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Charity public liability insurance
Cover designed around your charity
Protection for your public-facing activities
Whether you offer advice or services in the community, host groups and visitors, or run regular fundraisers, your charity is likely to interact with the public at times. This lets you do what you do best: help others and continue your important work. But this also opens you up to risks – and claims if something goes wrong.
With public liability insurance in place, you can protect your charity from the cost of third-party claims with a policy built around your risks.
What is charity public liability insurance?
Charity public liability insurance provides financial protection if a third party is injured, ill, or dies, or their property is damaged, and they make a claim against your charity.
This can include accusations from clients, volunteers, service users, customers, or contractors. These claims could be a direct result of your operations or on your premises.
You can buy this cover as a standalone policy, or as part of a more comprehensive charity insurance policy.
What does charity public liability insurance cover?
Public liability insurance for charities covers you for claims of injury and property damage, and can cover these costs:
- Legal expenses: includes the cost of hiring a solicitor and court fees.
- Compensation claims: up to £5m if they are awarded damages.
- Medical fees: if they need hospital treatment due to an injury caused by your organisation’s activities.
An example of a charity public liability claim
- The incident: a volunteer slips on liquid while working at a charity-organised event.
- The damage: they smash their mobile phone and are badly injured. As a result, they can’t continue their full-time job while they recover.
- The claim: the volunteer makes a claim against your organisation for loss of earnings. They also ask for compensation to replace their broken mobile phone.
Public liability insurance would provide cover for both these claims, as well as legal support if you have to attend court.
Why do charities need public liability insurance?
A charity and its trustees have a duty of care to staff, volunteers, and clients to carry out their activities responsibly. This is to help avoid third-party injury or property damage. If your charity is in breach of this duty and someone is hurt or their property is damaged, they could sue for damages.
Public liability insurance covers the legal and compensation costs that can come with claims, so your charity doesn't have to. Without this insurance, claims costs (which can be surprisingly steep) could be unaffordable.
Claims you can count on
We're here to take the stress out of claims. Our in-house claims service, and close relationships with insurance partners, make for an easy and efficient process. We’ll be by your side throughout, ready to answer your questions and keep things moving.
✓ In-house specialists with deep sector and insurance knowledge
✓ Here when you need us in person, by phone, or email
✓ Timely, clear, and concise communications
Charity public liability insurance FAQs
Fundraising can be vital to a charity’s success. But there are plenty of risks when members of the public, employees, and volunteers are involved. So it’s sensible to have public liability insurance in place if you’ll be engaging with the public during your event. This will protect your organisation from potentially costly third-party compensation claims.
Also, venues may require you to have charity liability insurance in place before they’ll allow you to hold an event on their premises. They should let you know when you book if this is the case.
Charity events insurance can include this cover, along with extras like cancellation protection and cover for damage to the venue.
If your community group deals with members of the public, it can be a good idea to have public liability insurance. However, it’s not a legal requirement. If you’re planning on running community group events, check if the landlord or local authority requires you to have this cover before you’re allowed to book a venue.
Public liability insurance for charities isn’t compulsory by law, but it’s an important and sought-after cover in this sector. Without it, your charity risks footing the bill if it’s sued for damages after accusations of wrongdoing.
Most charitable events involve the public, particularly when fundraising. Making or selling goods, working with the community, and engaging with volunteers comes with risks. That’s why it’s important to make sure your organisation is protected. Also bear in mind that if you’re planning a fundraising event or bidding for funding, the venue may ask to see proof of public liability insurance.
The amount of cover your charity, community group, or not-for-profit needs depends on a few factors, including:
- The size of your organisation
- The charity’s annual income
- How many employees and volunteers you have
- Whether you deal with members of the public
- Your fundraising activities
- Whether you make or sell products or goods
- Whether you take on third-party contracts
If you’re unsure about how much cover to get, our expert broking team are happy to help.
Volunteers can be a bit of a grey area when it comes to charity insurance. This is because they can fall under public liability or employers’ liability insurance.
Before taking out insurance, you could do a risk assessment for the activities your volunteers take part in. This can be useful for creating an accurate picture of the type of insurance you might need.
Your premium may be affected by the size of your charity as well as the nature of your organisation. You’ll usually be asked what sort of fundraising you carry out and the types of clients you work with, so have this information handy when you get a quote.
