Insurance

Basic principle

Insurance should sit with the person or organisation that owns, controls, places, maintains or authorises the planter. The key questions are:

Whose land is it on?
Who owns the planter?
Who installed it?
Who maintains, waters and weeds it?
Are volunteers involved?
Has the council authorised it if it is on public land?

For volunteer activity, the important point is that public liability insurance should cover injury to members of the public or damage to property, and the insurer should be told that volunteers are involved.

1. Business planters

Planters on private business land

If a planter is on a shop’s own forecourt, frontage, private yard or other land controlled by the business, the simplest position is:

The business is responsible for the planter and should check that its public liability insurance covers it.

That should include:

the planter itself;
customers, passers-by and delivery drivers;
watering, weeding and maintenance;
volunteers or local residents helping, if the business allows them to do so.

Suggested wording for businesses:

If the planter is on land controlled by your business, you remain responsible for making sure it is safe and properly maintained. Please check with your insurer that your public liability insurance covers the planter and any light volunteer watering or weeding that you have agreed to.

Planters on the public footway outside a business

This is more sensitive. If a planter is on the adopted pavement or public road area, it should not simply be placed there without agreement. Edinburgh’s tables and chairs guidance, although written for hospitality permits, shows the council’s general public-realm approach: applicants must make sure their public liability insurance covers the outside area, and a minimum 1.5m pedestrian clearance must be maintained.

The same guidance also says planters can be encouraged as good-quality barriers in permitted outdoor areas, but additional equipment in a pavement area needs council permission.

Do not treat “outside my shop” as automatically meaning “my land”.
For pavement planters, get council/roads agreement and confirm who is insuring and maintaining them.

2. Organisation-adopted planters

This covers community councils, churches, schools, residents’ groups, Friends groups, charities, clubs or local organisations adopting a planter.

The best position is:

The adopting organisation should have its own public liability insurance that covers gardening/planting activity and volunteers.

They should also have:

written permission from the landowner or council;
a simple risk assessment;
named contact person;
agreed maintenance responsibility;
confirmation that volunteers are covered.

Suggested wording for organisations:

By adopting a planter, the organisation agrees to maintain it safely, keep it tidy, report defects, and confirm that its public liability insurance covers light gardening, watering, weeding and volunteer involvement.

3. Council-owned or council-land planters

This is where the distinction matters most.

If the council authorises the activity

Edinburgh Council’s own guidance says council public liability insurance may cover volunteers in some circumstances, but only where the volunteers are assisting with a council activity and are authorised by the council.The guidance also says activities need council authorisation and site-specific risk assessments. (The City of Edinburgh Council)

Council insurance may apply only where the council has formally authorised the activity and is supervising it.

The council’s Right to Grow report also identifies insurance and liability as a key risk, saying participants must be covered by appropriate public liability insurance and that clear agreements are needed around land use and maintenance responsibilities.

Suggested wording to the council:

For council-owned planters or planters on council land, we would like written confirmation of the agreed model: either the activity is council-authorised and supervised, or the adopting group provides its own public liability insurance. We would also welcome a simple written agreement confirming maintenance responsibilities, inspection arrangements, and what happens if a planter is abandoned or becomes unsafe.

4. Recommended Corstorphine in Bloom policy

I would adopt this simple rule:

Situation	Who should normally insure it?
Planter on private business land	The business
Planter on private land owned by an organisation	The organisation/landowner
Planter adopted by a community organisation	The adopting organisation
Planter on council land, council-authorised and supervised	Council may cover, but confirm in writing
Planter on council land, maintained independently by volunteers	Corstorphine in Bloom, the adopting group, or an umbrella body should have public liability cover
Sponsored planter only	Sponsorship does not equal responsibility unless the sponsor also owns or maintains it

5. Risk controls to reduce insurance worries

For every planter, I would keep the rules simple:

no planter unless landowner/council permission is clear;
no obstruction of pavements, crossings, doors, dropped kerbs or sightlines;
keep at least 1.5m clear pedestrian route on public footways where relevant;
use stable, heavy planters that cannot easily tip;
no sharp edges, trailing wires, loose hoops or trip hazards;
no watering that leaves slippery surfaces;
no work on the carriageway;
no ladders, power tools or risky work by casual volunteers;
report damaged planters immediately;
keep a simple inspection and maintenance record.

This also fits public-realm accessibility guidance. The SCOTS/CIHT guidance notes that footways need to accommodate walking, wheeling, wheelchairs, pushchairs and mobility scooters, and should be uncluttered, well maintained and predictable. (scotsnet.org.uk)

6. Operating model

For Corstorphine in Bloom, the approach is:

A. Businesses insure their own planters on their own land.
They sign a short confirmation.

B. Organisations adopting planters confirm their own public liability cover.
They sign a short adoption agreement.

C. Council-land planters need a written council agreement.
That agreement should say whether council insurance applies or whether the community group must insure.

D. Corstorphine in Bloom should consider its own public liability insurance.
This would cover gaps: volunteer planting days, community maintenance, events, and planters not clearly covered by a business, organisation or council-supervised activity.

E. Do not rely on goodwill or assumptions.
For each planter, record: location, owner, landowner, maintainer, insurer, emergency contact, and permission status.

A good one-line rule would be: