Private school in legal bid to force insurers to pay for abuse claims

A legal battle is looming over the bill for compensation claims for alleged child abuse at the former school of BBC broadcaster Nicky Campbell.

Edinburgh Academy is taking an insurance firm to the High Court in London in a bid to force it to cover the costs of payouts to survivors - which could run to millions of pounds.

Mr Campbell, 63, revealed last year that he had experienced a ‘couple of breakdowns’ as a result of abuse he suffered and witnessed at the prestigious Scottish private school.

Court documents reveal there are gaps in Edinburgh Academy’s historic records for public liability insurance which led to the legal dispute over who should pay for abuse compensation.

In June, it emerged that Edinburgh Academy had taken out a £4million loan to cover the cost of compensation claims, and the school’s rector Barry Welsh said that ‘confirming our insurance position has been more challenging than we would have liked’.

Police began a series of investigations into Edinburgh Academy after more than 20 former teachers and staff members were accused of attacks on pupils between 1960 and 2000.

Read More

Boss of exclusive Edinburgh school admits 'dark times' experienced by BBC presenter Nicky Campbell and other former pupils who were abused are 'never leaving' the institution

It is understood Edinburgh Academy is unable to call on insurers to pay out claims for incidents from the 1960s and 1970s, because it cannot source its insurance policies from the period.

Mr Campbell, who was among 38 former pupils who described sexual and physical abuse on an ‘industrial scale’, with some being beaten with a cricket bat, strangled and raped, declined to comment on the legal row.

A survivor who did not want to be named said: ‘Lots of men have had their lives completely wrecked by the school and they should be due more compensation than it could possibly ever offer.

‘If records of insurance policies have been lost, that is sheer incompetence.’

Yesterday it emerged Edinburgh Academy had launched proceedings at the High Court seeking court declarations that insurers RiverStone International - which took over the Guardian Group, former public liability insurers for the school between August 1965 and July 1998 - should pay any compensation awarded.

The school is also seeking a declaration that RiverStone should foot the bill for legal costs and expenses.

Court papers say RiverStone has accepted liability for some of the periods involved but not others.

Last night RiverStone declined to comment.

Giles Moffatt, co-founder of EA Survivors, representing 120 abuse survivors at a number of schools – 60 of them are former pupils of Edinburgh Academy – said: ‘We’re not in for the money - we are in it to fight for the truth to come out about the abusers.

‘The point is to get an acknowledgment that children were mistreated and abused and for them to get closure.

‘Some of the insurers contracted by private schools have subjected survivors to character assassination as they fight for compensation – which is retraumatising them.’

Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport

Sources close to the management of Edinburgh Academy last night confirmed legal action was under way against RiverStone but declined to comment further.

Survivors believe damages for the abuse could cost millions after witnesses told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry that a number of students had brought civil claims against the school.

The school said in June that it had borrowed from the Bank of Scotland while it searches for the relevant insurance documents.

Barry Welsh, the school’s rector, said at the time: ‘Because some of these events took place in the 1960s and early 1970s, confirming our insurance position has been more challenging than we would have liked.

‘We are currently engaged in further work to strengthen our insurance position, but having recognised a potential financial liability, the school took out a long-term loan from the Bank of Scotland for £4million in December 2023.’

Edinburgh Academy has previously stressed that fees from existing students would not be used to cover the cost of civil claims.