Are you covered for that?

Guidance notes for Community groups

To be covered under CornwallCouncil’s public liability insurancethe following must apply

  • Volunteers are required to by managed and supervised by the council but work does not have to take place on council owned land.
  • Volunteers must be carrying out work that the council would undertake in their normal business ie. cleaning up a grot spot, planting bulbs, flowers, cutting grass etc.
  • Training must be undertaken in the use of machinery, health and safety.
  • There is an insurance recommendation that each project session there must be a qualified first aider.
  • A risk assessment completed and in line with Cornwall Council’s Volunteer Policy must be done beforehand
  • CRB checks are only required for those undertaking Regulated Activity – ie once a week or 4 times a month it becomes a legal requirement, The Council are awaiting government legislation under the Protection of Freedoms Bill in November. The expectation is that the rules will change around volunteers and CRB. Self declaration form will suffice for one off projects, but if it is likely to become regulated then CRB checks will be required. These can be obtained through the Cornwall Volunteer Bureau at a discounted cost (not available through this channel for CC staff).
  • If bloom or community groups already have their own insurance through the RHS, BTCV or other approved bodythenevidence must be provided in the form of a policy, and liability cover must be for a minimum of £5m.
  • The work has to be agreed through an agreed work / management programme. The Council need to be informed of when you are on site.
  • Effective management must take place in line with bullet 1 – if we don’t know where volunteers are working we cannot manage them
  • All Documents paperwork needs to be up to date and shown to the officer and a copy kept on file

The Council will ensure that all volunteers volunteering on behalf of the council are fully covered by insurance.

Volunteers will only be covered when working on behalf of the council and being managed by the council, any other activities such as fund raising and committee meetings will not be covered.

Use of machinery:

Volunteers are covered for the use of hand tools and would be covered to use machinery if the correct approved training has been undertaken, correct PPE is used and all health and safety and risk assessments undertaken and they are properly supervised.

Other Voluntary Organisations

Any organisation volunteering to work with the council must provide evidence of insurance, and any organisation working on council owned land must provide the same. Residual responsibility will always rest with the council andeffective management must be in place to avoidany unacceptable risks either financially or reputationally.

The council always recommends a minimum of £5m public liability insurance;cover for £5m will not cost significantly more than £2m in premiums.

For further information please contact:

Amanda Hale

Risk & Insurance Manager

Cornwall Council, New County Hall, Treyew Road, Truro, TR1 3AY

01872 323231 / 01726 223346