Small charity insurance

Charities with an annual income of under £350K can get a quote online with Markel Direct

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Small charities can have a big impact in their community and beyond

To help continue your important work, you’ll want to make sure you’re financially protected if the unexpected happens. 

Charities have a duty of care to their staff, service users, and volunteers – and may have obligations to get certain types of cover. With one seamless (and flexible) policy for charities and not-for-profits, we'll create the insurance package you need, built around your everyday risks.  

Our charity team will also be there for advice and support relating to safeguarding, health and safety, and risk management evaluations, whenever you need it. 

We’re proud to be the trusted broking partner to ukactive – which serves over 4,000 members and partners from across the public, private and third sectors – and Locality, which supports 1600 community-focused organisations.

Expert support

We work with thousands of charities and not-for-profits to help them manage risk.

Competitive prices

Value for money matters. We offer well-priced policies without compromising on quality.

Personal service

We'll review, revise, and develop your insurance over the term, to help you stay fully protected.

What is small charity insurance?

Insurance for small charities and non-profit groups provides cover for the unique risks associated with charitable organisations and their activities. 

Claims could range from someone injured on your premises to mistakes in advice leading to a service user’s financial loss.

The type of work and activities you do can help decide which types of cover you may need. For example, you may host regular fundraising events or work with vulnerable people.

Download our brochure to learn more.

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What does small charity insurance cover?

Your policy can include a number of cover types. From protection for your property to the daily activities of your volunteers, you could consider: 

Public liability insurance covers the cost of a claim if someone (other than an employee) accuses your charity or its people of injury or property damage that’s caused them loss. This includes legal defence costs and any compensation awarded.

Some venues and third-party contracts may ask that you have this cover in place.

You’ll need employers’ liability insurance by law if your charity employs anyone. This covers the cost of a claim if an employee or volunteer becomes injured or ill through their work and makes a claim against your charity.

Without it, you could face large fines, uninsured claims, and damage to your charity's reputation.

Unexpected events, like fires, floods, and storms, can stop a charity from operating. Business interruption insurance covers lost revenue and additional costs, to help you stay afloat and get back to normal operations. Support lasts for a pre-agreed amount of time (indemnity period) – it’s important not to underestimate this.

This protects the personal liability of your decision-makers. That’s your individual trustees, governors, officers, and committee members. If a claim is made against them for a wrongful act – such as a breach of duty of care or negligence in their advice – legal defence and compensation costs are covered. Otherwise, they’d be personally liable to pay these.

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Here for your charity

  • We’ll build a long-term partnership you can rely on. That's an insurance policy to protect your organisation and its service users, and regular reviews, so you stay protected. 
  • We can help you manage risk in compliance with the relevant legislation. Our risk management services include safeguarding, health and safety audits, and risk management evaluation. 
  • Our in-house claims service and close relationships with insurers makes for an easy and efficient claims process. We’ll be by your side throughout, ready to answer your questions and keep things moving.
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Charities with an annual income of under £350K can get a quote online with Markel Direct – for everything else, contact us

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Charities, not for profit & voluntary organisations enquiry form

To find out how we can best support your charitable organisation please complete the enquiry form below, or alternatively call a member of our specialist charity team on 0333 234 1351. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm.

Small charities: If you're a small charity (income under £350,000 pa), we offer Markel's online charity insurance which is specifically designed to provide cover for smaller organisations at competitive rates.

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Small charity insurance FAQs

If your charity deals with the public or holds events, it’s sensible to have public liability insurance. This will protect it from future compensation claims filed by third parties, such as a visitor being injured on your premises. 

All organisations have a responsibility to take care of their staff, volunteers, and clients. They must also make sure its activities are conducted in a safe and responsible way. This helps to prevent accidents.

If this duty of care is broken, someone may end up getting hurt or having their property damaged. That person can then make a claim against your organisation for the damages – which public liability insurance would help protect against.
 

If your organisation has employees, you need employers' liability insurance by law. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 per day. 

If an employee gets hurt or damages their property at work, they could file a compensation claim against your organisation. With this cover in place, potentially costly legal defence costs and settlements would be covered. 

For example, imagine an employee or volunteer slips and injures themself in the workplace, but there was no ‘wet floor’ sign. Or maybe someone develops repetitive strain injury from not having the right health and safety computer equipment. 

This applies to claims from:

  • Full-time staff
  • Temporary and part-time staff
  • Work experience and apprentices
  • Volunteers in some cases (they can sometimes be covered by public liability insurance)
     

Apart from employers’ liability insurance if you have any staff, there is no legal requirement for small charities to have insurance. 

But trustees have a legal duty of care to act in a charity’s best interests. Especially when it comes to its assets, resources, service users, staff, and volunteers. It's important to assess the risks associated with your charity. This will help make sure you’re meeting your duty of care and legal obligations.
 

The type of questions we’ll ask when you get a quote include: 

  • What’s your charity’s annual turnover?
  • What services does your charity provide?
  • How many volunteers and employees does your charity have?
  • Does your charity have any assets, such as property?
  • Does your charity own contents within the property?
  • Does your charity carry out regular risk assessments, training programmes and inspections? (You’ll need to show evidence of risk assessments for any future claims.)
  • Do your staff or volunteers have contact with children or adults who are vulnerable?
     

We can provide cover most risks, including the following:

  • Business interruption 
  • Legal representation and employment disputes 
  • Money and personal assault 
  • Cyber and data risks 
  • Occupational personal accident 
  • Fidelity insurance
  • Buildings and contents insurance, including stock and donated goods

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