Comprehensive faith-based organization insurance is essential for the risks ministries face every day.
America’s 350,000-plus congregations often play multiple roles in their communities - not just as houses of worship, but also as schools, food pantries, counseling centers, event venues, employers, and even homes for clergy or congregants. Performing so many real-world functions at once can leave churches exposed to unanticipated risks, making flexible religious organization insurance essential.
“Religious organizations may not be aware of the full extent of their risk exposures from their daily and seasonal activities and programs,” says Nicholas Colletta, Vice President of Underwriting, Human Services for Philadelphia Insurance Companies (PHLY). “An insurance strategy that understands religious organizations’ unique needs can help protect them and mitigate risk.”
For more than 20 years, our underwriters have worked with congregations of every size and across all major denominations. Our nuanced approach combines specialized coverage and hands-on risk management tools to protect ministries against diverse risks, from church van safety and cyber breaches to church counseling liabilities, employee theft, and beyond.
Why Liability Insurance for Churches Shouldn’t Stop at General Liability Coverage
General liability coverage often can’t contend with the multitude of risks that houses of worship face. Costly claims can emerge from unexpected sources, whether mishaps during church excursions or the actions of employees or volunteers. A few of the claims we’ve encountered include:
A trip and fall on a cracked church sidewalk that resulted in $533,668 in damages
A volunteer’s fall from scaffolding that resulted in $1.16 million in damages
Such expensive judgments can easily outpace years of premiums, put religious organizations in a precarious financial position, and even compel some insurance companies to drop coverage.
Rather than shy away from this space, PHLY embraces its complexity. Over the past two decades, we’ve designed coverage that reaches beyond general liability to include far-sighted protections and niche coverage.
Our tailored insurance for churches proactively covers multiple facets of a religious organization’s operations. Its foundation is comprehensive general liability coverage (up to $1M per occurrence / $3M aggregate) that allows volunteers and church members to be added as additional insureds. We’ve also amended the definition of bodily injury to include mental anguish.
Other coverage highlights include:
Specialized Professional Liability to protect clergy (including lay clergy) doing unique ministry work, such as pastoral counseling or rites such as circumcision.
Property coverage to meet the risks of aging infrastructure. With the average age of church buildings at 92 years old, frozen pipes and fire hazards are unfortunate realities for many houses of worship. Claims we’ve seen include:
A church fire that caused $3.2 million in damage to the building and its artifacts
A burst pipe inside a sanctuary that caused $660,000 in water damage.
Auto coverage to protect church vans and buses, such as when a church van driver attempted a turn across three lanes of traffic and caused $400,585 in damages. Our Non-Owned/Hired Auto coverage covers similar incidents and includes rental reimbursement. Another claim example involved a church employee who, while driving their personal vehicle, collided with a motorcyclist, resulting in $1 million in damages.
Abuse and Molestation coverage that protects religious organizations against one of the most sensitive risks they can face. We offer separate limits from general liability and give policyholders access to prevention resources via our partnership with leading abuse prevention experts. One claim we encountered involved a youth pastor’s abuse of a minor, resulting in $1.3 million in damages.
Crime and Fidelity coverage to cover instances of theft, forgery, and embezzlement that can sometimes stem from a single person holding control over church finances. For organizations that accept online donations, maintain a website, or store personal data, we also offer cyber liability coverage to protect against breach notification costs, network outages, and other risks.
Proactive Risk Management Prevents Losses Before They Occur
Coverage is only half the equation for religious organizations. We also help churches prevent losses before they happen by providing risk management solutions to policyholders at no extra cost.
“Controlling risk is critical for religious organizations," says Eric S. Smith, PHLY’s Process and Design Manager and Senior Business Operations Analyst. He noted that PHLY consultants are trained across all products and exposures. “They understand the risks involved with abuse situations, camps, schools, aquatics, auto, and building maintenance, and they apply this breadth of knowledge to an organization’s benefit.”
PHLY’s risk management consultants can also help review policies and exposures to provide recommendations on proactively managing risk. The tools available to faith-based organizations include PHLYTRAC - which uses vehicle telematics to provide real-time insights to correct dangerous driving behavior, and PHLYSENSE, a sensor-driven property management solution that monitors for water leaks and freezing conditions to prevent property damage.
Our faith-based policyholders also gain access to MinistrySafe, a system devoted to reducing the risks of sexual abuse via background screening and abuse-prevention training.
The PHLY Difference: Fast Claims Management for Religious Organizations
When potential losses occur, religious organizations should expect their claims to be handled quickly.
With examiners strategically located across the country, we respond to claims quickly, pairing each one with a specialist matched to the type of loss. Our team also includes more than a dozen examiners experienced in handling abuse claims.
We’ve designed liability insurance for churches and ministries since 2005, protecting all kinds of faiths: from Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Episcopal churches to Seventh Day Adventists, Jewish synagogues, and nondenominational organizations.
We combine the financial strength of an A++ Rated Carrier with the flexibility and speed both agents and insureds require.
Ready to learn more? Log in to MyPHLY to submit new business, or call us at 800.873.4552.