What Belongs in a Church Insurance Submission Packet

Oct 6

Underwriters decline more church accounts for incomplete paperwork than for bad risk. A submission that arrives without loss runs or with a stale statement of values does not get a worse price, it frequently gets no price at all, because the underwriter moves to the next file rather than chase yours.

For a church with a school, several buildings and twenty or more people on payroll, the pack below is what a broker needs before approaching any carrier. Gathering it takes a week. Not having it costs a renewal cycle.

The six documents, in order of how often they are missing

1. Carrier produced loss runs, three to five years

This is the single most common gap. A spreadsheet your administrator maintains is not acceptable, underwriters require the loss runs generated by the carrier itself, showing claims, reserves and payments including years with no activity. Request them from your current carrier in writing and allow two weeks.

A clean five year history is a genuine asset and worth stating prominently. Carriers price it.

2. Current declarations pages for every line

Every line, not just property. Package, umbrella, excess, auto, workers compensation, cyber, and management liability if it sits with a different carrier. Churches of this size routinely have five to seven policies, and the ones that get forgotten are usually the management liability and the excess layer.

3. A current statement of values

Building by building, with square footage, construction type, year built, year of the last roof, electrical and plumbing updates, sprinkler and alarm status, and the value of contents separately from the building. If your statement of values has not been revisited in three years it is almost certainly understating replacement cost, which is how coinsurance penalties happen at claim time.

4. Payroll by job classification

Workers compensation is rated on payroll split by class code, and clergy, office staff, maintenance, teachers and daycare workers do not share a code. A single combined payroll number forces the underwriter to apply the most expensive classification to everything. Split it properly and the quote improves without any change to your risk.

5. A complete program list

Every activity the church runs or hosts. School and preschool with enrollment, camps, athletics, youth trips, mission travel including destinations, counseling, food service, nursing home or prison ministry, ESL or community classes, and any outside group that uses the building under a lease or a use agreement.

Underwriters price what they know about. They decline what they discover later.

6. Vehicle schedule

Year, make, model, VIN, garaging location and use for each owned vehicle, plus a note on whether volunteers drive personal cars for church purposes, which triggers hired and non owned auto.

Not sure your statement of values is current?

A walk through and a replacement cost check usually takes an afternoon and routinely changes the quote more than shopping does. Request a free church risk assessment or call 978.712.0111.

What to include that nobody asks for

Two additions consistently improve outcomes. First, a short narrative of what has changed since the last renewal: a new roof, an added security system, a completed background check program, a dropped activity. Underwriters reward visible risk management and have no way to see it unless you tell them.

Second, your written policies. A background screening policy, a child protection policy, a facility use agreement and a driver approval policy. On abuse and molestation coverage in particular, the existence of documented procedures affects both availability and limit.

Questions administrators ask

How far ahead do we need this?

Most church carriers want a complete submission 30 to 60 days before the effective date, and some require 60. Gathering the pack should start 120 days out.

Our loss runs show a large claim. Should we leave it out?

No. It will surface, and a submission that omitted it loses credibility on everything else. Include it with a short note on what changed afterward.

Does the school need its own documents?

Yes. Enrollment by grade, staff count, whether it is a separate legal entity, athletics offered, and whether students are transported. The school frequently drives more of the premium than the sanctuary does.

What if we cannot get loss runs from our current carrier?

You are entitled to them. A written request from the named insured, sent to the carrier rather than the broker, generally resolves it. If the broker is slow, go direct.

Not ready for a full review? Start with our church insurance checklist, a short list of the coverages and limits worth confirming on your current policy before you talk to anyone.

If you would like a second opinion on whether your submission and underwriting documentation is properly structured for insurance purposes, contact us for a free church risk assessment.

Contact Hale Street Insurance at 978.712.0111 or [email protected] for a free church insurance review. You can also visit our church insurance page or request a quote to get started.

Jake Lubinski is the founder of Hale Street Insurance and a licensed insurance broker with years of church board and stewardship experience. Based in Boxford, MA he works with churches throughout Massachusetts and the US to build insurance and risk programs designed around how ministry actually operates. Reach Jake at [email protected] or 978.712.0111.

Jake Lubinski