Charity Insurance
Charities and non profit organizations deserve to be protected, and that’s what makes charity insurance so important. The right charity insurance policy offers financial protection against everything from property damage to lawsuits, and more. As a commercial insurance brokerage, ALIGNED can help charities just like yours find unmatched and custom built insurance solutions.
What types of charities and nonprofit organizations need insurance?
Many types of charities in the nonprofit sector, including nonprofit organizations, can benefit from charity insurance. Basically, if your charity has an office space, has a team of either employees or volunteers, runs events or fundraisers, works with third party vendors, and/or has a board or advisory committee, then charity insurance is for you. This type of coverage can offer financial support to help pay for legal fees, medical expenses, property repairs, settlements, judgements and more.
Insurance options for charities
Some of the top insurance coverage options for charities and non profit organizations include commercial general liability insurance, commercial property insurance, directors and officers insurance, and more. A complete breakdown of some of the most recommended coverages for charities is as follows:
- Commercial general liability insurance: Commercial general liability insurance, also known as slip and fall insurance, can protect your charity from claims of third party bodily injury, property damage, false advertising, slander, libel, etc. If such a third party claim is filed against your charity, your insurance company may pay for legal fees (defence and settlement costs), as well as any necessary medical expenses, repairs, etc.
- Commercial property insurance: Commercial property insurance can protect the physical space where your nonprofit organization operates, along with any business-related contents, from property damage caused by an insured peril. Windstorms, fire, theft, water damage, and vandalism are just a few examples of named perils that your charity insurance policy may protect against.
- Directors & officers liability insurance: Does your charity have a board of directors or an advisory board? Then directors and officers insurance is important. This coverage will protect you if a lawsuit is filed against one of your board members for a variety of reasons.
- Abuse liability insurance: Abuse liability insurance is designed to protect charities against claims of abuse, misconduct, and more. With this type of coverage, your insurance providers may cover legal fees, including defence costs, associated with a lawsuit.
- Professional liability insurance: If your charity offers advice or counselling-related services to others, professional liability insurance is a wise choice. Professional liability insurance can protect your nonprofit organization if a third party files a lawsuit against you alleging negligence, misconduct, error, omission, failure to deliver a service as promised, etc.
- Commercial auto insurance: If your charity uses cars for commercial purposes, then commercial auto insurance should be added to your charity insurance policy. Coverage varies depending on where your nonprofit organization is located but may include third party liability coverage, comprehensive coverage, uninsured automobile coverage, accident benefits coverage, collision coverage, and more.
- Umbrella liability insurance: Umbrella liability insurance is a type of liability coverage that takes effect when regular liability limits are reached. In essence, umbrella liability coverage can protect your charitable organization against unforeseen or catastrophic events.
- Cyber liability insurance: Cyber liability insurance is important if your charity stores sensitive information online. Many businesses, including nonprofit organizations, can be the target of cyber criminals. To help ease the financial burden of a cyber attack on your charity, add cyber liability insurance to your policy. It can help pay for credit monitoring, legal fees, customer notification, and more following a hack or data breach.
- Legal expense insurance: If your charity does not have an in-house legal team, adding legal expense insurance to your policy might be smart. This type of insurance can give your charity access to legal advice from a professional attorney, accountant and/or other professionals depending on the issue and policy scope. It may even cover the cost of retaining a lawyer to deal with a particular set of incidents or issues.
Does charity insurance cover volunteers?
Some charity insurance policies will cover volunteers. However, others will not. Therefore, the best way to find out if your insurance policy covers volunteers is by speaking with an experienced insurance broker. An ALIGNED broker can walk you through your policy, ensuring you understand every term and condition. They can also inform you whether your charity insurance policy currently protects volunteers or not. If it doesn’t, they may be able to find you coverage that does.
How much does charity insurance cost?
Charity insurance policies range in price, as the cost depends on your risk level. To assess your risk level, an insurance company will consider several key factors, such as:
- The location and size of your charity
- Your personal insurance claims history
- The coverages, limits, and deductibles you wish to include with your charity insurance policy
- Other uses for your charity’s location, e.g. as an event venue (if applicable)
- The annual and projected revenue of your charity (If applicable)
- The services your charity offers
Where can I buy charity insurance?
You’re in luck because charity insurance is relatively easy to find – especially if you contact an insurance broker. ALIGNED is a full-service insurance brokerage specializing in commercial insurance, which means if you get in touch with us, you can rest easy knowing we’ll find you a policy with ease. An ALIGNED broker can even help you save money on your charity insurance policy. To learn more about the process of working with an insurance broker and finding insurance for your non profit organization through one, call ALIGNED today.
ALIGN your charity with business insurance
Even if you run a nonprofit or not for profit organization, such as a charity, business insurance is still important. ALIGNED will find the best coverage for your charity by shopping around on your behalf and comparing policy options. Start protecting your charity today by calling ALIGNED. You can also click here for a free quote.
