Charities face unique risks – here’s why specialist charity insurance is essential

Charities are exposed to risks that are very different to those faced by most organisations. They require special insurance protection to ensure that their vital work can continue, whatever happens.

Whether you’re a small local charity or a national organisation, you’ll require specialist insurance advice and solutions to protect your people and your property. Why? Because charities are incredibly diverse and face different risks depending on the kind of work they do. One size certainly doesn’t fit all when it comes to finding the right level of cover. 

With that in mind, here are just a few areas of your charitable organisation that you need to consider if you want to make sure that you have the insurance cover you need.

Your employees and volunteers

Your charity is built on the hard work and dedication of your employees and volunteers. In order to protect your organisation, you are legally required to have employers’ liability insurance giving you cover up to the value of £5 million for your employees. 

This is an important safeguard against any compensation claims related to them. These could be anything from any illness or injury that they suffer while they are working for you, or even damage to your property related to their activities.

Volunteers are slightly different to employees, but of course you still need to be protected with insurance in case of any claims that involve them. In most cases they should also be covered either by your employers’ liability insurance or by your public liability cover. However it’s worth checking which of these it is in your specific case. 

The public

Most charities will interact regularly with members of public in some way. They might be visitors to your sites, or people who are taking part in an important fundraising event for your charity. 

Because of this, public liability insurance is an essential part of protecting your organisation and ensuring that you can pay any potential compensation claims made against you. In most cases, charity public liability insurance will cover third party liability, legal expenses, compensation claims and even any medical fees.

Your buildings and contents 

Your charity may own its own premises, and these will also need to be covered with specialist buildings insurance. Typically, this will cover risks such as fire, theft and flood, but it’s also important to make sure that you also have contents insurance if your charity has items that are of value to your organisation. This could be anything from the computers you use in your offices to the stock you sell in your charity shops. 

Your vehicles

Most charities will depend on vehicles to help them to run efficiently. Your volunteers might use a minibus for taking members of the local community for a trip. Or you might have a large van for picking up and delivering donations. 

Whatever your situation, you will need the right kind of motor insurance to protect your employees, volunteers and the public whenever these vehicles are being used. Many policies will also be flexible enough to allow any qualified driver who works for you to drive your vehicles – something that is really useful for any busy charity. 

If you are looking for specialist advice and a practical insurance solution for your charity, we can help. Get in touch to discuss how we can help protect your charity with the right insurance – so that you can continue to focus on the vital work you do, worry-free.

Call us today on 01274 515 747 or email us at mail@lwood.co.uk.