Insurance
Organising church events
All entertainment events are subject to the Health and Safety at Work Act. These are the key points to consider when planning and hosting church events and activities.
When to contact us
03 September 2019
It is important that you let us know about certain activities and changes at your church. We can provide help and advice and in some cases we may need to adjust your insurance cover.
Our checklist below outlines when you need to call us.
Methodist church building works
Where the trustees have agreed a contract making them responsible for insuring any loss or damage to the building works or unfixed materials then we automatically include cover up to £150,000. If any of the following apply please call us:
- Works are for over £150,000
- Church is closing during the works
- Scaffolding will be needed
- Hot works are involved e.g. welding.
Methodist community outreach
As part of your mission, you may be planning to support your community, for example, through providing a night shelter, food bank or Parish Nursing.
There are important regulatory issues you need to be aware of and we can help you with free advice to make sure you comply with the regulatory requirements.
Events and activities at your church
We expect many churches to regularly run fêtes and coffee mornings and your policy will usually provide cover for these.
Where activities are out of the ordinary or of an especially hazardous nature, such as a large fireworks display, we would expect you to use a professional service and check the organisation has public liability insurance in place.
If you are planning any events like these at your church please let us know before the event takes place. We may need to charge an additional premium to cover these sit outside of your current policy cover. Most events will pose no problems, but you need to be aware of your obligations under, for example, health and safety regulation.
Closed or closing churches
In the event of the closure of your church, trustees need to review the insurance cover they need. It is important that we are contacted so we can explain what cover is available for a closed church. We can also advise you about the risk management steps that will need to be taken while church buildings are unoccupied.
Accidents involving people
We do not need to know about every minor accident that takes place at your church. All accidents, no matter how small, should be recorded in your accident book. Please keep all records of witness statements and any evidence in case we require these for any future claim.
We should be notified of more serious incidents, whether you expect an insurance claim to arise or not. This will not affect your policy but will help us give you advice based on the situation.
A good rule of thumb is that you should contact us where an individual has received medical attention or has visited hospital. If you are unsure, please contact our claims team on 0345 606 1331.
Change of correspondent
Please make sure you let us know if the correspondent for your church is changing. We’ll need to know the name, address, phone number and email address of the new correspondent.
You can call or email us to let us know about the change of contact.
This list is not exhaustive and if you are ever unsure about what you should do, you can call us on 0345 606 1331.
