PTA insurance

Why do PTAs need insurance?

Think a PTA is insured by the school or local authority? Think again. As separate entities to the school, PTAs aren’t covered by the vast majority of school policies. And the few that extend to PTAs only provide limited cover.

The reality is there’s lots that can go wrong at a PTA-organised event. Expensive wrongs that could mean paying out £thousands in compensation and legal fees if someone claims against you. Frustrating, too, when you’re trying to shore up school finances, not deplete them.

Bodily injury and property damage are only the tip of the iceberg. What if someone breaks into the school and takes off with all your stock? Or accuses your committee of financial mismanagement?

Whether your PTA is part of a primary, post-primary, secondary, MAT, independent, or SEND/SEN school, you need insurance.

To protect your PTA and its members. And to ensure you keep funds flowing in the right direction – towards your school, its staff, and its students.

What insurance does a PTA need?

It’s up to you what PTA insurance you buy. But we’d certainly recommend looking at public liability, employers’ liability, and trustee indemnity insurance for starters.

Public liability insurance for PTA meetings, events, and fundraisers is essential. Claims can come from students, parents, guest speakers, suppliers…anyone, really. If they’re injured, or their property’s damaged and they say it’s your fault, you can’t stick your head in the sand. You have to answer for it.

Employers’ liability insurance protects your PTA and its helpers if they get sick or injured while pitching in at your bake sale or school disco. What’s more, the Charity Commission recommends you have employers’ liability cover for all your volunteers and helpers.

Trustees’ insurance kicks in when someone accuses your committee of wrongdoing. Whether your PTA’s charity-registered or not, your members can be held personally liable for their decisions. Which, without insurance, puts their personal finances on the line. That could be your chair, treasurer, secretary, officer, co-ordinator, or any other voting member.

Do I need insurance for a school event?

If the event is run and organised by your PTA, then it’s likely not covered by your school’s policy. So, you’ll need your own public liability insurance, for any instances of injury or property damage. It’s a must-have for busy events like summer fetes and Christmas fetes, where the potential for mishaps and finger-pointing is huge.

You should also have employers’ liability, to cover injury or property damage to your own committee members and volunteers. Any one of them can drop something heavy on their toe or slip up on a spilled drink while they’re helping out. Best be prepared, then.

And if you occasionally hire equipment, like computers or AV kit, or have some of your own, you may want to protect it with contents and equipment insurance. If anything happens to it, like if it’s lost, damaged, or stolen, your PTA insurance policy will pay to repair or replace it.

Separate to this, you might also want money theft insurance, in case someone swipes your ticket sales cash or donations tin.

How much does PTA insurance cost?

The amount you pay for your PTA insurance varies depending on what cover and how much of each type you buy.

Adding extra risks will likely increase the price. Like if you wanted cover for firework displays and bonfires added to your PTA public liability, or stock cover added to your contents insurance.

And if you’re organising large events (for over 500 people) then our standard online policy won’t cover you. Give us a call, then, and we’ll fix you up with a quote.

Why should I buy insurance from you?

We can think of a few reasons, really.

How’s about the fact we’re specialists in charity and not-for-profit insurance? You can be sure you’re getting good advice, and only about cover you actually want and need.

We do our due diligence with who we work with, too. We only use trusted insurers like Ansvar and Hiscox.

What’s more, we want our customers to feel in control when buying their insurance. You can call our friendly advisers for a quote, or go online and get one in minutes. It’s up to you.

Either way, you’ll get your policy documents delivered straight to your inbox. Without admin fees, jargon, or fuss.

Plus, you’ll get handy extras like free online training with Flick Learning, which you can do at your own pace. And a cash reward if you recommend us.

But that’s not all. Check out our platinum-rated customer feedback. We listen to what our customers want…and we think it shows.