Raffle, Tombola & Charity Auction Insurance: What UK Event Organisers Need to Know

Does a Raffle or Auction Need Its Own Insurance?

Not usually. A raffle, tombola or charity auction is not a separate insured activity in the way a firework display or a bouncy castle is. It sits inside your event, and the event's public liability policy is what responds if someone is hurt or their property is damaged. The more important question is whether the policy you already hold, or the one the hall demands, is in place at all. Most halls, councils and fete grounds now ask hirers for at least £5 million of public liability, and many ask for £10 million, so the raffle table is rarely the thing that triggers the need for cover. The event is.

Where raffles and auctions do change the picture is in what you are handling: cash, donated goods, food and drink prizes, and sometimes high-value items such as signed shirts, holidays or artwork. None of those is automatically covered by a basic public liability policy, so it is worth reading the wording rather than assuming.

The Legal Bit: Raffles Are Gambling

Insurance will not rescue you from a lottery law breach, so start here. Under the Gambling Act 2005, a raffle is a lottery, and lotteries must fit one of a small number of exemptions or be licensed. For a community event, there are two routes that matter.

Incidental lotteries

An incidental lottery, such as a raffle at a fete, dance or dinner, is exempt from licensing if it is run as an incidental part of a non-commercial event. The usual conditions, as set out by the Gambling Commission, are that tickets are sold only at the event and during it, the draw takes place at the event, there are no rollovers, and the cost of prizes and other expenses is capped. The deductions are limited to £500 for prizes bought, with other expenses limited to £100, and donated prizes do not count against that. Check the current wording on the Gambling Commission website before you print tickets, because these limits can be revised.

Small society lotteries

If you want to sell tickets in advance, online, or away from the event, you generally need a small society lottery registration with your local council. Councils report fees of around £40 to register and £20 a year to remain registered, you must return figures after each lottery, and the society must be non-commercial. Lotteries are limited to £20,000 of ticket sales for a single draw and £250,000 across a year, and a minimum share of proceeds must go to the good cause. Your council will confirm the exact rules, including the age limit of 16 for buyers and the rules on ticket prices and prizes.

What Insurance Actually Covers Here

The cover that matters, in rough order of importance, is as follows.

• Public liability: Covers injury to members of the public and damage to their property caused by your negligence. A guest slipping on a wet floor beside the raffle table, or a display stand falling on a child, is a public liability claim.
• Products liability: Relevant if you give away or sell food, drink or hampers. A donated cake or a bottle of homemade jam that makes someone ill is a products claim, and the policy should name food explicitly.
• Money cover: Cash raised on the day is often lost or stolen from an unlocked tin. Some one-day policies and many club policies include a modest money limit, others do not. Ask what the limit is, and whether it applies when cash is held by a volunteer rather than in a safe.
• Employers' liability: Needed if you have paid staff. Volunteer cover varies by insurer, so confirm in writing that helpers are treated as insured.
• Prize indemnity: A separate product that protects against paying out a large prize, such as a hole-in-one or a cash draw. Not needed for an ordinary raffle, but worth knowing about if you advertise a big prize.

What is not covered is just as important: a fine or regulatory action for running an unregistered lottery, a prize that is not delivered, a dispute over who won, or loss of takings because it rained. Cancellation and weather cover are optional extras, and they sit on the event, not on the raffle.

Running a Charity Auction

Auctions bring their own questions. If you are auctioning items on behalf of a charity, whether a silent auction at a school summer fair or a live auction at a gala dinner, check the following.

• Who owns the goods? Donated items belong to the charity once handed over. Items lent for display, or held on commission, are someone else's property, and your policy may not cover damage or loss unless you have asked.
• High-value lots: A signed football shirt or piece of jewellery may exceed the single-item limits on a basic policy. Ask the insurer, and keep valuables locked away until the moment of sale.
• Experiences and services: Donated experiences such as flying lessons, a day on a farm or a boat trip carry their own risk, and the donor should hold their own liability insurance. A voucher for an activity is only as good as the provider behind it.
• Alcohol: Auctioning wine or spirits is not selling alcohol in the licensing sense in most cases, but serving drinks at the same event usually needs a premises licence or a Temporary Event Notice.

Prizes Donated by Local Businesses

Donated prizes are the lifeblood of a community raffle, and generally low risk, but a few habits help. Keep a list of who donated what, with a contact name, so that a faulty electrical item, an out-of-date food hamper or a voucher dispute can be traced. Do not accept second-hand electrical goods or children's toys unless they are in good condition and carry the right safety marking, and avoid giving away alcohol to anyone under 18, which includes children who win a bottle at a fete. If the winner is a child, offer an alternative prize.

What Will It Cost?

For a one-day community event, public liability at £5 million usually starts at around £40 to £60, depending on the size of the crowd and whether alcohol is sold, and the raffle itself does not add to that in most cases. If you want money cover, cancellation or a higher limit, expect a modest uplift. A club or PTA that already has an annual policy should check that fundraising events, raffles and auctions are expressly included, because some policies limit cover to the organisation's usual activities.

A Practical Checklist

• Decide whether your raffle is incidental to the event or needs a small society lottery registration, and apply early if it does.
• Confirm your public liability limit matches the hall or landowner's requirement.
• Ask whether cash on the day is covered, and appoint two people to count and bank it.
• Check that food and drink prizes are covered under products liability.
• Record donors and prize details, and keep an incident book on the day.
• Print the lottery promoter's name and the draw details on every ticket, as the rules require.
• Hold the draw at the advertised time, and publish winners to avoid disputes.

The Bottom Line

A raffle or charity auction is rarely the expensive part of an event, but it is where organisers most often trip over the rules without noticing. The insurance is straightforward: public liability for the event, with products liability and money cover if you are handling food or large amounts of cash. The legal side deserves more attention, because the wrong kind of ticket sale can put you on the wrong side of the Gambling Act, and no policy will cover that. Check the lottery rules with your council, check the limits on your policy, and you can run the draw with confidence.