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comercrawley

the personal injury lawyers

Your questions answered……

Question:  I am helping to organise a fete for my son’s playgroup and we are looking to hire a bouncy castle.  Is there anything that we should do to protect ourselves from someone claiming compensation should a child get hurt whilst playing on it?

Answer:   The person or company that you hire the bouncy castle from should provide guidance and instructions on how to use the inflatable safely.  It is obviously important that these instructions are followed.  Sometimes the bouncy castle hirer is able to provide a notice to display setting out rules to ensure its safe use (such as no eating or drinking and not wearing jewellery etc).

It is important that the bouncy castle is supervised throughout the fete to make sure that these rules are followed (either one person can do this or a rota can be drawn up).  It is often advisable to limit the number of children using the bouncy castle at any one time and to also make sure that the age groups of the children using it at any one time do not differ significantly (for example toddlers using it at the same time as teenagers).  Children should be stopped from doing anything dangerous, such as climbing up the sides of the bouncy castle.

It is also advisable for a risk assessment to be carried out in relation to the use of the bouncy castle (and indeed the fete generally).  By undergoing this process, it will help the organisers of the fete indentify the relevant risks and look at ways of minimising them.

It is also important to make sure that the person or company that you hire the bouncy castle from has public liability insurance cover.  The playgroup should also ensure that itspublic liability insurance cover not only covers the fete but also the hire of the bouncy castle.  This will mean that should a child be injured and a compensation claim made, theclaim can be forwarded on to the relevant insurance company for them to deal with as is appropriate.

If you have a question for our legal advice team you can submit it by email:enquiries@comercrawley.co.uk or in writing to:  Chancery House, Victoria Road, Diss, Norfolk IP22 4HZ.