Many charities rely on volunteers to help fill out their workforce and keep costs low. Volunteers are often asked to complete a variety of tasks, including driving.
However, enlisting volunteers can also create additional responsibilities—you must manage all foreseeable risks, secure volunteers’ safety and ensure your charity possesses the proper insurance cover. Add vehicle use to this and managing your risks may seem overwhelming.
But you need not fear using volunteer drivers as long as your charity has adequate cover.
If your charity owns the vehicles volunteers will use in the course of their volunteering duties, then your charity must adequately insure the vehicles. If volunteers will be using their own vehicles in the course of their duties, typically they must secure proper insurance cover on their own.
In the latter case, the organisation should inform volunteers what information they must send to their insurance companies. The volunteers should contact their insurers, detailing how they will be using their car to volunteer. Then, the insurer will likely send written confirmation to the volunteer, which generally does not result in a premium increase.
Your charity can expedite this process by offering a letter for your vehicle-owning volunteers to send to insurers. The letter should include the following:
• Explanation of volunteer duties with your charity
• Statement of whether volunteers will carry passengers
• Request for confirmation that the volunteer’s insurer covers third-party or passenger claims
To ensure your volunteers’ safety when driving, follow these best practices:
• Verify volunteer drivers have a full driving licence.
• Set a requirement for minimum driving experience.
• Ask to see an MOT certificate for cars over three years old and a valid tax disc.
If you run a charity and need further advice on managing insurance risks for volunteers, then please contact Bollington Care on 01625 854300.
