bottletopbill
Well-Known Member
WHY business insurance for a volunteer work.
Vacancy: Volunteer humane animal dispatcher
- Thread starter Tallguy
- Start date
8x57
Distinguished Member
Because it's not regarded as social domestic or pleasure which is how non commercial private motor insurance is often classified.
In my experience if you approach your insurers and explain the situation very often they will note the change and not make an additional charge because its not for personal gain in similar situations.
Rake Aboot
Well-Known Member
Because the cops don’t want any liability for anything that happens to you while you do their job for them is why.
8x57
Distinguished Member
and also possibly because to include you on their motor insurance scheme would require some sort of driving assessment/test so a potential training requirement. (It can get rather involved.) Far easier and no cost involved to get the volunteer to sort it out for themselves.
I can’t help but wonder what the ‘quid pro quo’ is for such a commitment. I would be shocked if the trade off would be a carcass at the end of it.
Self-funding for the course seems like the first hurdle a local constabulary should remove if they are looking to increase HAD numbers. I can’t imagine many are jumping at the chance to self fund a £100+ course - there may be a few that do it for the sense of community pride.
Hatch
Self-funding for the course seems like the first hurdle a local constabulary should remove if they are looking to increase HAD numbers. I can’t imagine many are jumping at the chance to self fund a £100+ course - there may be a few that do it for the sense of community pride.
Hatch
bottletopbill
Well-Known Member
Done the course a few years ago but the Met and Kent police don't use volunteers for HAD work.
Great course to help you but think I would not waste the money for the course and a hour and half drive e/w plus one work day lost.
Great course to help you but think I would not waste the money for the course and a hour and half drive e/w plus one work day lost.
countrryboy
Well-Known Member
As anside is ammo classed as harzardois goods??
If they are they might start asking more questions about firearms/ammo transfer.
I know i got slightly caught out mentioning i carry petrol for my chainsaws in my van.
Was changing van details and they almost cancelled my policy over it.
By rights im only allowed to carry 5L at a time, and that was after i argued with them ( how many builders, gardeners will carry a petrol can) they wanted zero petrol at all.
Which is only just enough for 1 day, sometimes not even enough.
Ratcatcher
Well-Known Member
Just a rather silly question, but if the carcass is beyond use, what do you do with it? If you dump it on someone's land, that is a littering offence, punishable by a fine ( loss of fac?) out of curiosity what do the police do with the carcasses, can't see them chopping them up in the canteen?
8x57
Distinguished Member
I don't know how you think about it but I don't think that it would be either safe or wise to put the carcase into the food chain. It certainly wouldn't be legal to take it away without the permission of the highway authority/land owner, so no quid pro quo. The HAD operators do it out of community spirit and a love of deer and their welfare.
Cops really wouldn’t have the time to chop it up in the canteen. Not that most forces even have a canteen now days. As posted they are the responsibility of the local authorities where the road lies.
As to the question about business insurance. Any police officer who uses their personal vehicle to travel from police station to another during a tour of duty or travel to a different police station to where they are based from home even going to training is required to have business insurance. It goes for anyone using a vehicle connected in any way to business use. Might sound ridiculous to some but that’s the way insurance companies write policies. Often it can be included for free. The wording needed social, domestic, pleasure and business use or words to that effect.
Quite often the ARV units are very small in number per county. If they are on a firearms call out then there won’t be a HAD capability and there is potential for an animal to be left suffering. If they are free I agree, use an ARV. It’s sometimes the case a road is closed until and animal is euthanised as it poses a danger to road users.
The volunteer role of HAD could cover the gap. Show that firearms users/stalkers hold the welfare of animals highly. Yes, a vet could be called out with the respective £300 (picked out of the air) fee. But the police are under pressure to save money so have offered the position to a volunteer.
There is a lot of negativity towards the police and firearms licensing. Don’t let it spill over to animal welfare. There will be someone who wants to put something back into society and volunteer for this role, I’m sure.
Ratcatcher
Well-Known Member
So if someone was to remove the carcass without the permission of ( the authority owner) that would be theft?
8x57
Distinguished Member
The collection and disposal of the carcase would be the responsibility of highway authority. I am informed that some HAD operators spray paint "do not eat" on carcasses to deter collectors of road kill and to safeguard the general public.
Not so long back a vet euthanised a deer at the roadside just outside Newtown or Welshpool using strong sedatives that could be fatal to humans if the carcase was eaten. I don't know if it was marked properly but some human scavenger collected it from the roadside before it was collected for incineration by the highway authority causing a huge scare. Fortunately following a big publicity campaign locally resulted in the carcase being recovered for proper disposal.
8x57
Distinguished Member
Yes.
8x57
Distinguished Member
It was the same with the fire service.
Ratcatcher
Well-Known Member
As someone who worked for a council for nearly 40 years, the odds of you finding someone prepared to make a decision like these in working hours is close to nil, outside office hours
8x57
Distinguished Member
As someone who has tried to work alongside 10 different local authorities and numerous other agencies including two highway agencies I would agree with you, and add that even in office hours it can be totally frustrating trying to contact the right person.As someone who worked for a council for nearly 40 years, the odds of you finding someone prepared to make a decision like these in working hours is close to nil, outside office hours
The one thing that used to really get my goat was that they would sit on a problem all week and then contact you on a Friday afternoon and try to offload their urgent problem on to you just before they clocked off.
Ratcatcher
Well-Known Member
Ah no, there's a new method since COVID, it's called " not working from home" where you aren't able to contact anyone, mobile, landline, emails etc the stock reply we got by email was " due to workload this email may not be responded to for up to 5 days" it became a complete joke but not at all funny. I'm glad to be out of it!As someone who has tried to work alongside 10 different local authorities and numerous other agencies including two highway agencies I would agree with you, and add that even in office hours it can be totally frustrating trying to contact the right person.
The one thing that used to really get my goat was that they would sit on a problem all week and then contact you on a Friday afternoon and try to offload their urgent problem on to you just before they clocked off.
Ratcatcher
Well-Known Member
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