State Farm of Florida has decided that it will no longer insure churches in Florida. This will leave more than 500 churches in the position of having to find new insurance coverage. State Farm of Florida is separate from State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance company.
The reason why State Farm of Florida has decided not to renew the policies it has with more than 500 churches in Florida is simple. The insurer says that it wants to focus on serving as many homeowners as possible.
To achieve this goal, the insurer needed to drop the types of coverage it was offering that proved to be unprofitable. In short, State Farm of Florida is exiting the church market.
State Farm of Florida was providing churches with liability and property coverage. The insurer had only one deductible for property damage, (which means it included damage by wind). Most other insurers have a separate deductible for damages that are caused by wind. This could mean that churches in Florida will end up paying more on a new insurance policy from a new company.
A new insurer could require churches to purchase separate policies to cover expensive items. This could include a “rider” that covers the stained glass windows, or that covers the religious icons that are inside the church.
Churches that operate day care centers, schools, and programs that work with students are going to face difficulties with getting approved for insurance from a new insurer. These churches will have to prove that they preform background checks on their employees, as well as their volunteers. This is unofficially called “abuse and molestation” coverage.
Schools and day care centers, whether they are run by churches or not, will need to prove that they have certain rules in place. Churches that are not following these types of rules will have problems getting insurance coverage.
This could mean that insurers want to know that the school or day care center is maintaining the proper ratio of teachers to students at all times. It seems that in Florida, another important rule is to make sure that male employees, or male volunteers, are not allowed to be alone with a child. Female workers, on the other hand, have no such restriction.
Even though State Farm of Florida has left the church market, there are other insurers who have stayed in it. This means that the churches who have been non-renewed for coverage could seek out Church Mutual Insurance Co., or Guide One Insurance Co.. Both of them insure churches.
Image by Crowcombe Al on Flickr