Charities claims
examples.
Trustees liability
Entity defence
Alleged defamation
PR crisis following misappropriation of charity funds
Following publication of an article, the charity trustees were sued for
defamation by another charity with similar objectives. The claimant
stated that certain statements made in the article were untrue and
gave a false representation of the charity.
A reporter from a local newspaper approached the charity for
in excess of £80,000 over a three year period. The PR Crisis
Management team assisted the charity in preparing a statement to the
press as well as a strategy plan to address the reputational damage.
Claim for alleged trespass
Trustees were responsible for damages and for restoring the land to
its former condition.
Charity commission investigating Trustees
The Charity Commission investigated trustees of a charity alleging
non-compliance with charity law. The allegations concerned trustees
meetings not being compliant with the minimum attendance number
required and failure to notify funders that the charity’s activities had
changed.
0345 351 2600
www.markelinternational.com/uk
Alleged breach of contract
A provider of education materials alleged breach of contract following
unauthorised re-use of training materials which had been purchased
for a prior training course but under the terms of the contract the
charity were not permitted to re-use.
Breach of Environmental Protection Act 1990
A charity providing care to young people were served a noise
abatement order following complaints by neighbours of loud music
and noise disturbance which was in breach of the Environmental
Protection Act 1990. As a result of the noise abatement notice
Ofsted also investigated the charity with a view of further enforcing
the order.
This is not a policy document and contains only general descriptions and
illustrations. Policyholders must refer to the actual policy issued for the
binding terms, conditions and exclusions of cover.
Claimseg/charities/10/16
A neighbouring landowner to the charity claimed that recent
construction carried out by the charity infringed on their property. The
charity claim their documents showed that the previous owner passed
the land over to them, whereas the claimant argued that the land
never legally belonged to the previous owner.
Charities claims
examples.
Professional liability
Employment law protection
Discussion forum
Allegation of unfair dismissal and disability
discrimination
Negligent completion of benefit form
When a housing benefit application was refused on the grounds of
an incorrectly completed form, a claim ensued against a community
centre employee who had helped the service user to complete the
application.
Breach of professional duty
without checking that the agency had provided appropriate training.
The agency worker negligently injured a service user leading to a claim
against the charity for breach of professional duty.
0345 351 2600
www.markelinternational.com/uk
The claimant requested a position with fewer hours and less
responsibility at another of the insured’s sites or she would resign, the
allegation being that she was overburdened with work. There were no
other positions available and the charity believed her to have resigned
after confirmation from her representative that she had not changed
her mind. A claim for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination
followed.
Allegation of constructive dismissal
A community support worker claimed constructive dismissal because
the charity allegedly failed to deal with his concerns about his working
arrangements, which he says made it impossible for him to continue
working. One allegation was that he had not received training on
working with paranoid schizophrenics.
Under performance leads to dismissal
The chief executive of a charity had concerns in relation to its
marketing director’s performance and as a result the charity pursued
the matter through their capability procedure. The outcome was that
This is not a policy document and contains only general descriptions and
illustrations. Policyholders must refer to the actual policy issued for the
binding terms, conditions and exclusions of cover.
Claimseg/charities/10/16
A charity providing support and information set up an online
discussion forum. A vociferous member used this forum to express
concerns and raised challenges against other forum members’ posts.
Complaints and allegations of harassment followed resulting in the
insured removing the discussion completely. The vociferous member
brought a claim for implied defamation and alleged data protection
issues.
Charities claims
examples.
Charitable events
Volunteer drivers’
Child injured at treasure hunt
Cumulative strain injury
A child broke an ankle during a charity treasure hunt in the gardens of
the charity premises. The child’s foot had gone down a pothole in the
ground which the client had not identified when inspecting the course
prior to the event.
A volunteer driver working for a community transport organisation
alleged cumulative injury as a result of the power steering on the
minibus being defective.
A volunteer brought a claim against the charity alleging unsafe
working practices as a result of receiving an electric shock and
subsequent injuries whilst untangling Christmas lights in preparation
for a Christmas fundraising event.
Third party damage
The charity erected a marquee and as a temporary measure pegged
the marquee down with only one peg. A gust of wind lifted the
marquee and blew it onto two vehicles which sustained scratches to
their roofs. The charity was held responsible as they had not secured
the marquee adequately.
0345 351 2600
www.markelinternational.com/uk
Injury to service user
The service user was sat in the rear of the motor vehicle awaiting
assistance to get out when the volunteer inadvertently closed the car
door onto their outstretched hand causing cuts and bruising to the
hand.
Third party damage
A community transport organisation was held responsible when their
volunteer driver did not adequately monitor the service user and the
car door was opened into the path of an oncoming car causing damage
to the third party vehicle.
This is not a policy document and contains only general descriptions and
illustrations. Policyholders must refer to the actual policy issued for the
binding terms, conditions and exclusions of cover.
Claimseg/charities/10/16
Volunteer back injury
Charities claims
examples.
Fidelity claims
Director theft
A senior director was discovered to have stolen £90,000 of the
charity’s funds over a four year period which was only discovered
when a finance clerk contacted a supplier as the invoice rendered was
not one she recognised. The director had been submitting fraudulent
invoices with settlement to his personal account.
Employee theft
An employee was found to have stolen money from the charity when
they incorrectly transferred money to a service provider when it should
have gone to their own bank account.
Volunteer theft
0345 351 2600
www.markelinternational.com/uk
This is not a policy document and contains only general descriptions and
illustrations. Policyholders must refer to the actual policy issued for the
binding terms, conditions and exclusions of cover.
Claimseg/charities/10/16
A volunteer stole cash donations following ‘tin shakes’ which was
entrusted to them to take home prior to banking at the end of each
week. The volunteer deposited only a small amount of what had been
raised and recorded and had worked for the charity for almost ten
years.