Counselling and support group insurance

Specialist cover for counselling and support groups from £6 a month

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  • Help from community insurance experts

  • No hidden fees or cancellation charges

From over 25 years experience, we have designed our counselling and support group insurance to protect groups of all descriptions, including illness, mental health, carers, bereavement, addiction and debt.

Whilst every group is run in the interest of its attendees, things don’t always go to plan. A service user tripping over a stray cable at a meeting and injuring themselves, an allegation from a family member that your group has made an attendee’s condition worse, or an allegation of financial mismanagement against the committee could see a claim brought against your group. Without insurance cover in place, you could be left to pay the costs to defend the claim out of the club’s finances.

Our specialist insurance for support groups can cover against these situations and many more, giving you the peace of mind that if something unexpected or unforeseen were to happen, you’d be covered.

What’s more, our policy includes access to a 24 hour legal helpline and legal document hub as standard to help your group navigate tricky or complex legal situations without having to pay for a solicitor.

Arranging cover with us is simple – our fast and easy quote form helps you to tailor your policy and buy online in minutes. Policies start from £6 a month – get a quote now!

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Cover starting at £3 a month

Tailor your support group insurance with these covers

  • Public liability insurance and employers' liability insurance

    To ensure comprehensive protection against claims, we group our public liability insurance and employers' liability insurance together.

    Public liability insurance covers the cost of defending your support group if someone is injured, or their property damaged, due to your negligence. An example could be if, during a meeting, a visitor tripped over a cable and broke their wrist. Without cover in place, the legal fees and compensation payments could run into thousands of pounds. Cover for £5m.

    Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ staff or volunteers. It covers against allegations of injury or illness suffered by staff during their employment. If your community group has employees on a full time, part time or volunteer basis, this cover is essential. Cover for £10m.

  • Professional indemnity insurance and trustee indemnity insurance

    To ensure comprehensive protection against claims, we group our professional indemnity insurance and trustee liability insurance together.

    Professional indemnity insurance covers the cost of defending your counselling or support group against allegations of professional negligence. This could be, for example, if you provide poor advice or make an insensitive comment to a service user. It covers the legal fees, as well as any compensation that may be payable. Cover from £250k to £1m.

    Trustee indemnity insurance (also known as trustee liability insurance) covers the legal costs and expenses of defending against disqualification as a trustee, investigations or extradition proceedings. If your support group has trustees, you should give serious consideration to trustee indemnity insurance. Cover from £250k to £1m.

  • Property damage insurance

    Property damage insurance covers:

    • your buildings
    • general contents (including stock)
    • computer equipment
    • tenant improvements and glass (for which you are responsible) against accidental damage (including theft) while on your group’s premises.

    You can also choose to insure your group’s equipment, such as laptops and mobile phones, on a worldwide basis. In addition, you can insure against additional trading expenses following an interruption, for example, a flood that means your group has to operate from other premises.

  • Money and personal assault insurance

    Money and personal assault insurance covers loss of money for fixed limits up to a maximum of £250,000 for non-negotiable money such as crossed cheques and £2,500 for negotiable money. In addition, if you, or members of your family, or employees, or members of their family, are injured during a robbery or attempted robbery, we will pay you either £5,000 or £50 per week for 104 weeks - depending on the nature of the injury.

  • Legal representation and employment disputes insurance

    Legal representation and employment disputes protects your group against employment disputes, official investigations and other serious matters, including crisis management, identity fraud, official investigations (excluding HMRC), corporate manslaughter, pollution and data protection issues. Cover for £100,000.

  • Cyber and data risks insurance

    Cyber and data risks insurance protects your group in the event of a targeted cyber attack. It pays the costs of restoring data and equipment, informing clients, meeting ransom demands and loss of your net profit. It also pays your legal defence costs and damages you are legally liable to pay to other parties. Cover from £50k to £250k.

  • Fidelity insurance

    Fidelity insurance protects your group against dishonesty or fraud by volunteers or employees. This could be, for example, if the volunteer who handles your accounts was found to have stolen money from the group’s funds for their own personal benefit. Cover for £50k.

  • Occupational personal accident insurance

    Occupational personal accident insurance helps your group’s volunteers and employees if they are accidentally injured in the course of your activities. It pays a weekly amount for temporary total disablement, or a lump sum if they suffer loss of limbs, sight, speech, hearing, permanent total disablement or death. Limits from £100 per week/£25k lump sum to £500/week/£100k lump sum.

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Frequently asked questions

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Third Sector Awards headline sponsor Carers Trust are our supported charity
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Cover starting at £3 a month

Frequently asked questions

  • Can we get insurance if we’re not a registered club?

    Yes – you don’t need to be a registered charity to get cover for your group. Many of our clients are small charities or community organisations that are new or are too small to be a registered charity.

  • Does the policy cover volunteers?

    Yes - the employer's liability and public liability section of the policy provides cover for your volunteers. As long as you purchase this section of cover from us, your volunteers will be covered.

    To find out more on insurance for volunteers, read our article here.

  • Does the insurance cover events?

    Yes - the public liability section of the policy provides cover for charity events (such as fundraising) for up to 500 attendees.

  • We don't have a regular meeting place - can you insure us?

    Yes. We cover hundreds of small charities, community groups and clubs that don't have a regular meeting place and instead rotate between different venues, such as members' homes, village halls and community centres.

  • Why should I insure with Markel?

    Established over 25 years ago, we've gained an unrivalled understanding of the risks facing small charities and community groups, and our policies are specially designed to protect you.

    We actively support the third sector. Since 2008, we have donated more than £150,000 to our supported charity, Carers Trust, and have supported numerous charity awards including the Third Sector Excellence Awards and Britain's Best Volunteer in partnership with Small Charities Coalition.

    We are a division of Markel International, a Lloyd’s and London market insurer that wrote gross premium totals of $1.2 billion in 2018.

    Still not sure? Call us on 0800 640 6604 - one of our insurance experts will be more than happy to answer any questions you have and talk you through the insurance we offer so you can choose the right cover for your charity or group. Alternatively, get a quote now and call us later if anything needs clarifying.

  • How are Markel regulated?

    Markel International Insurance Company Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Find out more on the Financial Services Register.

Access exclusive services for your group when you insure with Markel

24 hour legal helpline 24 hour legal advice helpline

When you insure with Markel, you'll benefit from 24/7 telephone access to a qualified solicitor at no additional cost. Expert legal advice can be costly when you're working for yourself and it's difficult to know who to turn to for a trustworthy answer. Whether it's a question on starting up your group, health and safety, or how to handle a sensitive situation, an experienced team of solicitors are on hand day and night to help you with any business-related legal queries. Included as standard with all policies.

Legal hub access Markel Law Hub access

In addition to our 24 hour legal helpline, you'll have access to the Markel Law Hub - an award winning online resource of legal and business guides, templates and content written and created by our team of expert solicitors. Instantly download ready-made policies, procedures and guidance you can use for your group - without paying any expensive legal fees. Included as standard with all policies.

 Public relations crisis management service

Public relations disasters can occur at any time and having to deal with the press can be hugely stressful. When there is a risk to your group as a result of negative press attention, our specialist public relations crisis management firm, The Counsel House, will work with you to help manage allegations of fraud, injury caused to employees or the public, and official investigations into your group's affairs. Included as standard with professional indemnity insurance and trustee liability insurance, cyber and data risks insurance and legal representation and employment disputes insurance.

 Cyber response helpline

If you're the victim of a targeted cyber attack, our cyber response helpline provides access to specialist solicitors and information security experts who will give expert legal and technical IT security guidance on the issues arising from cyber and data protection risks. Included as standard with cyber and data risks insurance.

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Cover starting at £6 a month

Our support of the community and charity sector

As a specialist insurer of small charities and community groups, we are only too aware of the importance of these organisations and we support the sector in a number of ways.

Britain's Best Volunteer award

Britain's Best Volunteer award, run in partnership with Small Charities Coalition, celebrates the achievements of those who volunteer their time to help small charities, local community groups and not-for-profit organisations.

The winner receives a donation of £1,250 to their charity, while each runner-up finalist receives a £250 donation, as well as generating valuable awareness for small groups that may otherwise struggle to be heard above other, larger charities.

In this video, Liz Glenister, winner of Britain's Best Volunteer award 2016, talks about Hypopara UK's story - the inspiration behind it, the challenges faced and how Britain's Best Volunteer award will help the charity.

Carers Trust - our supported charity

Carers Trust work to improve support, services and recognition for anyone living with the challenges of caring, unpaid, for a family member or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems. Carers don’t choose to become carers: it just happens and they have to get on with it. We've raised over £150,000 for this deserving cause through cake sales, dress down days, sponsorship and challenges. In addition, each Christmas we donate around 100 hand-wrapped gifts to our local carers centre to give to isolated carers that are unable to travel far from home.

Carers Trust Christmas gifts

Third Sector Awards - headline sponsor

The Third Sector Awards recognise those who give back to the community and celebrates organisations and leaders from across the charity sector. As headline sponsors, we are proud to support the awards and the opportunity it gives charities to raise their profile and increase valuable awareness of their cause.

Third Sector Awards - headline sponsor
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Cover starting at £3 a month

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