Community Garden Insurance

Does my Community Garden Group need Public Liability Insurance?

Almost certainly you do.  Often if you are operating on local authority land, the authority may insist on £5,000,000 of public liability insurance for your group.  Damage to a third parties property (such as a building) is one risk but equally, injury to a member of the public is also something to consider.

As an example of a real claim from a Ladbrook client, a member of the group digging on a verge, struck a cable and the reparation to BT ran to several thousand pounds.

Are gardening volunteers insured under  public liability?

Not normally, no.  It is rare that an insurer will extend their public liability to include volunteers of a community gardening group.  Normally, you will need to organise employers liability cover.

Can we cover Sheds / Containers etc and their contents?

Absolutely.  Unfortunately, theft from sheds and containers is not at all unusual for community garden groups, often they are out of sight in the evening and poorly lit.  Thieves are also attracted by the possibility of stealing petrol driven machinery which can be resold fairly easily.  If shared tools and machinery for your group are stored in such a way, you would want to consider insuring all the assets, including the shed and the tools.

We use Power Driven Machinery, can we be insured?

In short, yes.  We insure groups who use equipment such as chainsaws and other potentially dangerous machines and tools.  as a broker, our approach will be to discuss your activities with the range of insurers that we know offer low cost community garden insurance and ensure that they are fully aware of all of your activities.

We sell produce, is this activity insured?

We can certainly arrange insurance for community garden groups that are selling produce.  For many groups it is a valuable fundraising activity and one that raises the profile of the group in the community.

We have organised insurance for community orchards who may sell their fruit to support the group and to highlight their activities.

What is the range of organisations you insure?

As well as community gardens, we have arranged cover for community woodland (including those groups involved in some tree maintenance, lopping etc), Men’s Sheds, community orchard insurance and other groups involved in maintaining and preserving grounds.

Do you insure litter picking activities?

Yes, we have arranged cover for groups involved in a single pick or included these activities in a wider community garden insurance policy.  we have also written a guide for safe litter picking to help keep groups that pick litter.