There is usually no problem in recovering damages awarded as part of a personal injury claim as the defendant will usually be insured against your claim.

• in a road traffic accident the defendant's motor insurance policy will cover the claim;
• if the defendant was injured at work the defendant's employer liability insurance will cover the claim
  
• if the accident takes place in a commercial premises, the premises owner's public liability insurance should cover the claim.

However if you are injured, say, in a private house or at a small event, it is possible that there is no insurance policy in place or the policy is insufficient to cover the damages the court may award you.

In such cases you may be awarded damages but the uninsured liability will lie with the householder or event organiser and much will depend on whether you have the means to pay.

One of the first checks your solicitor will make on your behalf when dealing with a claim is whether appropriate insurance cover is in place and whether it will be sufficient to meet any judgement.

In this case at the very least it would be the responsibility of the parish council to verify that the scouts had the correct insurance in place. Indeed as landowner they may well have been responsible for the metal stake anyway.

It is thus likely that the parish council will be held to be negligent in either failing to ensure that the scouts were insured or in ensuring the safety of their land.

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