Running a successful association is not easy, as you must take reasonable care while exercising your power and discharging duties to others. Any negligence in these duties and responsibilities or allegations of a wrongful act can lead to liabilities for organisations and their associated members.
Therefore, you need association insurance to safeguard the organisation’s and its members’ assets. However, getting appropriate coverage is critical, complex, and expensive as it involves coverage for directors, office bearers, and committee members. Partnering with the right association insurance brokers can help you get reliable coverage.
What is Association Insurance?
Association Insurance is a specifically designed policy for associations and not-for-profit organisations. It uses the elements of management liability cover and professional indemnity cover to safeguard the organisation’s assets.
It can include :
- People: employees, directors, committee members, volunteers, clients, and office bearers.
- Property: buildings, facilities, materials, and equipment.
- Goodwill: organisation’s reputation affecting capability to attract volunteers and raise funds
- Income: contributions and grants
The policy protects against damage expenses and legal costs arising from actual or allegations of breach of professional duty, misconduct, or mismanagement of the association.
Some of the essential coverage includes:
- Employment practices liability cover
- Professional indemnity coverage
- Defamation
- Damage or loss of documentation
- Offers and Directors’ liability
- Occupational safety and health coverage
- Defence fees and legal cost
- Penalty and fine coverage
- Fidelity and tax audit coverage
Advantages of Association Insurance for your business
Association Insurance brokers offer various coverage, protecting your organisation and its people. Some of the benefits of having association insurance are:
1. Financial Stability
The policy covers the legal costs of your business or organisation if the third party sues you or the associated people alleging they sustained some loss. It could be a claim over an alleged act, breach of duty, omission, or error in the working of the organisation or its officeholder.
Since association insurance covers all legal costs of hiring your legal representatives, doing legal formalities, reputation management, and hiring PR consultants, you can maintain the business’s financial stability during such situations.
2. Saves Crucial Time
During critical situations, when allegations are filed against your organisation, every minute becomes crucial, and you will need the right support at the right time. But you can’t wait for such situations to happen; you must be prepared with association insurance in advance. Having a reliable insurance cover will help you reduce the time to take response action against the allegations and safeguard your organisation. You won’t have to do much to claim your insurance, as most brokers have made the processes online seamless. So connect with reputable business insurance brokers in Australia.
3. Protection against employee fraud
Any organisation that hires employees and appoints volunteers works at risk of breach of duty of fidelity, especially in SME businesses and not-for-profit organisations. Due to that, it’s essential to insure your business from any such event of employee fraud. Association Insurance can help you by covering the loss of money or property due to dishonest or fraudulent acts of an employee or volunteer.
4. Statutory Liability
Every organisation is prone to errors or omissions, which can lead to penalties against the organisation or a particular official associated with it. However, with associate insurance, you can handle the liabilities arising due to penalties or fines compelled under the law that the insured has to pay under applicable law.
5. Lowers insurance cost
Getting coverage from the association distributes the costs among all the small businesses or organisations under it. So you don’t have to pay expensive coverage costs.
6. Covers Civil Liability Professional Indemnity
Association insurance includes cover for civil liabilities and professional indemnity. It consists of damages due to actual or alleged acts, breach of professional duty, any omission or error, unintentional defamation or copyright infringement, deceptive or misleading conduct, or breach of confidentiality regarding the association’s services.
7. Safeguards business reputation
The policy covers your costs of hiring PR consultants so you can quickly set them on handling your business reputation and do damage control in media. Taking action on time will help you protect your reputation and maintain the trust of your stakeholders.
Conclusion
Getting the right association insurance coverage for your organisation is an added advantage but a security cover that holds your association’s and its members’ best interests. You can easily cover claims against your business or associated members at a reasonable cost.
We hope all the benefits of association insurance will help you make the right choice. Talk with business insurance brokers in Australia to learn more about the inclusions and exclusions of the association insurance coverage.
