Third-party insurance requirements for PTA events

Before you hold any events, you need to take measures to ensure all registered businesses or vendors or sole traders who are providing services such as food or rides, entertainment or stall holders have adequate public liability insurance of their own in place.

The adequacy of their cover should be considered in line with the type of activity they perform, the number of attendees and requirement of your own risk assessment. In addition, you may need to check with the school, or owner of the premises where you are holding the event, to see if there is a minimum level of cover they require from you or external businesses you use.

Professional third parties 

Any registered businesses or vendors or sole traders providing a service such as food or rides, running a stall or providing entertainment has to have their own public liability cover. This will include franchises such as Body Shop, Avon, The Book People and small businesses or entertainment such as DJ, circus companies or external caterers.

Any professional third party occupying a pitch at your event MUST complete a Third Party Declaration form (available here) prior to the event, to confirm they have insurance cover in place and show proof of insurance, such as a certificate, that clearly states the insurance is in force for the date of the event and the limit of indemnity they have. You should also ask to see proof of safety checks for any equipment they are bringing, their risk assessments and if applicable food hygiene certificates.

Non-professional stall holders 

It is Marsh Commercial’s intention to support PTAs with fundraising activities supported by PTA volunteers. Not to provide public liability cover for external third parties, registered businesses or vendors or sole traders at your event as they should have their own insurance cover.

What does Marsh Commercial mean by external third parties, registered businesses or vendors’ or sole traders? Put simply it is any external body outside of your PTA that operates or exists to make a profit.

Marsh Commercial does appreciate that the making of a profit creates a grey area for hobbyists’ who make and sell handmade products such as cards, knitted toys, craft items, etc. ad-hocly throughout the year or who perhaps have a social media presence where they sell their products ad-hocly. Because of this grey area Parentkind has worked closely with Marsh Commercial to agree a clarification on public liability insurance cover for such hobbyists’. Provided the hobbyist stall-holders’ income does not exceed £1,000 per annum; and the hobbyist stall-holder’ completes a Stall Holders Declaration form’ (available here) prior to the event to confirm their understanding of the £1,000* limit.

Completed declaration forms should be kept on file by the PTA. In the event of an insurance claim, the PTA may be expected to provide a copy to Marsh Commercial.

Public liability cover is in place for volunteers running stalls on behalf of the PTA, such as tombolas, plant stands, hook a duck etc., at your event under the insurance provided by Marsh Commercial, as part of your member benefits with Parentkind.

*The limit has to be £1,000 per annum as amounts earned above this means the person may have to register as a sole trader for tax purposes and should therefore arrange public liability cover in their own right.

Frequently asked questions 

Events are a great opportunity to bring people together from across the community. They improve personal and collective wellbeing, create a sense of pride and belonging and are a great opportunity to raise money. 

Organising events of any scale can be daunting and the thought of risk management can be a blow to initial enthusiasm. However, risk management doesn’t need to be complicated. With appropriate planning and communication, you can reduce the likelihood of problems occurring, and ensure your event is a success. 

We understand that many PTFA’s are keen to encourage local stallholders at their events. Local stallholders may include hobbyists, local artists, or just individuals looking to earn a small amount of additional income on top of their full-time jobs. 

Many of these individuals however may not have their own insurance whilst external third parties, businesses, or vendors you appoint may do. 

To ensure as safe an event for everyone taking part and attending your event the public liability insurance arrangements of those involved need to be checked. 

By introducing these forms as an aide-memoire Parentkind has worked closely with Marsh Commercial to make sure that we can continue to support PTAs with their fundraising activity.

Insurance-related

We would ask all member PTAs to start obtaining the appropriate forms for events occurring on or from the 16th October 2023.

Ideally you should ask any stallholder planning to attend your event to complete or provide a declaration form. This includes those who have already booked and those still to book.

Any professional third party occupying a pitch or operating a stall should complete the Third Party Declaration Form’. Any hobbyists’ should complete the Stall holder Declaration Form’.

The forms are not intended to create an administrative burden but to act as an aide-memoire, provide consistency across our members and to raise awareness of what is required. Their use may better protect your PTA from any future claim.

All registered businesses, vendors or sole traders selling food and drink must also complete the form and maintain compliance with all necessary food safety and legal requirements. A food hygiene certificate is preferred.

Yes, completed declaration forms MUST be kept on file by the PTA. In the event of an insurance claim, the PTA may be required to provide a copy to Marsh Commercial.

The completed forms need to be kept by the PTA for a minimum of 3 years. By keeping records such as risk assessments, an event safety plan, inspection reports, contracts, accident investigations and relevant insurance certificates you can effectively demonstrate that significant risks were identified and adequate controls had been put in place.

The forms are intended as an aide-memoire and to provide consistency for the important matters that should be checked. The forms are also intended to remove the ambiguity as to who is a professional with insurance of their own and who may need to be covered by the policy with Marsh Commercial.

If you are using your own forms, then as long as you are obtaining the required information with a robust procedure in place to record such information then completion of the form may not be required.

To protect you as the PTA in the event of a future claim from a third party we believe completing this form may help defend any future claim or direct the claimant to the party that was at fault.

(Claims may not come to light until several years following an event so having a more robust process to record third party suppliers’ insurance details to specific events is important).

For the reasons stated above it is our strong recommendation that every third party attending an event completes the appropriate form however we understand each PTA my manage their risk assessments differently. As long as you are obtaining the required information with a robust procedure in place to record such information then completion of the form may not be required.

All third parties you appoint for your event should have their own risk assessment already. This is because they are best placed to understand and mitigate the risks associated with their business activity.

Their standard risk assessment can be tailored for your event.

As a charitable organisation they do not need to complete the forms however as part of your risk assessment you should still enquire about and ask for proof of their own public liability insurance.

For queries relating to the changes or any other insurance-related queries, please refer to our website here. If you are unable to resolve your query using the FAQ document, then please contact Marsh Commercial on 0330 828 6015 or via email at [email protected].

For queries relating to your Parentkind Membership, please contact the Member Support Team on 0300 1235460 or [email protected].

Email notifications

All members were notified by email. If you haven’t received the email sent on the 4th October, make sure you are registered as contact for your PTA and that we have the correct email address. You may also want to check your junk file to make sure that the email hasn’t landed in there.

All member Chairs, Treasurers and Secretaries, whose details we hold on file, were notified.

Committee members can add themselves by creating a website account here using the school postcode and membership number. Anyone who is listed as Chair, Treasurer or Secretary will have the same functionality as our old Key Contact’ and will be able to add/​remove members in the My Association’ area of the website and receive renewal reminders and acknowledgments.

The documents supplied by Marsh Commercial can be found on the My Association’ page.

You are required under the terms and conditions of membership to maintain valid contact information for key contacts, typically Chair, Treasurer and Secretary. Please make sure your key contacts complete a website registration along with email addresses and phone number.

FAQs directly from Marsh Commercial