Insurance Decoded: What Do You Need To Know?

We discuss the crucial yet often overlooked topic of village hall insurance and launch a new listener poll to shape future episodes on insurance topics that matter most to trustees and committee members.

• Insurance often becomes a priority only when something goes wrong
• Most trustees delegate insurance to one person with little collective oversight
• Insurance is a legal contract protecting your building, people, and finances
• New anonymous poll available at thevillagehallspodcast.com/facebook-polls
• Future episodes will explain most requested insurance topics in plain language
• Topics include buildings insurance, liability coverage, business interruption, and more
• Understanding insurance principles helps trustees ask better questions
• Village Halls Inspiration Awards 2025 entries open until 30th September
• £5,000 prize fund sponsored by Allied Westminster and Ecclesiastical
• Awards recognise grassroots action regardless of hall size or budget

https://thevillagehallspodcast.com/facebook-polls/

Episode Transcript

Marc Smith (00:01):
Hi, I'm Marc Smith and welcome to the Village Halls
podcast, sponsored by AlliedWestminster, the UK's largest
specialist provider of VillageHall insurance and the home of
Village Guard.
Before we begin, a quickreminder that entries are now
open for the Village HallsInspiration Awards 2025,
celebrating the incredible workhappening in village, community

(00:24):
and church halls across thecountry.
You can apply between the 1stof May and the 30th of September
, so do consider putting yourhall forward.
Hello and welcome to theVillage Halls podcast, the show
for all those involved in theincredible work of running
village and community hallsacross the UK.
So, whether you're a trustee,volunteer, bookings manager,

(00:44):
cleaner or committee chair, thisis your space to learn, share
and, hopefully, feel a bit lessalone in what can sometimes be
quite a demanding role.
So now, today, we're looking atsomething that might not seem
very exciting until somethinggoes wrong, and that's insurance
.
But don't worry, we're notgoing to bore you with illegal
terms or hard sell anything.
But don't worry, we're notgoing to bore you with illegal

(01:06):
terms or hard sell anything.
What we are going to do is toinvite you, our listeners, to
help us shape a series of futureepisodes where we break down
the parts of the Village Hallinsurance that you find most
confusing or just want tounderstand better.
And here to help me do that,I'm joined by Gavin Mitchell,
managing Director of AlliedWestminster, the main sponsor of
this podcast and a familiarvoice for many of you.
Gavin, welcome back, hellothere, Marc.

Gavin Mitchell (01:29):
Thank you, good to be back, nice to be here
again.
I think I'd like to start witha reassurance, Marc, if that's
okay, especially for anyonetuning in for the first time,
that, yes, allied Westminster isthe sponsor of the village
halls podcast and, yes, we doprovide insurance for village
halls.
But, uh, what we're going totalk about today and in the

(01:52):
episodes to come is not aboutany particular product or
provider.
This is about understandinginsurance in a way that's
relevant to any village hall,regardless of who they're
insured with, and it's abouthelping people make sense of
something that can often feellike a chore or, worse, a blind
spot until you need it yeah, andthat's the key point, isn't it?

Marc Smith (02:15):
because?
But I suppose for many hallsinsurance is just something that
happens once a year.
The renewal comes in, someonechecks the premium, the
committee approves it and that'sit.
But like car insurance, itcomes in.
As long as it's not too muchmore expensive, yeah, we're fine
, exactly and, uh, you know,most of the time it's fine until
it's not.

Gavin Mitchell (02:35):
Um, then suddenly it becomes very real.
I mean, maybe someone has anaccident or the roof leaks or
the boiler breaks down a weekbefore a wedding, or you find
yourself reaching for thatpolicy that you haven't really
looked at in years.
And I mean, I get it.
Most trustees are doing theirvery best, giving up their
evenings, balancing a hundredthings, and insurance is just

(02:58):
one more thing on the to-do listand it's very often left to one
person in the committee and therest simply trust that it's
been dealt with in anappropriate and acceptable
manner.
But here's the thing insuranceis a legal contract and it's
there to protect your building,your people, your finances.
And if you don't understandwhat's in it or worse, you've

(03:21):
assumed it covers something itdoesn't.
What's in it?
Or worse, you've assumed itcovers something.

Marc Smith (03:27):
It doesn't, then that's when problems really
start.
Yes, so that brings us to thereason for this episode, because
we're launching a brand newlistener poll to find out what
parts of Village Hall insurancedo you want to know more about?
So we've set up a quickanonymous poll on our website.
Now the address will be linkedon the page, but just now it's
thevillagehallspodcastcom.
Forward slash Facebook hyphenpolls, so you can tick as many

(03:51):
topics as you like and you caneven leave comments or questions
at the bottom.
The idea is really simple youtell us what you want explained
and we'll create future podcastepisodes around those themes.

Gavin Mitchell (04:02):
Mm-hmm.
And yeah, thanks, Marc.
I mean, we spoke about thisearlier on.
I'll be coming back on the showto talk through the most
popular topics, hopefully invery plain English with my
Scottish accent.
No jargons, no assumptions.
You've got a Scottish accent aswell, Marc Aye, no jargons, no

(04:26):
assumptions, just a practicalexplanation and, hopefully, some
helpful insights.
And, unlike the people who aresubmitting things, we are not
anonymous.
Feel free to put your name inthe comments box if you want to,
but I think it's important thatwe just get as much feedback as
we possibly can, and in somecases, people really do want to
do this in an anonymous way, soit's the collective gathering of

(04:48):
the information that'simportant.
And we've listed a range oftopics, including buildings
insurance, public liability,trustee and management liability
, employer's liability, loss ofincome, business interruption,
hire as liability, money covered, equipment breakdown, legal
expenses, event insurance,personal accident insurance.

(05:10):
The list goes on, and that's,in many ways, why we've thought
about doing this entire exercise, because any one or more of
these things very often leavetrustees baffled at these types
of insurance.
So it's all there in the poll,the poll, and if you think we've
missed something, then you canadd your own comments or

(05:31):
questions below, because at thebottom of the poll there's a
free text box you can simplytype things in on if you would
like to more, like to know moreinformation about things that
weren't covered in the list yeah, so I suppose one of the things
I really like about this isthat it gives every hall, no
matter what their size or setup,a voice in shaping what gets
discussed here.

Marc Smith (05:48):
So we don't want to guess at what people need, we
want to ask.

Gavin Mitchell (05:53):
Yeah, that's a really good point and I think
sharing this is importantbecause the one thing that I've
seen over the many, many yearsof working with village halls
and village hall insurance isthat this is really an important
thing for the whole committee.
It's not just the person whodoes the insurance, because

(06:13):
often, you know, the collectiveunderstanding isn't there.
Decisions are often made basedon price, and I understand why.
I mean everyone's trying tomanage costs, but the cheapest
policy isn't necessarily thebest.
The moment something goes wronga claim or an injury or a
dispute you discover the realvalue of what you've got.

Marc Smith (06:35):
Yeah.
So I suppose what we're sayingto halls is don't just renew out
of habit.
Take a step back and think doyou really understand what you
bought?

Gavin Mitchell (06:43):
Yes, exactly, and we're asking the right
questions.
You don't need to be aninsurance expert, but you need
to know enough to challengethings constructively, because
when trustees ask betterquestions, they make better
decisions.
And it's not just aboutinsurance, it's about governance
, and I know trustees aregovernance, governance,
governance.

(07:04):
It's such an important thingand it can seem to be a very
tedious thing, but at the end ofthe day, this is all about
protecting the whole, the assetsfor the future.

Marc Smith (07:16):
Yeah, and I think I'd quite like to stress again
that even though obviously yourcompany, gavin, is our main
sponsor, that these upcomingepisodes, they're not product
driven.

Gavin Mitchell (07:33):
They'll be about understanding the principles.
So, no matter who you'reinsured with, you'll be better
informed.
That's the goal.
I mean, as I've said before, ifone trustee hears something and
goes back to ask a questionthey wouldn't have thought of
maybe asking before, then that'sa win.
I mean, it's not about tellingpeople what they should have,
it's about helping them to feelconfident in the decisions
they're actually making.

Marc Smith (07:50):
Excellent.
So once again, the link to thepoll is
thevillagehallspodcastcom.
Forward slash Facebook hyphenpolls.
So it's short, anonymous andeasy to share.
So tick the boxes that interestyou, leave a question or a
comment if you want, and helpshape what we cover next come

(08:16):
out on top and to coming back totalk about them in um in much
more detail.

Gavin Mitchell (08:18):
I think we'll see a real mix some familiar
things like public liability ortrustee indemnity cover, but
maybe also some prize, somesurprises um, such as legal
expenses.
But I'm not going to be tooprescriptive.
Let's just see what comes infrom um, from the polls more
yeah, can we maybe try and getsome really complicated
questions.

Marc Smith (08:34):
Please someone to to really grill gavin his
insurance knowledge.
You may have to bring aspecialist we'll be listening
out for the turning of pages aswe're recording.
So I suppose with this we wantit to be ongoing, so it's not
hopefully just a one-off.
So there's a space at thebottom of the poll to share your
story or to ask a question, andwe'd love to bring some of

(08:56):
those into the discussion aswell.

Gavin Mitchell (08:59):
Yeah, I think nothing brings a subject to life
more than a real world example,and we're not really here to
point fingers and say you know,you should have done X or you
should have done Y.
We're really here to helpeveryone learn from others'
experiences.

Marc Smith (09:15):
Before we wrap up today's episode, I want to
remind you that we're now abouthalfway through the village
halls inspiration awards 2025,so the entry deadline is 4 pm on
tuesday, the 30th of september2025.
So if you've not alreadyentered, it's time to put your
thinking caps on to everyonewho's already submitted.
Thank you and the very best ofluck.
We've received some trulyinspiring entries already, and

(09:38):
it's fantastic to see so manyhalls using the platform.
So, for anyone who's justhearing about it for the first
time, let me give you a briefoverview.
So the Village HallsInspiration Awards celebrate the
unsung heroes behind our halls.
These awards highlight projectsand initiatives that inspire
and strengthen rural communities, everything from innovative

(09:59):
social programs andsustainability efforts to create
fundraising and inclusiveevents.
It's not about size or budget.
It's about impact, creativityand community spirit.
And now, gavin, you're stillwith us, and I know that Allied
Westminster and yourunderwriting partner,
ecclesiastical, are kindlysponsoring the prize money again
this year.
Can you remind us what's onoffer?

Gavin Mitchell (10:19):
You're still with us, and I know that Allied
Westminster and yourunderwriting partner,
ecclesiastical, are kindlysponsoring the prize money again
this year.
Can you remind us what's onoffer?
Absolutely, Marc, and I'm verypleased we're continuing our
support.
So this year's total prize fundis £5,000, split as follows the
first prize is £2,500.
Second prize £1,500.
And the third prize for thosemathematicians among you will
have deduced it's 1,000 pounds.

(10:40):
The aim is to recognisegrassroots action, so we're
awarding funds based oninspiration, innovation and
community impact, not on budgetsor hall size.
Even a small hall with a simple, heartfelt idea can win if it's
made a real difference locallyand the clue's in the name it's
to inspire other village hallsacross the country.

Marc Smith (11:02):
Excellent.
So, to recap, the entries closeat 4pm on the 30th of September
2025.
It's open to all ruralcommunity halls across the UK.
The prize fund is £5,000,sponsored by Allied Westminster
and Ecclesiastical.
So if your hall has donesomething inspiring, no matter
how big or small, please doenter.
You'll find the entry form andfull details on our website,

(11:24):
thevillagehallspodcastcom.
Brilliant Well, Gavin.
Thanks again for joining us andfor being such a great advocate
for clarity and confidence whenit comes to insurance.
And to all of you listening,thank you, as always, for the
incredible work you do to keepyour halls running safe and at
the heart of your communities.
We'll be back very soon withmore, but for now, from both of

(11:44):
us, take care and thank you forlistening to the Village Halls
podcast.
Many thanks to our headlinesponsor and specialist Village
Hall insurance provider, alliedWestminster, the home of Village
Guard, for making this podcastpossible, and to online booking
system provider, Hallmaster, whoalso sponsor our podcast and
can be found at hallmaster.
co.
uk.

(12:06):
You've been listening to theVillage Halls podcast, a unique
listening community forBritain's village, community and
church halls and anyoneinterested in the vital services
they provide.
Don't forget.
Entries for the Village HallsInspiration Awards 2025 are open
now until the 30th of September, so visit our website to find
out more and get involved.

(12:27):
We will be back again soon withanother episode.
For more information, visitthevillagehallspodcast.
com, where you'll also findlinks to our social media pages.
Thanks again for listening inand until next time.
Goodbye for now.