Charity Insurance AKICOLJ

[bunn]

Oldies Club, and indeed most small dog rescues, has liability insurance with Cliverton, a company which has made a bit of a corner of the market in the area of small volunteer-run rescues. The problem with this is that when they decide to change the rules, it's very difficult to find anywhere else to turn. 

This year they have decided to rule that all dogs owned by a rescue must be kept on the lead apart from in the fosterer's house and garden.  This is a huge problem for us.  

Compared to most rescues, our dogs tend to be in foster longer.  This is because a lot of them come in with untreated medical problems that have to be sorted before they can be rehomed, and also because homes for old dogs tend to be a bit thin on the ground a lot of the time.   Some of the dogs stay in foster for the rest of their lives, if they turn out to be too ill to rehome.   And a lot of our foster homes don't have a lot of space for exercise, but rely on walks.   Plus, as we only deal with oldies, almost all of our dogs are in foster homes, we only use kennels if there is no alternative, as older dogs don't tend to do well in that environment. 

For some dogs it doesn't make much odds if they are onlead a lot, but keeping the border collies, labs and springer spaniels and crosses thereof, permanently on lead is going to make fostering them a more difficult proposition.   And the dogs that could probably do OK onlead in their foster homes are still often dogs that would benefit from being able to exercise more freely (we get a lot that come in undermuscled and overweight after no walking for years - they really benefit from being able to, for example, play ball games in the park, or play freely with other dogs.) 

We wondered if it might be possible to take out extra insurance to cover the issue, or if some of our more experienced fosterers might be able to assume liability from the charity for their own foster dogs.  Our provider also sells insurance for commercial dogwalkers, and they are allowed to have the dog's owner sign to assume liability if the dog is offlead.    But our existing provider is not being helpful in terms of advising on this, and we aren't sure who else to ask.  Anyone got any ideas? 

Comments

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

That's an almost impossible condition to adhere to. In some cases, it would almost amount to cruelty. I'm amazed at Cliverton - do many of your elderly dogs run around bowling over pensioners?

I know the Dog's Trust offers liability cover to all its members - obviously they're a big organisation with a lot of clout, but I wonder who they insure with?

[bunn.livejournal.com]

So far as I can remember, we've never had an offlead 'incident' that was serious.

We've had a couple of people bitten by on-lead dogs that got defensive, I think - and one very nasty biting incident from a dog that was kennelled at the time - but nothing requiring an insurance claim that would come under 'offlead in a public place'.

They argue that as rescue dogs are an unknown quantity they should be kept on leads - but these are dogs, mostly from known situations (ie, owner died, owner emigrated, owner went into sheltered accommodation...) who are looked after by experienced dog owners with full support from qualified behaviourists, where needed, are vet checked and all the rest of it. They are probably much less of an 'unknown quantity' than an awful lot of owned dogs.

We'll try Dog's Trust, they must have some system for their liability insurance, it's just finding the right person to talk to...

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Plus, it's not like we take them in and instantly whisk them off to the nearest park to run riot. Fosterers are sensibly cautious about where and when their foster dogs are allowed off lead : I'm probably more rash about it than most, and I think I'm careful compared with many dog owners I know...

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Alas! - my knowledge of anything other than life insurance (etc) is extremely scanty, and charity insurance certainly wasn't covered in my studies, mumblemumble years ago.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

LOL, I didn't really expect it to fall into your area!

[rustica.livejournal.com]

Personally, in these situations I'd try a broker - one (or two, or three) that specifically deals with the charity sector and let them do some of the legwork for you.

And/or phone the Dogs Trust that Puddleshark speaks of and find out who their insurers are.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, OK. I wonder where you find those sorts of brokers. Will have a rummage.

[rustica.livejournal.com]

Well, Endsleigh, for a start, Ecclesiastical, WRS, Access Insurance... Google is giving me a fair few options :). I can't remember anything useful about charity insurers to make any specific suggestions from my past experiences, I'm afraid.

I think I'd start by phoning the Dogs Trust and similar organisations and seeing if they'd be prepared to help you, simply because charities are sometimes nice to each other and if they were, that could be a shortcut.

Failing that, I'd try a few brokers (maybe even half a dozen) and see what they could say - if they can't offer a policy they might still be able to suggest someone else to try.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I know absolutely 0 about it, so every little is a gain!

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

For any kind of specialised insurance, brokers are certainly better (in my own experience)

[bunn.livejournal.com]

That definitely seems like the sensible next step.

Insurance for Dog and Animal Rescue Organisations

[charity insurance (from livejournal.com)]

Thank you for the mention Rustica. We are Access Insurance and specialise in insurance for charitable organisations. We insure a number of Animal Rescue orgainisations and do not have the restrictions you mention. Please do not hesitate to call me or anyone on our team on 0208 651 7420 and we will get an alternative for you.

Kind regards

Re: Insurance for Dog and Animal Rescue Organisations

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I've called and left my number & email address, please drop me a line!