CHURCH/CHARITIES TRUSTEES LIABILITY

Many Churches and charities have trustees who are unaware of the risks they run when volunteering for this important role.

Do you realise that not only the church and charity, but also the trustees themselves, can be liable for damages and expenses for injuries to the congregation, and the public, for accidents on the premises, or, during activities carried out on behalf of the church/charity, off site, anywhere in the world?

Damages can be claimed not only for bodily injury but also for damage to possessions.  Damages can also be claimed for "wrongful acts"of trustees, which does not just imply dishonesty, but includes simple mistakes?

Do you realise that the injured party can now attempt to sue ALL of the TRUSTEES and that they can personally be HELD LIABLE to pay damages UP TO THE TOTAL VALUE OF THEIR OWN PERSONAL ASSETS. That includes their own home which may have to be sold to pay the damages awarded. Now do you see the problem?  The good news is that Trustees can be covered by insurance ,and we can help you arrange it.

There are many types of risk that your church/charity may be involved with, which, unfortunately may not be covered by your present insurance. Also many churches/charities have insurance policies that are more suitable to commercial premises, as the policies have been purchased from mainstream insurance companies rather than church and charity specialists.

We deal with ALL THE MAJOR CHRISTIAN INSURANCE COMPANIES and quite often their policies are not only more appropriate but can be very competitive with the traditional Insurers.

We are very worried about the lack of insurance cover on some churches and trustees, so we have put together a questionnaire entitled "ARE YOU INSURED FOR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING POSSIBLE RISKS" which outlines a number of risks that you might be exposed to. If you would like a copy ,please telephone 0845 1303034 (low call rate).

To give you a flavour of what we are worried about, these are a few risks that your church may not be insured for:-

• Does your insurance policy cover Sunday School trips to the beach?  Who will have to pay damages if a child is injured in a fall from the rocks?
• Does your Church evangelise from street corners or hold prayer meetings in the town square at Easter?
  What happens if a member of the public falls over the microphone wire and injures themself does your Public Liability policy include activities of this sort?
• Do you lend out or hire your church hall for birthday parties?  Are you covered for injuries to the children on the bouncy castle that you did not even know was going to be used?

Remember in these days of everyone suing for the least possible thing, IF YOUR CHURCH/CHARITY IS NOT FULLY INSURED as TRUSTEE you had better be!

FOR ADVICE ON ANY ASPECT OF CHURCH/CHARITY INSURANCE or TRUSTEE INDEMNITY please phone 0845 1303034.

We will be pleased to help in any way we can. However if you do not want to deal with us, we sincerely recommend that you contact your own Insurer, to make sure that you are fully covered.