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Insurance Surveys

Note from Stephen Bourne, ACU, Home Office

As you may be aware, extreme difficulties are being experienced by the voluntary and community sector regarding the provision of suitable and affordable insurance cover. So concerned by this the Home Office set up a working group (the Insurance Cover Working Group [ICWG]) in July 2002, to try to understand the problem and seek realistic, practical solutions. The ICWG wrote a paper which outlined the situation and proposed possible solutions called a "Paper for Ministers". One of the recommended action points was to engage independent consultants to study the present position and make practical and implementable recommendations that would address the problem.

Consultants "Alison Millward Associates" have been commissioned to undertake the study and to gain as much relevant data as possible, the ICWG has joined forces with consultants "Z/Yen" who have been commissioned separately by Charity Logistics to look into the feasibility of creating a Mutual Scheme for the sector. This collaborative approach has been done to minimise duplicate effort on your behalf.

The two studies seeks to understand the current state of insurance within the voluntary and community sector. We have therefore put together a questionnaire to gather information on policies, premiums and general attitudes from organisations such as yours.

The questionnaire can be accessed via the following link: http://www.zyen.com/vcs.html so please feel free to forward this note on insurance to the most appropriate person within your organisation, e.g. the Finance Director, Company Secretary or Treasurer.

It would be most efficient for this to be completed on-line, but if you would rather complete it by hand, you can also find a printable version on-line. It would be very helpful if you could complete the survey as soon as possible, but in any case, no later than Monday 21st April. All answers will be kept completely confidential according to Market Research Society guidelines. Following the study all participants will receive a very useful summary of the findings, free of charge, which will allow you to benchmark yourself against other similar organisations. The summary will contain details on types of insurance, costs of cover and premium increases.

If you have any queries relating to the questionnaire or the project in general, and the feasibility study please contact Stephen Martin of Z/Yen Ltd on 0207 562 9562 or by e-mail stephen_martin@zyen.com Further information on the study can be found on Z/Yen’s website - http://www.zyen.com/voluntary_sector_insurance.htm. For any queries or information about the ICWG study please contact Stephen Bourne on 0207 035 5306 or by e-mail stephen.bourne@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

The studies have been welcomed by the Charity Commission and is being supported by the Charity Finance Directors Group (CFDG), the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) and the Institute of Fundraising.

Thank you in advance for your time and participation.

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