State Indemnity and the Role of SCA
Last updated: Thu, 7th April, 2022
Under the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act, 2000 the management of personal injury and third party property damage risks and claims associated with Community and Comprehensive Schools was delegated to the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). When performing these functions, the NTMA is known as the State Claims Agency (SCA).
Therefore, Community and Comprehensive Schools do not purchase insurance for personal injury and third party property damage and as such do not have to bear associated premium costs. Indemnity works on a pay as you go basis so that all costs associated with personal injury and third party property damage claims will be paid directly from the Department of Education and Skills budget through a reimbursement system operated by the SCA. The key principles of State indemnity are set out below:
The State indemnity is unlimited in amount.
State indemnity only applies in instances where a Community and Comprehensive School are negligent.
State indemnity is not like conventional insurance; it is enshrined in legislation and therefore will not have a policy number or an expiry date and there is no requirement to name indemnified parties.
A State indemnity confirmation statement is issued as proof of State indemnity in lieu of an insurance policy. A copy of the State indemnity confirmation statement can be found here.
Please refer to the ‘State indemnity Overview’ guidance document for further information on State indemnity.