Do you need insurance for volunteers?

As a business or charity, you have a duty of care to your employees, including creating a safe work environment.

Unfortunately, even when you do everything you can to make this a reality, accidents leading to compensation claims can still happen. Employers’ liability insurance is designed to protect your organisation in these circumstances.

That said, there are differences between employees and volunteers, which could lead to the question—do you need employers’ liability insurance for volunteers?

Here’s our guide to volunteers’ insurance so you can protect your organisation and keep everyone working with you safe.

 

What is employers’ liability insurance?

Understanding this will help you differentiate between your responsibilities to paid employees and those who work voluntarily.

In a nutshell, employers’ liability insurance provides financial protection to businesses and charities if an employee claims for illness or injury that occurs due to their employment.

Say an employee breaks their arm after slipping on a wet floor at work and decides to claim against your organisation—employers’ liability insurance would cover any legal or compensation costs related to the claim.

All organisations with full or part-time employees are legally required to hold an employers’ liability insurance policy. The only reason a business or charity is exempt from this is as follows:

• it’s a sole trader with no employees apart from family members
• it’s a limited company with just one employee who owns 50% or more of the business

It could be a good idea to consider employers’ liability insurance regardless, especially since smaller organisations are more vulnerable to costly claims.

 

Do you need employers’ liability insurance for volunteers?

Whether or not having volunteer insurance is a legal requirement is a grey area.

While health and safety law doesn’t necessarily apply to volunteers, organisations may still have duties under civil law.

HSE, Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety, say the following:

“If your organisation has at least one employee, or if you are self-employed and employ others, you will have duties under health and safety law.

“This means you must protect your employees but also others, including volunteers, from any risks arising from your work activities.”

Fortunately, volunteers are often automatically covered by two forms of insurance—Employers’ Liability and Public Liability, which protects your organisation from third-party claims.

If you already have these in place or you’ve found an insurer with these options available, check the policy information to ensure that volunteers are included in the cover.

Then, you can rest assured that you have adequate volunteer insurance.

 

Why is volunteers’ insurance important?

Assuming you’re a purpose-driven organisation, you probably understand the importance of protecting those who give up their time for free to support your mission.

But aside from the moral aspects, protecting your organisation is just as important so you can continue serving your community even if the worst happens.

Every organisation working with the public is vulnerable to several risks, including:

• injury
• theft
• damage
• fire
• business interruption
• legal disputes

Covering your organisation against a range of risks, alongside those protected by Employers’ Liability and Public Liability cover, can help you lead with the peace of mind that you’re protected against the worst-case scenarios.

You’ll also be acting in the best interest of your volunteers, employees, and community by protecting your organisation’s future.

 

 

When should you get volunteers’ insurance?

If you employ others at your organisation, you should have Employers’ Liability insurance in place immediately to ensure you’re operating legally.

As discussed earlier, it’s down to you whether you want to arrange cover for volunteers only, but there could be potential legal ramifications if you’re found to be in breach of duty under civil law.

Other forms of cover, such as theft, damage, or business interruption, may not be legally required. But you may want to have these in place to further protect your organisation.

 

How to check if your policy covers volunteers

Checking your policy documents or contacting your insurance broker or provider is the easiest way to check whether volunteers are covered.

At Ripe, the Employers’ and Public Liability cover options protect employees and volunteers.

 

What to look for in volunteers’ insurance

£5m is the minimum legal amount of employers’ liability insurance required for organisations that employ others. However, some insurers offer £10m for those who want extra protection.

The ability to choose your level of cover can be a sign of an insurer who caters to each client’s needs rather than giving them a one-size-fits-all policy.

Other aspects you may want to look out for include whether there’s an age limit on volunteers or if there are exclusions that apply to the activities they are covered for.

At Ripe, you can select up to £10m of cover for Public and Products Liability and Employers’ Liability, giving you more control over your organisation’s protection.

You can also build your own policy through our online quote process, to ensure you only pay for the cover you need.

 

Sporting club, leisure, and community insurance through Ripe

If you want peace of mind when running your organisation, you may want to have specialist insurance in place to cover all the bases.

At Ripe, there are many cover options to choose from, including Public and Products Liability to protect your organisation against third-party claims and Legal Costs cover for pursuing or defending a claim. 

You can also opt for Buildings Cover to protect any building belonging to or leased by your organisation, and Contents cover in case any contents kept at the property are damaged. 

Click here to learn more about the cover, which is coming soon to Ripe.