Public Liability Insurance - do I need it?

scottme

I serve on the committee of a club which stages monthly wine tasting events. We hire a church hall for these, and we arrange speakers and refreshments, and we collect a booking fee of around £10 for each attendee to cover costs. There has been some discussion recently about whether we should take out public liability insurance (PLI), and I'm really struggling to understand what it would buy us, beyond a vague and possibly illusory feeling of being somehow "protected".

On the other hand, almost all the information I have been able to find on the subject seems to be produced by persons with an evident vested interest in selling PLI, and they are certainly keen to play up the need for it.

I guess I don't really see what "risks" we as a club run that would need us to spend getting on for £50 a time to insure our events against vague and unspecified claims for liability.

Our members agree that they and any guests attend our events at their own risk, and our liability to them is explicitly limited to the amount they have paid to attend the event. The lessors of the hall tell us they have their own insurance which covers accidental damage, trips, falls, etc. What else could go wrong?

dacouch

If there are governing type bodies for wine tasting clubs or similar clubs you may find that membership includes liability cover as well as legal advice.

It's worth investigating

InsideInsurance

scottme wrote: »

I guess I don't really see what "risks" we as a club run that would need us to spend getting on for £50 a time to insure our events against vague and unspecified claims for liability.

Our members agree that they and any guests attend our events at their own risk, and our liability to them is explicitly limited to the amount they have paid to attend the event. The lessors of the hall tell us they have their own insurance which covers accidental damage, trips, falls, etc. What else could go wrong?

The owners own PL cover may or may not include cover when they are letting others run events in it. If they dont then obviously you as the organisators of the event may be found to have liability for the typical trips/ falls.

The other obvious risk is if any of the food/ wine causes either an allergic reaction or injury (eg glass in the wine causing injury).

In reality the actual risk is very low and despite what will probably be a very high stated limit (eg £1m) the real maximum probable loss is quite low. The only problem you will have is that there is a floor on what level of premiums companies will write and so you'd probably be looking at around £150 a year.

dauphin

scottme wrote: »

Our members agree that they and any guests attend our events at their own risk, and our liability to them is explicitly limited to the amount they have paid to attend the event.

Under the Unfair Contract Terms Act, any attempt to exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence is ineffective.

scottme

dauphin wrote: »

Under the Unfair Contract Terms Act, any attempt to exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence is ineffective.

Well yes, of course. But would the typical PLI policy offer cover in the case of demonstrable negligence?

rs65

scottme wrote: »

Well yes, of course. But would the typical PLI policy offer cover in the case of demonstrable negligence?

That is pretty much what it covers.

InsideInsurance

scottme wrote: »

Well yes, of course. But would the typical PLI policy offer cover in the case of demonstrable negligence?

PL covers negligence. Where you may have issues is not negligence but a deliberate malicious act (ie intentional introduction of foreign object/ substance into the drink) but that then depends on the legal structure of the society and who did the act