Bouncy castles

and play Inflatables

1. Summary

It is the responsibility of the hirer to make sure public liability insurance is in place, especially if they are supervising the use of the castle and not the supplier. The hall does not provide any insurance for the use of bouncy castles, and cannot accept any responsibility in the event of an accident.

The hall insurance doesn’t cover the use of bouncy castles, mainly because there will be no one from the hall present to supervise. The hall is only responsible for advising hirers that they must put appropriate arrangements in place.

Any responsible supplier of a bouncy castle must have insurance, but often their public liability insurance will only cover their own liabilities and so will only apply if they themselves are present to supervise the use of the castle.

The hirer must make sure that the supplier has insurance and find out what cover is provided if the castle is not being supervised by the supplier.

If the insurance cover for the hirer applies only when the castle is supervised by the supplier, then the hirer is responsible for insurance and for proper supervision.  Proper supervision means supervision by an adult over 18.  Letting teenagers supervise toddlers will not be allowed by any insurance.

Insurance for a one-off event can be purchased. See details at the end.

Because it’s complicated, you can see why many halls find it easier not to allow bouncy castles.

However, because Woore Victory Hall has plenty of space to allow bouncy castles, and because many hirers appreciate being able to have bouncy castles for their parties, the trustees have decided to allow bouncy castles under the following conditions:

When booking, the hirer must declare that they intend to have a bouncy castle. This declaration will imply a commitment to make sure that:

• The bouncy castle will be supervised at all times by an adult (over 18).
• Public liability insurance will be provided either by the supplier or the hirer.

Before the actual booking, the hirer must confirm that insurance is in place, and must be prepared to provide evidence for this.

The hall reserves the right to prohibit the use of the castle, or even to cancel the booking if appropriate evidence is not provided on request.

Please understand that these arrangements are being introduced so that the hall trustees and the hirers can be sure that proper insurance is in place enabling hirers to run a happy event, knowing that they are properly insured.

2. Supervision and Safety Instructions

As a minimum, insurers will ask that you comply with the following:

• access and use is controlled by an authorised adult employee or volunteer at all times
• when used outside a building, the bouncy castle is securely anchored to the ground
• each anchor point is signed, or otherwise marked to be made easily visible, and wrapped to prevent trips
• soft matting is used to cover hard surfaces adjacent to the front or any open sides where there is a risk of injury from falling from the inflatable

Where you are responsible for bouncy castles, extra care should be taken to prevent injuries by making sure measures are put in place that helps reduce this risk, for example:

• following the manufacturer’s or supplier’s safety recommendations
• requiring children to remove sharp articles like shoes, buckles or jewellery
• not allowing overcrowding, particularly by children - to help prevent knocking into each other
• not allowing a mix of large and small children at the same time - to avoid larger children crushing the smaller ones
• not allowing use by adults and children at the same time
• not allowing any access to the very youngest children, e.g. under 2 years old

3. Insurance

If you need to obtain party insurance which includes cover for use of bouncy castles, we have found

• https://www.peacockinsurance.co.uk/inflatable-insurance/

Please let us know if you find any others.