Marie HallowesOperations Director
Clearly mutual aid and community groups have sprung up quickly to meet local demand. We will endeavour to provide the best advice to community groups in respect of the risks to consider and the insurance they need to deliver services during the Covid pandemic
Covid 19 Support Groups – Insurance
Local support groups (sometimes mutual aid groups) are being set up independently all over the UK to help vulnerable people. As groups respond to local conditions and needs, their activities and means for delivering them do vary. Volunteers are offering their time to deliver food, medicene, support the vulnerable and deal with issues of isolation. Groups also distribute literature and run other errands as well as being a source of emotional support.
Some coronavirus support groups are being set up to cover large areas. The advantage is that governance and processes to protect volunteers can be passed down and best practivce spread. Disadvantages include the potential to lose flexibility on a local basis. Some groups are setting up as new, in other areas existing community groups are adapting their activities to take the challenge on directly.
Insurance for Covid /coronavirus support groups is an important consideration. There are a number of risks to consider:
- Illness to volunteers – A volunteer or service user may become ill with Covvid 19. They may allege that a failure in your duty of care to them, led to this infection. How do you manage such risks and how does public or employer liability isurance react to support you?
- Safeguarding concerns – You are working with vulnerable people and new voluteers, how do you manage safeguarding? We have resources we can direct you to and make sure that insurance meets your requirements in this respect.
- Data protection – You will almost certainly be handling the information of volunteers and potentially health information of service users which could be considered to be Special Category Data to the Information Commissioner. Handling this information is a key consdieration. This is heightened by the fact that many of your staff and volunteers may be working from home, on their own devices.
In these difficult times, it is fantastic to see so many community groups rise to the coronavirus challenge. We are here to offer any advice appropriate and arrange insurance for coronavirus support groups.
It is also possible that you need specialist advice around an unoccupied building.