Insurance
All Members of The Scouts are covered by insurance while taking part in Scouting activities.
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The Trustee Board (formerly Executive Committee) is responsible for ensuring that there is adequate insurance in place for people, property and equipment.
You may be required to support the Trustee Board to do this by maintaining records of:
- Members and non-Members involved in Scouting
- Equipment you own, store, hire or loan out to others
Insurance automatically provided by the Scouts
The Scouts, through Unity Insurance Services, provides insurance to protect what is most important in Scouting: you, the members.
There are three kinds of insurance arranged by Unity for the Scouts, for which the premiums are provided by your annual membership subscriptions. These are:
There is no need for a Scout Group to take out insurance for public liability or trustee indemnity insurance.
Additional insurance cover that Groups, Districts and Counties may need to purchase
The Scouts' rules state that every Scout Group must maintain adequate insurance cover, to be reviewed annually, in respect of:
- Property and equipment, including the risk of loss or damage to equipment whilst in transit or at camp or on expeditions.
- Motor vehicles, including passenger risk, in the British Isles or abroad.
- Marine and boating risks.
- Aviation and air activity risks.
- Authorised Scout visits abroad.
In addition to the central insurance policies arranged for everyone by the Scouts, to cover liability, personal accident and medical expenses above, Unity provides a range of additional specialist covers, which your scout group, district and county may need.
These can cover:
- Non-members associated with your Group, District or County.
- The things your Group, District or County owns.
- Events that you run.
For more information, please visit the Unity website, or call them on 0345 040 7703.
Unity Insurance Services
Unity is your insurance broker, the official insurance broker of The Scout Association, with over 80 years' experience providing cover to the Scout Movement. 100% of its profits go back into Scouting.
Unity Insurance Services is a trading name of Scout Insurance Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Scout Association. Unity Insurance Services is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 312976.
Other issues
Below are a few specific issues which often come up in relation to Scouting and insurance.
Wearing Scout uniform is not an insurance requirement. Well, you wouldn’t go swimming in full Scout uniform, but members are insured while swimming.
If accidents or incidents occur during any authorised Scouting activity, then legal liability cover for non-members, such as helpers, may be granted by The Scout Association under its liability policy.
However, if the helpers are injured in an accident themselves, they will not be covered under the Association's personal accident and medical expenses scheme (as with any member of the public involved in a Scouting activity).
Unity recommends that Groups buy extra cover for individuals who help out by adding them to the personal accident and medical expenses scheme, and can arrange this for you.
Motor insurance for transporting Scouts to and from events in your own vehicle is not covered by The Scout Association’s policies.
Under United Kingdom law, the driver of a motor vehicle must hold a suitable third party insurance (including indemnity to passengers) and the minimum levels of cover have to be provided by any motor insurer. As this is a statutory requirement, The Scout Association does not provide any cover to individuals in respect of their liability as car drivers as this would be a pointless duplication of cover. Therefore you will need to check with your own motor insurers to see if this is covered under your policy.
Scouting is considered by the majority of insurers to be a social, domestic and pleasure activity, therefore transporting Scouts is judged to be no different from transporting your child's friends home from a birthday party or similar event.
The Scout Association’s personal accident and medical expenses policy will still cover members whilst being transported to and from Scouting activities.
The Scout Association has no legal interest in your personal possessions and therefore cannot insure them against loss or damage.
You should ensure that they are either adequately covered under your household insurance or Unity can help by providing separate cover under the 'personal effects' section of the property and equipment insurance scheme.
If you're travelling abroad you should ensure that your travel insurance policy has suitable limits of cover for all personal possessions you intend to take with you. Unity can arrange a suitable UK or overseas travel policy.
Non-members are not covered by the Scouts' policies while taking part in Scouting activities at fun days, fundraising events or similar. However, should a non-member have an accident and subsequently bring a claim of negligence against the group or its helpers, legal liability cover may be granted by The Scout Association under its liability policy.
Property and Equipment Insurance for Scouts
Property insurance includes buildings on your property and covers the cost of rebuilding or repairing buildings. Most Groups will own contents and equipment, some of which could be costly to replace. Contents or All Risks insurance covers the cost of replacing equipment that has been stolen, lost or damaged. Our Scout Property and Equipment policy Our Scout Property and Equipment Policy is designed for Scouting to provide a flexible package to suit your individual needs.
Visit Unity Insurance website