The Friends of Jubilee Country Park give guided walks to members of their group and the public through their park. The talks cover subjects such as flora and forna, the management and care of the parkland and wildlife habitat, history of the site, etc.
Although this isn't a core activity of the Council, as the Friends are assisting LBB by expanding an otherwise restricted service, the person(s) giving the talk are seen as an unpaid employee and therefore covered by LBB insurance policies, the same as if they were doing manual conservation work.
Volunteer insurance
Public liability
For all activities, such as conservation work, litter clearance and planting, where volunteers (Friends) groups are acting under instruction from London Borough of Bromley, then the volunteers (Friends) are covered by the London Borough of Bromley's Public Liability insurance policy. For example, if a volunteer caused damage or injury to a third party that subsequently gave rise to a claim, then London Borough of Bromley's Public Liability insurance policy would deal with the matter.
London Borough of Bromley's Public Liability insurance policy does not cover non Council events or activities that volunteers (Friends) groups organise and promote themselves, such as a fete or music event. The volunteers (Friends) would need to source their own Public Liability insurance.
Employer liability
Employer's Liability covers loss or damage to employees (be they paid or not) where the employer has been negligent in causing the loss or damage.
What would happen if volunteer A injured volunteer B? There are 2 actions for volunteer B to consider.
1. Claim against employer under employer's liability, for which the following tests would need to be proved
a) The employer owed the volunteer a duty of care,
b) The employer failed in that duty of care (i.e. acted negligently), and
c) The negligent act of the employer (as opposed to volunteer A) caused the injury to volunteer B
2. Pursue a civil claim against volunteer A.
It should also be remembered that there are numerous incidents where people are injured, where no liability attaches to any party, it may just be a pure accident.
Personal accident
A volunteer (Friend) has no automatic entitlement to any form of benefit in the event of suffering an accident and the only remedy is a claim, perhaps through the courts, against the negligent party. This assumes that someone other than the volunteer (Friend) was to blame.
Still unsure?
If you have a spercific question about LBB insurance cover please contact your Parks Partnership Officer who will attempt to clairify the situation as quickly as possible with the insurance team.