Public liability is the cover that matters most to a village hall, and it is the one committees understand least well. It is not legally required, and yet running a hall without it would be indefensible - one slip on a wet floor at a wedding reception can produce a claim larger than the building is worth.
This page goes deeper than the general village hall insurance guide on this one cover: how much you need, what it will not pay for, and the three situations where committees most often find they are not covered after all.
What public liability actually covers
Public liability responds when a third party is injured, or their property is damaged, and your hall is legally liable. It pays their compensation and, importantly, your legal costs in defending the claim - which are often the larger figure, and are payable whether or not you eventually lose.
"Third party" means anybody who is not you: hirers, their guests, passers-by, contractors, children at the playgroup. It does not mean your own volunteers where they are acting as workers, which is employers' liability, and it does not mean your own building or contents.
How much cover does a village hall need?
Most village hall policies are written at 5 million pounds. Ten million is common and often costs surprisingly little more. The number is not really about the size of your hall; it is about the worst plausible day, and a hall with 200 people in it on a Saturday night has the same worst plausible day as a much larger venue.
Two situations push you towards 10 million:
- You hire to organisations that require it. Local authorities, NHS bodies, some national charities and many corporate hirers specify a minimum of 10 million in their own contracts. If you only carry 5 million you will lose those bookings, and they are usually the bookings that pay best.
- You host large public events. Fetes, firework displays, beer festivals and anything with rides or inflatables.
Ask your broker what the step up to 10 million costs before assuming you cannot afford it. On many village hall schemes the difference is tens of pounds a year rather than hundreds.
The three gaps that catch committees out
1. Your hirers are not covered by your policy
This is the big one, and it is the single most common misunderstanding in village hall insurance. Your public liability covers your legal liability - the hall's fabric, the hall's management, the things the committee is responsible for. It does not cover a hirer's negligence.
If the yoga teacher injures somebody through poor instruction, or the playgroup fails to supervise properly, that is their liability and they need their own public liability insurance. Most professional hirers already have it. Many one-off private hirers, such as a family holding a birthday party, do not.
Two practical consequences. First, your hire agreement should require regular hirers to carry their own public liability and to produce the certificate, and your booking system should record when that certificate expires. Second, you should decide as a committee what you do about private hirers who have none, since some halls extend cover for them via a hirers' liability extension.
2. Bouncy castles and inflatables
Inflatables are the classic village hall claim. Policies very often exclude them, or cover them only on conditions: supplied by a hired-in operator who has their own liability cover, sited and anchored to the manufacturer's instructions, supervised at all times, and not used in wind above a stated speed.
If your hall owns its own inflatable, tell your insurer. If a hirer brings one, your hire agreement should require them to name the operator and confirm the operator's insurance.
3. Trustees are not covered by public liability
Public liability protects the hall against claims from other people. It does not protect trustees personally against claims that they mismanaged the charity - that is trustee indemnity, which is a different policy and is frequently missing. It is usually inexpensive, and unincorporated village hall trustees can in principle be personally liable, so it is worth asking about at renewal.
Indemnity to principals
If you hire the hall to a body that requires you to indemnify them - a county council running a polling station, say, or a school using the hall for a production - they may ask for "indemnity to principals" to be noted on your policy. It is a standard extension and usually free, but it has to be requested. Do not sign a hire agreement containing that phrase without checking your policy provides it.
What public liability does not pay for at all
- Damage to your own building or contents. That is buildings and contents cover.
- Injury to your own employees or volunteer workers. That is employers' liability, which is a legal requirement if you employ anybody, including a part-time caretaker.
- Food poisoning from food you sell, in some policies. If your hall runs a cafe or serves food commercially, check whether products liability is included.
- Professional advice. Not usually relevant to a hall, but relevant if you run classes.
- Deliberate acts, and usually anything arising from a condition your insurer told you to fix and you did not.
Keeping your certificates where you can find them
The practical failure is rarely the policy. It is that a hirer's certificate expired eight months ago and nobody noticed, or that the hall's own certificate cannot be produced when a corporate hirer asks for it. Village Hall Hub stores your policy and your hirers' certificates with expiry dates and reminders, so the committee is told before a certificate lapses rather than after somebody has been hurt.