A survey investigating the rises in public liability premiums claims non-profit community groups could be paying higher premiums to cover for claims by other groups.

Perhaps nobody told online resource group OurCommunity.com.au that insurance works that way. The survey showed that of 700 groups surveyed, only 4% had made a claim in the past five years.

Group Chief Executive Officer Rhonda Galbally said the figures showed rising public liability premiums aren’t caused by excessive claims in the community sector, which means they could be paying for the sins of others. She said the results would be used to show insurers the non-profit sector was not as risky as they thought.

ICA spokesman Rod Frail questioned the validity of the survey. “As the answers are taken online, clearly those people who have been affected are most likely to respond; therefore the survey is not random in nature.”

Although these community groups may not be making claims, the “nature of insurance” demands that they contribute to the pool.

“The principle of insurance is gathering a pool of money from all policyholders. If there is an increase in claims, the size of the pool has got to increase to cover all policyholders, not just those making claims,” he said. Which rather blows Ms Galbally’s conclusions out of the water, if not the pool…

The survey found that while 85% of the respondent organisations faced increases in public liability insurance premiums in the past year, 96% had not made a claim since 1997. Insurance payouts made on behalf of those surveyed equalled only 3.5% of the total premiums they paid each year.