Suitable public liability insurance is essential for all TRAs who run activities and events. If your TRA is only holding committee or open meetings, you are covered by H&F's public liability insurance.
Unforeseen events can happen and some accidents and incidents that take place are simply unavoidable, and the correct insurance cover should be in place.
Here is a guide to the different types of insurance that are available.
Public liability insurance
This protects against allegations of injury caused to a third party. This could be, for example, if someone was to trip over a loose wire at an event, or a kettle was knocked over and scalded a visitor.
Some suggested providers of public liability insurance (but in no way limited to these providers) are:
- Aviva
- Axa
- Lloyds
- Zurich
The council requires TRAs to hold public liability insurance to the value of £5 million. This is a common sum that public liability insurance is required for.
Public liability insurance also covers against damage caused to third party property.
If your TRA is holding an event that involves suppliers providing services as part of the event, you should ask these suppliers to show you their public liability insurance. An example of this could be if the TRA is paying a face painter to attend an event.
If your TRA manages a hall and hires this out, your hirers should show you proof that they have public liability insurance is in place for their activities.
Hirer's liability
If you hire out to people for parties or other events, you should consider taking out Hirer's Liability as part of your insurance. If you don't, each hirer will need to show you proof of their own public liability insurance. This would include things like family birthday parties.
Employer's liability insurance
If your TRA directly employs any staff, employer's liability insurance is a legal requirement. It covers the TRA against allegations of injury or illness suffered by staff during their employment.
This does not apply if your TRA manages a hall and has a cleaner who invoices the TRA for their cleaning services. In this situation, you are not employing them; you are paying for a service.
Contents insurance
Contents insurance is insurance that pays for damage to, or loss of items in the hall or room. This could include printers, IT equipment or furniture etc. It is up to each TRA committee to assess their individual situation to determine whether contents insurance is required.
Buildings insurance
Buildings insurance isn't required for TRAs. H&F insures all of its buildings in case of fire, damage or loss of use.