ASCC Insurance Scheme for Member Councils
Working hard representing your community puts Community Councillors in the public eye. Your CC work is made that much easier knowing you are covered by a national insurance policy that looks after all your members.
Nowadays Community Council work can worry us, in case someone brings a claim against us as CCs and CCllrs. To protect us as Councillors and as individuals, ASCC has arranged a discounted insurance scheme to cover core CC business for CCs and CCllrs.
Please note that ASCC receives a small fee for arranging insurance – it is included within the premium we quote.
What’s covered?
Basic cover requires your CC to be a member of ASCC. The membership year runs from April 1st. Insurance runs to April 30th each. So, you can renew your membership and your insurance at once.
Cover is for the core activities of the Community Council and its Councillors; activities based on the statutory purposes of CCs, such as CC meetings, public meetings, newsletters, articles in newspapers and on the internet, minutes, and so on.
The basic scheme does not cover additional activities (such as fund-raising galas, litter clearing sessions, Christmas lighting ceremonies, dances, and so on); nor does it cover property. But if your CC is in the insurance scheme, these things can be added.
The basic insurance scheme includes -
1. Public Liability cover
Relating to your legal liability to pay damages for accidental detriment to property, injury to persons or death, arising from your negligence. Limit of Indemnity: £5 million. Excess: £100 each and every loss.
2. Libel & Slander (Defamation) cover
Relating to your legal liability to pay damages for defamation (libels appearing in publications and slanders in oral utterances). Limit of Indemnity: £250,000. Excess: £1000 or 10% of claim, for each and every claim, whichever is the lower.
3. Personal Accident cover
Relating to death or injury sustained by Community Councillors as a result of accidents or assault. Capital sum: £25,000. Weekly sum: £100.
Premium:
The ASCC membership subscription remains £15 per annum. We intend to keep it at this level as long as we can. The basic insurance scheme premium is set by Zurich Insurance, and for the 2010-2011 insurance year, it is again £52.00. The total for ASCC membership and basic insurance is therefore a mere £67.00 for the 2010 – 2011 year.
Additional cover:
If your CC owns property or arranges events, you may need extra insurance cover. This would be in addition to basic insurance scheme cover and would require a form and an additional premium. We can also arrange employer’s liability cover, fidelity guarantee and other forms of cover if needed. The premiums are calculated on an individual basis, and many need our Underwriter to do this. This can take up to three weeks. So please be sure you give ASCC as much notice as possible of your additional insurance cover requirements.
Additional property cover
CC property such as notice boards, computers, Christmas lights, and so on can be covered under an “all risks” arrangement (which covers accidental damage, theft, vandalism, and so on). There will be an excess – typically £100 per claim – and an addition premium. For property cover, the property cover form must be completed and returned to ASCC; we may contact you for clarification, and we then pass the information on for premium calculation. We will notify you of the premium as soon as we are able. This may take as long as three weeks. If your CC accepts, cover will be in place as soon as we receive your payment.
Where property is owned / managed jointly by a Community Council and another organisation, we will normally need a copy of the other organisation’s constitution; and we may occasionally be unable to provide cover. Also, please note that we cannot cover heritable property (land and so on) within the scheme.
Additional Event cover
The basic scheme does not cover events beyond core CC activity. If your CC intends to put on events such as fund-raising galas, litter clearing sessions, Christmas lighting ceremonies, dances, and so on, you will probably need your Public Liability cover extended to cover you for the event. Often this is a requirement for renting a public hall from a local authority, for example. The additional premium for an event depends on the size of the event and the type of activities involved. For larger, more complicated and more risky events, our Underwriter needs to calculate the premium, which can take up to three weeks. For many events though we are able to provide a premium more quickly. Please give us as much notice as you can – do so by completing and sending in the event cover form. We will notify you of the premium as soon as we are able, and your CC can decide whether to take the
cover. Cover will be in place once ASCC has received your premium payment.
Please note that events put on by other groups in your area cannot be covered under the Community Councils scheme. However where a CC runs an event jointly with another organisation, cover may be possible. We may need to see the constitutions of partner organisations.
Claims:
If the worst happens and your CC needs to make a claim. Please contact ASCC as soon as possible. We will note the claim, and put you in touch with the correct department at Zurich Insurance.
Questions:
If you have any questions about insurance, please contact us on insurance@ascc.org.uk.
