Hiring School Buses for Private Events to Become Costly as Per High Court Ruling.
In the event of road accidents, hiring school buses for private use could soon prove to be a pricey endeavor.
In a precedent-setting ruling, High Court Judge Roselyn Aburili states that it would be inappropriate to require an insurance company to accept claims arising from responsibility not foreseen by the legislature and, even then, not covered by an insurance policy between the parties concerned.
According to the ruling, forcing the insurer to settle such claims would violate legal rules and assign parties what they did not agree to.
In a ruling in Kisumu on August 8, 2024, the judge stated that the outcome would unjustly reward an undeserving party while penalizing the insurer for obligations it neither agreed to nor contracted.
The judge warned school board management to exercise caution and urged those who hire school buses to read the insurance policy governing their use before parting with any money and risking the lives and limbs of innocent ‘unauthorized passengers’.
“I do trust and hope that this brief judgment will be circulated to all schools in the country through the county directors of education to alert school management boards, of the dangers associated with the practice, which danger only comes to the fore when there is an accident upon suits being filed by those affected,” the ruling’s judge stated.
Old Mutual General Insurance Kenya Limited brought a case against the board of directors of Oder Boys Boarding Special School in Kisumu, and Justice Aburili issued the decision. In this example, Seventh Day Adventists, the school’s sponsors, rented the school bus on April 23, 2023, to transport them to a church function in Kakamega County.
The bus was involved in a collision along the Kisumu-Kakamega Road, injuring numerous passengers.
After the accident, the injured passengers filed claims for compensation in the Small Claims Court, but the insurer denied liability because the bus was not being used for its insured purpose.
According to the insurance company, it is expressly stated in the policy under the general exclusions that the company will not be liable for any accident, loss, damage, or liability caused, sustained, or incurred while the motor vehicle is being used for the purpose for which it was insured.
The school defended the claims, stating that the bus was registered in the school’s name and that because the SDA was the school’s sponsor, it was authorized to use the bus when the need arose, which the church did on the relevant date, ferrying church members to Kakamega after fueling the bus and paying the driver the daily stipend.
In the country’s major cities, particularly during crusades and other religious gatherings, Justice Aburili stated that it is common to see all school vehicles “lined up from all parts of the nation in their beautiful yellow colors, scaling heights and going down valleys, leading to those crusades, carrying believers or worshippers.”
However, the judge stated that the insurance coverage they purchased specifically excludes certain types of people, sometimes known as unauthorized passengers.
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When accidents occur, the policy is often avoided or voided, leaving injured passengers or the loved ones of deceased passengers as mere hopeful seekers of justice, according to the tribunal’s judge. Schools often fall short in settling such claims, leaving these individuals with empty rulings.
Justice Aburili stated unequivocally that schools do not read and follow the conditions of the contractual insurance contracts.
“The contracts are written in very small text to deter readers. The insured frequently assumes the risks, mostly out of ignorance. Unauthorized passengers, on the other hand, are unaware of the dangers. The court added that the insurance companies bear no risk, which is understandable given that the insurance contract does not cover those risks.
The court ruled that liability was specifically excluded when the bus was not used for the purposes for which it was insured.
Hiring School Buses for Private Events to Become Costly as Per High Court Ruling.
