All organisations face risks, and insurance can be an appropriate way of protecting your organisation against any loss, damage or liability arising from these risks.
Compulsory Insurance
Two types of insurance are compulsory:
- If your group employs staff, you must have employers’ liability insurance. The charity (as an employer) must prominently display a certificate showing that a valid policy is in force and the minimum level of cover purchased.
- If your group owns or operates motor vehicles you must have motor insurance that covers third party injury and property damage.
If the law does not require your organisation to buy a certain type of insurance cover, a risk assessment will help you to decide whether it is necessary. The Charity Commission guidance Charities and Insurance contains more information about the compulsory requirements as well as information that can help you assess whether any other forms of insurance would be appropriate.
Types of Insurance
There are many other types of insurance available to voluntary and community sector organisations including:
- public liability
- professional indemnity
- trustee indemnity
- buildings /contents
- event
- product liability
- travel insurance / personal accident
Your organisation should carry out thorough and regular risk assessments and take action to minimise risks, but risk management can only minimise the risk of an accident, loss or damage, not eliminate it completely.
Your organisation should ensure that volunteers are protected from harm as a result of any negligence on its part. Also, both the organisation and its volunteers should be covered in the event of a third party being injured through the actions of a volunteer.
You may find it useful to view the series of short videos from Zurich Insurance which answer frequently asked questions about charity insurance, including cover for volunteers, employees, trustees, buildings and contents. Zurich/NCVO have uploaded their most recent Insurance101 Webinar from Small Charities Week 2022.
Insurance Providers
There are lots of insurance providers to choose from, and we recommend that you ask for several quotes. Some customer service is better than others, and prices vary widely – we would recommend that you choose one that can explain how they meet your needs and can do so for a sensible price.
The following companies are listed to help you identify possible providers - however they are not recommendations, you should undertake your own research as to the suitability of the provider to meet your needs.
Some large companies that specialise in insurance for charities and not-for-profits are:
- Zurich (used to be called Tennyson)
- Access Insurance
- AQmen
We have also been contacted by a local broker who offered to provide a good service, as follows:
- Narvin Powar CII Cert, Dip PFS, Insurance Broker & Independent Financial Adviser
Gill Insurance & Financial Consultants Ltd
78 Tavistock Street, Bedford MK40 2RP
Contact Narvin by email at: narvin@gillinsurance.co.uk
Also, if your organisation has a bank account, it is often worth talking to that bank about insurance too.
Checks
The charity should check any insurance policy to see:
- that it definitely includes volunteers
- how the term ‘volunteer’ is defined for the purposes of that policy
- whether any upper or lower age limits apply
- that the policy covers the types of activities that the volunteers will be undertaking
You should check the small print when choosing any insurance policy:
- coverage - what your insurance will and won’t protect if you need to make a claim.
- exclusion - a risk or item specifically not covered by a policy.
- warranties and conditions – what you agree to as part of the insurance contract.
- excess - this is the first amount of any insurance claim that the policyholder agrees to pay as part of the policy conditions – the insurer pays the rest.
- limits – this is the maximum that a policy will pay out in claims. This could be a monetary cap or number of times claims can be made in the period of cover.
Charities can find detailed advice on risk in the guidance Charities and Risk Management: A guide for trustees. There are a number of ways to manage any risks faced by a charity, one of which is to buy insurance cover.