Why your charity clients must stay sharp as CQC reset continues

For charities operating residential care, domiciliary support, or community‑based services, the latest signals from the CQC matter more than ever.

Even though the watchdog is publicly working to improve its processes, the operational backlog and the pace of change present real risks for not‑for‑profit providers.

So, what do brokers supporting these charities need to know?

The current picture

Back in January 2025, the regulator admitted that it had a backlog of around 500 notifications where providers had raised serious issues (or major incidents) that were still awaiting adequate response. The CQC reported in May 2025 that the backlog was down to 38 reports. It’s an improvement, but structural issues remain.

Charities frequently operate on tighter budgets with mixed governance and often in challenging social settings, which means any delay or gap in regulatory oversight may carry higher risk for service users, reputational damage, or intervention.

The shift in CQC focus means that charities have to remain inspection‑ready and demonstrate clarity of governance, quality assurance, and person‑centred care.

What this means for your charity clients

1. Governance and leadership matter more than ever: The CQC’s focus will tilt increasingly towards how well charities’ leadership, governance, and audit trail arrangements operate. If your client is a charity with multiple sites, volunteer involvement, changing funding streams, or mixed delivery models, they’ll want to be assured they meet the expectations of “registered person / provider” duties.
2. Statutory notifications need to be timely and crystal clear: The regulations governing notifications to CQC (deaths, abuse allegations, serious injury, unauthorised absences, etc.) are unchanged. The provider must submit notifications via CQC’s forms or portal.
3. Inspection readiness means everyday compliance: With CQC signalling changes to its assessment frameworks (for example the move towards Quality Statements) and increasing the volume of inspections, being “inspection ready” is now a continuous state, not a one‑time event.
4. Charities can’t get complacent with regulatory slowness: Some charities may think that because CQC has a backlog, this reduces the immediacy of scrutiny. But that’s not the case, with the regulator triaging urgent cases to take swift action.

What this means for insurance

Insurers may increasingly ask about regulatory readiness, provider portal use, history of notifications, and how charities manage regulatory change. A charity that demonstrates a clear compliance pathway may benefit at renewal.

It may also increase demand for value-add risk management support from insurance. For charities, being able to show you have strong internal risk systems makes you more attractive and may unlock better terms or broader cover.

With over 30 years’ experience supporting the third sector, we understand the unique risks charities face and offer specialist protection built around the people behind the mission.

A flexible solution for the risks faced by not-for-profits

Charities Combined is a specialist insurance solution built to serve the needs of smaller charities and community groups with up to £2m turnover. Coverage options include cyber and data risks, liabilities, and protection of assets, and it’s available to eTrade on Acturis today.

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