Shelley BaconAccount Handler
Food banks are serving a vital community need, I will be delighted to advise any on your insurance needs and help keep costs to a minimum.
Food Bank Insurance
At Ladbrook we have helped a number of independent food banks acquire appropriate insurance for their risks.
Many of our clients operate from church premises but some larger food banks, operating in areas with many service users have acquired their own premises specifically for the purpose of distributing emergency food.
Food banks have the need for different types of insurance based on their operations and scale.
The processing of foodstuffs and liaison with professionals in the care sector to provide food parcels in three day supplies is the common activity of all food banks.
Within this activity, clearly food bank volunteers are meeting service users and members of the public. If an injury to these service users or the public resulted in an allegation made that it was the fault of the food bank, then a claim for compensation could be bought against the food bank itself. Public liability insurance will protect the organisation against this eventuality.
Food banks do not intentionally supply food that is not ‘in date’ but there is a risk that unintentionally, such foodstuffs are supplied. In this eventuality, the right products liability insurance needs to be in place to protect the food bank for any subsequent claim.
Food banks can also be engaged in fundraising activities, whether it be coffee mornings, supermarket collections or organising events. It is clearly vital that the insurance policy extends to cover these activities.
Some food bank charities are engaged in wider community support work. If your food bank is providing support for job seekers or help with benefit claims, then it is important to consider professional indemnity insurance. Public liability insurance specifically excludes losses as a result of ‘professional advice’, professional indemnity extends cover to protect the organisation for this.
Most food banks operate out of a third party premises but those that are large enough to run their own site require buildings insurance as a key part of their food bank insurance policy.