Senior Action Forum No1 - Insurances No 1 - Management of Communications

I guess every Forum has an insurance management policy which ranges from "self-insurance" to a panoply of insurance covers; the latter's sense of "full armour" may well be difficult to achieve but a review of existing insurances and associated management policies and operations is suggested. As a novice I cannot advise so these notes are pointers for fellow non-experts of insurance - for instance, a total lack of insurance might well frighten me away from volunteering or taking office!  

An approach to a Forum's management of insurances might be link  it to an "organisational risk assessment".  Here the procedure might be as follows:

1. identify a potential problem before it arises;
2. adopt management operational policies to avoid or mitigate the problem;
3. consider the need to seek insurance for any residual risk;
4. take insurance cover if it is needed and available.

At the recent Age UK South East Conference entitled "Speaking Up For our Age" a Forum representative mentioned that his Forum was setting up a website and there was concern about libel etc. He asked about insurance.

Until hiring a hall for a recent meeting the issue of insurances had not arisen in the recent past. Under the terms and conditions for the hire of the hall there was a chance of liability for loss or damage, etc. Also, was interested that the hall's owner had an insurance policy which included cover for slander and libel. So I had thought about it!

In respect of a forum's communications, problems concerning slander, libel and intellectual property rights, etc, might extend to any forum does not have management policies, operations and say, insurance cover when publishing newsletters and using social media and other means of communications. Having a website, a Facebook wall, a Twitter account and the like means that a forum will need manage them appropriately - concern might be more immediate where the forum's website has a blogging facility.

Being a novice in such matters means searching, reading and digesting so as to formulate a forum's management perspectives on a mix of issues, including:

1. who is "gatekeeping" the various media used by your forum - one person as the "lead" may be desirable;
2. the need for statement that contributions must observe the law and official regulatory requirements, eg concerning adverting;
3. what management operational safeguards need to be in place, including  a) Forum's exclusion policies, eg good taste, b) checks and moderation of contributions,  c) "Notes for Contributors - Bloggers, Writers, Authors, and Others",  d) "Views expressed do not represent the views of the XYZ Forum"
4. finally, where insurance is available and obtained, careful reading of the policy's terms and conditions - with operational observance of the insurer's requirements into the last three items.