Marie HallowesOperations Director
Social Enterprises are forward thinking, fast moving and a great asset to the third sector
Social Enterprise Insurance
Social Enterprises across the UK play a significant part in delivering third sector services. Yet, if you ask the management team of a social enterprise whether they consider themselves a charity, you will normally get a sharp, no!
A social enterprise is using the strengths of being business minded to deliver social benefit. Unashamedly, a social enterprise will make profit, yet it will reinvest those profits to further the stated social benefits of the organisation. Thus, a social enterprise is different from a charity in some respects and similar in others.
A good social enterprise will have clearly stated goals, will typically raise funds through trading not donations and will reinvest profits for the benefit of the goals.
From an insurance perspective, Social Enterprise Insurance and Charity Insurance have similar facets.
The nature of the organisations may be different but share some insurance requirements. A good social enterprise insurance policy will include specific policy sections for volunteers and will be comfortable with activities or services provided by or for vulnerable adults or children. Not all mainstream insurance policies will have the breadth of public liability coverage to satisfy these requirements.