Ipswich Allotment Society membership

IAS membership provides access to allotment sites in Ipswich as part of a structured, co-operative organisation. Membership includes public liability insurance, local support, and participation in the Society’s activities and governance.

Membership types

IAS offers two types of membership:

• Plot holder member: for allotment tenants holding a plot.
• Associate member: for individuals who share use of a plot with a plot holder member (family members, friends).

Each individual must hold their own membership. A maximum of two associate members may be linked to a plot holder member

Membership benefits

• Public Liability Insurance while on allotment sites and at IAS events
• Support from Field Secretaries and the wider IAS community
• Access to shared resources and events
• Voting rights at the Annual General Meeting

Public Liability Insurance

Public Liability Insurance is mandatory for plot holders and their associates while on the field if they cannot provide separate Public Liability Insurance to the Field secretary. Please note that typically a personal injury cover does not cover you for Public Liability Insurance while on the field.

What is Public Liability insurance

Public liability insurance generally means that legal and other costs are covered if a third party is injured/suffers damage/harm as a result of something that a member does on the field, or from property belonging to a member – with some exclusions as would be normal in an insurance policy. So as an example, someone trips over a spade left on a path by a member and breaks their leg and then seeks compensation, a PLI claim can be made. However, the action by the member (or others as above) must be within the rules of the allotment. So if, for instance, some children are riding bikes around the field (so are not on the plot under the supervision of the plot holder as required under the rules) and they crash into someone and they break their leg, the insurance company would be unlikely to cover any costs arising from this.

If the injured party is also a member of the IAS, then the PLI for the member still applies. There is separate specific cover for events and volunteers/contractors who are on-site, for instance for working parties

IAS membership includes Public Liability Insurance (PLI) for both Plot Holder members and Associate members while they are on allotment sites or attending IAS activities.
Non-IAS members family and friends are covered under the terms of the policy but only when they are on the field with the member. If you have associates who are ever on the field without the tenant member then they need to be signed up as an associate member of the IAS. For this reason, individuals who regularly use a plot on their own should hold their own IAS membership (either as a plot holder member or associate member).

The policy specifies spouses/partners , parents and children as ‘immediate family’, so siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles etc are not covered and need to be signed up to the IAS (or obtain their own PLI). Children are classified as those under the age of 18 and should never be on the field unaccompanied, so will always falls under their parents’ cover.

Fees and membership period

Annual membership is £3.50 per person

IAS membership runs from 1 April to 31 March each year and does not operate on a rolling 12-month basis. Membership becomes active once payment has been successfully completed. Fees are non-refundable.