Brass Bands England - Insurance

Your Making Music membership includes access to our superb insurance packages, provided by Finch, underwritten by Covea.

Exclusive Brass Package

As part of our partnership with Brass Bands England, you have exclusive access to our 'Brass' package, designed to suit the insurance requirements of brass bands. Or if you prefer you can take out one of our Bronze, Silver, or Gold packages instead, available at the cheapest premiums for Brass Band England members. 

Get cover and save money 

Even if you add them together, your MM/BBE membership and our insurance premium usually cost less than the price of a comparable insurance policy elsewhere - and that's before you have even take into account all the other fantastic services we provide!

Insurance - protection where you need it

Our packages are tailor-made for leisure-time music groups and provide a comprehensive range of covers including public and employers’ liability, Directors and Officers liability, event cancellation, property, and money.
The packages cover your rehearsals and events and protect your directors and officers, members, and the general public against adverse incidents that arise from your activities and for which your organisation is found liable.

Policy dates and Premiums 

All our insurance packages run from 1 January to 31 December each year. So if you take out a policy today it will run from today until 31 December this year. 

• Our Bronze, Silver, and Gold packages have two prices; one if your turnover is under £21K and one if your turnover is between £21K and £100K.
• Our Brass package has a fixed price for any group with a turnover under £100K.
• Premiums are pro-rated from 1 April, 1 July and 1 October
• If your income is over £100k then you will need a custom policy. Contact Finch to find out more – just say you are part of Brass Bands England. 

If you have an existing policy with another provider due to expire later in the year,  you can activate your membership now and add insurance at a later date.

All premiums outlined below are for policies covering the period of 1 October 2025 to the 31 December 2025

Exclusive Brass Policy

The above premiums include Insurance Premium Tax. 

Bronze Silver and Gold packages 

If the Brass Policy is more cover than you need then you can also access our standard Bronze, Silver, and Gold packages.

The above premiums include Insurance Premium Tax. 

Custom Cover

If your group's turnover is above £100,000 a year or you require alternative covers not included (such as buildings ) contact Finch who can arrange suitable cover at competitive rates. 

Please note that your insurance documents (ie: policy schedule, certificate of employers' liability, policy summary, full summary, and terms of business) will be downloadable from your Dashboard on this website once you have registered and logged in.

Policy Summary

Below is a summary of what each part of the cover does. You can also: 

1.  Public liability

Brass: Public liability insurance of £10 million for any one event provides cover for bodily injury to third parties, for which the group is legally liable.

Bronze, Silver, Gold: Public liability insurance of £5 million for any one event provides cover for bodily injury to third parties, for which the group is legally liable.

2.  Employers’ liability

Employers’ liability insurance, with a limit of indemnity of £10 million in any one occurrence, provides cover for bodily injuries to volunteers and employees for which the group is legally liable. Whilst not a legal requirement, this conforms to best practice advice given by the Charity Commission to consider volunteers as employees.

It is usual for authorised volunteers acting for a group to be regarded as employees for the purposes of insurance; this is because society increasingly regards volunteers in the same light as employees. For example, the Health & Safety Executive now regards volunteers as employees, and persons who make use of volunteers as employers. The same level of training, information, and advice must be given to both employees and volunteers.

3.  Products liability

Brass: Products liability insurance of £10 million in any one period of insurance covers the member organisation for accidental bodily injury to third parties or damage to their property caused by goods sold or supplied

Bronze, Silver, and Gold: Products liability insurance of £5 million in any one period of insurance covers the member organisation for accidental bodily injury to third parties or damage to their property caused by goods sold or supplied.

4.  Directors and Officers liability

Directors and officers liability of £100,000 in any one period of insurance and provides cover for wrongful (but not deliberate or wilful) acts committed by a director or officer. Cover is also provided if a group-related document is lost or damaged. 

5.  Money insurance

Money insurance provides cover for losses in certain cases. Some examples are:

• non-negotiable money such as crossed cheques, money orders, and vouchers
• while locked safe at the insured’s premises or the home of an authorised person from the member organisation
• money in collection tins and envelopes
• money in transit

Further details about this can be found on the ‘Policy Summary’ document provided by Finch.

6.  Property insurance

Member groups who choose the 'Brass', ‘Silver’, or ‘Gold’ options also have cover for general property such as equipment, risers, music libraries, group owned instruments, etc.

Please note
Property cover is only applicable for property belonging to or lent to or hired under a contract of hire to the group. Items owned by private individuals need to be insured by those individuals.

7.  Cancellation & Abandonment insurance

Member groups choosing the 'Brass', ‘Silver’, or ‘Gold’ options also have cover for the cancellation or abandonment of concerts, workshops, and conferences (see the Policy Summary for clarification). Cover is in respect of the out of pocket expenses that cannot be recovered if the event is canceled or abandoned or additional expenses incurred up to the cost of canceling the performance where a performance is postponed or substitute artists are engaged in order to prevent cancellation of the performance.

Please note: This does not include any event that is canceled due to lack of support or poor weather, unless on the grounds of safety.

Additional insurance cover

In addition to the main insurance package as stated above, groups are able to purchase optional insurance cover at additional rates. Please note that you need to have the main policy in place in order to purchase additional covers.

1.  Increased Public Liability cover

Bronze, Silver, and Gold packages include Public Liability to £5 million for any one event.  If you wish to increase Public Liability to £10 million please contact Finch. The Brass package has Public Liability to £10 million as standard. 

2.  Buildings insurance

Finch can also quote for cover required for buildings. Please contact Finch directly so that we can gather information from you for quotation purposes.

3.  Other cover

Finch is able to arrange various personal and commercial insurances. Please contact Finch directly. 

Further Information

Further information about additional insurance covers can be found in our insurance FAQs, in the ‘Policy Summary’ document, or by contacting us. 

Note on insurance renewals

Renewal of existing policies will normally be carried out by Finch at the same time as renewing your membership of Making Music.

• Making Music will notify you by email when your renewal is due. To renew, complete our online renewal form. You can either pay online by credit or debit card or elect to pay later and send cheque or BACS. 
• Custom policies: if you have a custom policy Finch will contact you with a renewal premium before you complete your renewal and payment.
• If you wish to upgrade a standard insurance package (Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Brass) during the year please contact Making Music.
• If you wish to upgrade to a custom policy or take out a temporary policy during the year please contact Finch to receive your quote. Payment should then be made to Making Music.

Contact us

Finch
Telephone: 0330 8187645
Email: makingmusic@finchinsurance.co.uk
Contact FInch if you have any further questions or to receive a quote for additional insurance requirements.

Making Music office
Telephone: 01256 355 656
Email: info@makingmusic.org.uk
Contact Making Music to make payment or for help downloading your group’s insurance documents.

We hope you find this Making Music resource useful. If you have any comments or suggestions about the guidance please contact us. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the content of this guidance is accurate and up to date, Making Music do not warrant, nor accept any liability or responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the content, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on the information contained in it.