii) Click on “Register”. For the app tap on “Country where coverage was purchased” and select “Global Watch”. If this doesn’t work, try ‘United Kingdom’.

iii) Provide your name, University email address and the University AIG policy number (0010015245). If you receive a “duplicate email” error, click on “Forgot Your Password” to reset your password.

iv) You will receive an automated email (check spam/junk folder) containing instructions to complete secure travel assessment website access. After you have successfully logged in and accessed the secure travel assistance website, follow the instructions for mobile access. You will receive an automated email (check spam/junk folder) and allow email from noreply@salesforce.com and AIGTravelAlerts@e5.aigdigital.com) containing instructions to complete secure travel assistance website/app access.

v) You have the option to set up Touch ID to log in using your fingerprint or Face ID to log in using facial recognition (available only for phones equipped with Touch ID or Face ID).

Once you have completed the registration you may use the same login credentials across all entry points, including your PC via AIG website and any other mobile site.

No, this fault does occur from time to time. The University’s travel insurance policy number is 0010015245, if you keep on trying it will eventually work.

If you choose ‘United Kingdom’ instead of ‘Global Watch’ under the country where insurance was purchased section, this usually solves the problem.

We do not provide travel insurance for personal trips.  If you are combining a personal holiday with a business trip, you should make sure that you have your own personal insurance to cover any claims that occur during the period of travel that is not business related.

The University’s travel insurance will cover any reasonable social incidental travel in the country of the official business, but you must not undertake any dangerous or hazardous activities that are not in your risk assessment.

Please note that incidental travel should not be a substantial part of your official business trip, and the time spent on the incidental travel should not be more than four days in a single trip. Where the period exceeds this limit, it should be taken as personal travel and travellers should provide their own insurance cover.

No.

Conferences, fieldtrips and other work related trips within the UK are covered for loss or damage to personal property and actual out of pocket expenses due to travel delay, but not compensation for delay or subsistence. Medical expenses are not covered in the UK.

Students on work or study placements in the UK are not covered.

The University travel insurance does not have any geographical limits, however, it is the travellers’ responsibility to check before they travel the most up to date information on their destination on the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) website and follow the guidance.

Please refer to the travel flowchart on the University website for further information.

Travellers should complete a specific risk assessment when travelling to high or extreme risk countries. Trips to high-risk countries can be approved by Heads of School, but trips to extreme risk countries must be signed off by the Faculty Dean.

If your personal possessions are stolen whilst on an official University business trip, they are covered by the travel insurance.

Any losses or damage, which are the result of an incident which is not your own fault, are covered by the travel insurance, but tear and wear is not covered.

If you are travelling on official University business, and your luggage is lost or delayed whilst travelling, you should approach the airline in the first instance.

If your luggage is delayed, you can claim for emergency purchases of essential items such as toiletries and basic clothes for the period that your luggage is delayed on the outward bound journey and only if there is no compensation offered by the airline. Receipts must be provided for all items claimed.

If your luggage is irretrievably lost, again you should approach the airline in the first instance. If the airline confirm that they are no longer looking for your bag (usually after 28 days) and also confirm that they will not provide any compensation for the loss, then you can make a claim for the lost items via the University’s travel insurance.

There is no excess on the travel insurance but there is a minimum claim value of £100 for claims where individuals are personally out of pocket and £500 where the travel has been paid for using University funds.

Travellers with pre-existing medical conditions are covered by the University’s travel insurance and that includes emergency medical treatment for their pre-existing condition. The only requirement made is that travellers obtain the permission of their doctor to any proposed travel and specifically to the method of travel and the countries to be visited.

Cover is for emergency treatment only and not for routine treatment or prescriptions so travellers must ensure that they have sufficient supplies of their routine medication before they travel.

If in doubt a ‘fit-to-travel’ letter should be obtained from the traveller’s GP at their own cost.

The University’s travel insurance runs from 1st June to 31st May each year and the cover is continuous. The University will always provide travel insurance for staff and students who are travelling on University business. As soon as the renewal has been finalised each year the information of the Insurance Office webpage will be updated. If we are going to change insurance companies we will allow as much notice as possible.

If you commence a journey before 31st May the insurance policy in force at the time you begin your journey will cover your entire trip until you return to the UK, even if we change insurers whilst you are away.

If you are travelling on University business then you will be covered by the University’s travel insurance but there are limitations to cover for pregnant travellers.

Travellers travelling before 36 weeks gestation and with their doctor’s consent to the trip are covered and the cover includes emergency medical treatment in respect of the pregnancy. However, pregnant travellers who reach 36 weeks gestation before or during the trip are not covered by the insurance.

Anyone 75 years old or over must contact the Insurance Office to request prior approval before travelling.  Applicants should be prepared to complete a medical questionnaire (every year if they travel regularly) and should note that agreement to insure them is at the discretion of the insurers.  A ‘fit-to-travel’ letter from the traveller’s GP is usually required for any traveller over 75 years.

There is automatic cover for anyone travelling for less than 12 months, as long as they have followed the University’s Travel Policy and procedures with regard to risk assessments and approval.

Travellers must notify the Insurance Office in advance if they intend to travel for more than 12 months without returning to the UK and confirm a definite return date that is before 24 months. These travellers are encouraged to take out their own local insurance, particularly for healthcare.

Anyone planning to be away for more than 24 months without returning to the UK will be considered to be temporarily resident in another county so should take out their own local insurance for healthcare and the cover provided by the University will cease after 24 months.

Travellers can break up a long term secondment into a number of trips of shorter duration to ensure that they remain covered by the University’s travel insurance.