Insurance for Churches & Religious Organizations

Even religious organizations or churches have their own set of risks. Having the right insurance for your religious organization covers your members and your house of worship for the many risks it could face. It protects your organization from all possible risks including your volunteers, your house of worship, your ministers, and other members of the organization.

Below are some common risks that religious organizations and churches can face:

• A churchgoer trips over a ladder while leaving your house of worship because you weren't able to put away your ladders after the snow. This causes the churchgoer to file charges against your religious organization.
• It is not uncommon for a place of worship to get robbed. On the contrary, it is often a thief's favorite place to rob as it is not usually protected.
• Cash embezzlement of religious organizations is also common, as church organizers think that this is the last place people will look when experiencing such a crime. But it does happen and you need to make sure your religious organization can handle such a risk.

There is no fixed amount for the cost of church insurance as the price normally depends on the size of your organization, the number of employees your organization has, the coverage required, and many other factors. Without taking these into account, below is the average cost of insurance for religious organizations:

• General Liability insurance costs $500 in average annual premiums.
• Commercial Property insurance costs $600 in average annual premiums.
• Hired & Non-Owned Auto insurance costs $500 in average annual premiums.

Operating a successful religious organization means having proper insurance protection in place. There are several types of insurance policies that your parish will need to be insured well and ensure that your church is not shut down at the sight of a claim. First, you will need a Business Owners Policy which is a bundle of insurance that will help you save money. It consists of General Liability which will provide coverage for third party claims of bodily injury or property damage, like from a parishioner tripping and falling. A BOP will also provide property coverage, also sometimes referred to as fire insurance, in the case that it may be physically damaged from a covered peril such as fire, lightning, wind, and rain.

Another critical insurance policy that any congregation should have is Directors & Officers insurance. Certainly, your religious organization will have a board of directors that is established to help run it and ensure that everything is going smoothly. They are also usually in charge of the money aspect of the church, deciding where the money goes and is coming from. A D&O insurance policy will protect the board members’ personal assets from claims alleging anything to do with their job on the board. A claim that we see often is mismanagement of funds.