insurance

[bluedog]

If a village hall is insured by the village hall commitee, do the people who hire the hall such as youth club, art club, scrabble club etc. need to take out their own insurance to cover any mishaps or is this included in the rent?

[Buenchico]

The organisations hiring the premises would be well advised to have some insurance cover of their own, although there is no reason why the village hall committee should insist on this. (The hirers may already have appropriate insurance to cover all of their activities, irrespective of location, anyway).

Two examples to explain what I mean:
Case 1: A visitor to an art exhibition suffers an injury when he stumbles on a step inside the building. The step was in a poor state of repair and the area was inadequately lit. It's clear that the hall committee should have identified the safety hazard, so the injured person sues the committee (and, ultimately, their insurers).

Case 2: A visitor to an art exhibition suffers an injury when he trips over a cable providing the power to spotlights attached to one of the display boards. The boards and lights were put in place by members of the art club. It is the art club which should have identified the potential trip hazard so it is the art club (and, ultimately, their insurers) which will be sued.

Chris

[xrayspecs]

The village hall should, as a matter of course, have public liability insurance, in fact they can not legally hire the hall to the public without it. There should be a copy of their insurance certificate on display in the hall. This indemnifies the hall in the event of an accident. If the hirer is operating a ride (a bouncy castle for example) within the hall then the operator must also have public liability cover.

[alunrw]

Another option is for the hall committee to take out a "hirers liability" cover which is based on the nature and number of activities used at the hall and covers those using it that do not have insurance - clubs/societies using the hall would "probably" have their own insurance, but small groups and perhaps people providing a talk (for example) may not find it economical to have their own liability insurance.
Public liability insurance however is not compulsory by Law (Employers liability IS)