Insurance for Youth Organisations and Youth Groups

What Matters Most for This Risk

The exposure youth organisations most often misjudge is abuse and molestation. Many public liability policies exclude it outright or cap it at a low sub-limit, and the claims that arise can surface many years after the events concerned, which makes the policy wording at the time of the incident important long after it has been replaced. Safeguarding practice and insurance are linked: insurers ask how leaders are vetted, supervised and trained, and the answers shape both the cover offered and its terms. Groups funded by government agencies to work with children should note that the Children's Act 2014 requires safety checks for paid workers in government-funded organisations, renewed every three years; Oranga Tamariki's guidance states that most unpaid volunteers fall outside that requirement, so the group's own vetting policy decides how volunteers are checked. Adventure activities on camps, such as climbing, kayaking or river crossings, should be declared to the insurer, and volunteer accident cover matters because ACC weekly compensation is only paid to people who were earning when injured, which excludes many student and retired leaders.