School Insurance

Risk Factor

Officers, directors, and board members are exposed to increased factors and can be held accountable for acts that claim negligence in the performance of their duties including discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination of employees, inefficient administration or supervision, waste of assets, misleading reports, and other misrepresentations.

Solution

Educator’s legal liability insurance protects the decision-makers of the school from lawsuits and claims. Instead of suing the individuals directly, the lawsuit would be defended by the school’s ELL policy. Most people who serve on a board in a volunteer capacity should demand this coverage before serving.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.

Risk Factor

School volunteers and employees often use personal vehicles to do work for the school.

Solution

Make sure to add hired and non-owned auto coverage to the school’s insurance policy to cover this exposure. Also, check the motor vehicle records of anyone who transports students.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.

Risk Factor

School fundraisers may raise a large amount of cash, or a number of administrators/teachers may have access to a school credit card/account numbers.

Solution

Crime coverage can provide coverage against cash stolen on or off the premises, and can ensure that the groups within the school raising the money aren’t left in the dark if a cash box goes missing. Employee dishonesty coverage can help protect against a staff member’s scheme to steal money from the school or district.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.

Risk Factor

Security in schools is becoming a larger issue as attacks have increased in recent years.

Solution

Every school should have a security plan. This plan should detail where students go in the event of an emergency, which entrances are open during school hours, who should contact the authorities, how to spot someone who may pose a security risk and how to react to someone who is trying to cause harm to the students and faculty.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.

Risk Factor

Violent acts by students are, thankfully, infrequent on the whole, but they do happen. Violent acts are often excluded in one’s general liability policy. If not dealt with promptly, these can affect the school’s reputation and, if a private school, the bottom line.

Solution

Crisis response coverage can provide reimbursement for services like crisis management, public relations guidance, and counseling services to help staff, students, and families grieve.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.

Risk Factor

Is your school subject to wind, rain, hailstorms, hurricanes, blizzards, or other weather events? These situations can cause significant damage to a school building or roof, not to mention the dangers that lurk within like a burst pipe or cafeteria grease fire.

Solution

Building coverage protects the permanent school structure from most weather perils, burst pipes, a fire, and other losses.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.

Risk Factor

The internet has spun a whole new web of liability exposures. E-commerce, social networking, cloud storage, and other technologies bring great benefits to all businesses. But with these benefits also come challenges, including protection of privacy, data, and financial information of your employees and students.

Solution

Cyber liability coverage covers unauthorized access to electronic data or software within your network. It also provides coverage for spreading a virus, computer theft, extortion, or any unintentional act, mistake, error, or omission made by an employee. This coverage is quickly becoming more and more important as you embrace technology to help run your school.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.

Risk Factor

A visitor walking into the school slips and falls, a teacher or employee causes damage to a student’s property, and even certain claims of slander all pose a real risk to your school.

Solution

General liability insurance is a necessity for any business. It provides broad coverage when you are deemed liable and will pay to defend lawsuits alleging injuries or property damage which occurred as the result of your school operations.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.

Risk Factor

What would you do if a fire impacted the operation of your school? Or what if a pipe bursting caused a system outage? These and other events can destroy your ability to teach or hold class, and may require an alternative location. Public, private, and charter schools need protection not only to the building facility and property within the school, but also the business of running the school.

Solution

It is critical you protect the school with business income and extra expense coverage to ensure your school facility and the things you use to operate your school can be put back into place quickly or in an alternate location. Business income insurance also helps cover the loss of income when you cannot run the school because of covered property damage.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.

Risk Factor

What happens when your school faces a large liability loss that exceeds the basic limit of your standard policy?

Solution

A commercial umbrella policy provides high limits of insurance, typically between $2,000,000 and $10,000,000. Coverage is extended over your general liability insurance, workers' compensation, business auto, and directors and officer’s liability coverage. It provides a great safety net and helps ensure your school is well protected.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.

Risk Factor

Fire, weather, burst pipes, and other losses are frequent for schools given the large amount of physical space required to operate. These losses can cause significant damage to the school’s business personal property.

Solution

Business personal property coverage allows the school to replace property that has been damaged or destroyed by a covered cause of a loss. For a school, this may include property like desks, chairs, tables, books, materials, and supplies.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.

Risk Factor

If one of your employees receives an injury or becomes ill due to a work-related occurrence, you are required by law to have the proper coverage in place.

Solution

State disability and workers' compensation protects your employees should a job-related injury or sickness occur during their course of employment. This coverage is required by law, so be sure you have it.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.

Risk Factor

There are hundreds of reports each year of children being sexually abused by teachers, coaches, and volunteers. Countless more are abused without any report being made.

Solution

Obtain the proper abuse and molestation coverage to protect the school in the event an allegation arises. In addition, consider having a written document to address how to prevent sexual abuse from happening and what to do in the event of an allegation.

Note: Actual policies must be consulted for specific terms and conditions.