Churches open their doors to a lot of people. Members attend worship services. Children come for activities. Volunteers work around the property. Outside groups may use the building. Vendors come and go. Every one of these interactions creates some level of liability risk.
General liability insurance is designed to help when someone claims that the church is responsible for their bodily injury or property damage.
The Fall in the Fellowship Hall
It was a rainy Sunday morning in Arlington. A member of the community church walked through the front doors to attend the early morning service. When she stepped over the threshold of the front door, her foot landed directly on a puddle of water. She slipped and fell to the ground. It all happened so fast. When she got up off the floor, she noticed that her ankle was hurting.
The church member was taken to the hospital to be checked out. The medical team found that her ankle was broken and would need surgery. Now, she was facing a pile of medical bills and accused the church of negligence. She claimed that the church was responsible because they did not warn her that the floor could be slippery.
This is where the church’s general liability policy steps in to cover the member’s injury. If their particular policy covers the claim, it will pay the member’s medical bills and potentially the church's legal defense if she chooses to sue for damages.
What Does Church General Liability Usually Cover?
General liability insurance commonly responds to several broad types of claims.
- Bodily Injury: Someone is physically injured and claims the church is responsible.
- Property Damage: The church or someone acting on its behalf damages property belonging to another person or organization.
- Personal and Advertising Injury: Certain claims involving things like libel, slander, or other covered offenses.
- Legal Defense Costs: The policy may help pay attorneys and other defense expenses when the church faces a covered lawsuit.
The exact coverage depends on the policy.
Does General Liability Cover Everything a Church Does?
General liability insurance does not cover every liability. GL has exclusions, limits, and conditions. Some activities may require additional coverage.
Most Texas churches also need
- Sexual abuse and molestation coverage
- Directors and officers liability coverage
- Pastoral counseling liability
- Employment practices liability insurance
- Commercial auto insurance
- Workers’ compensation
Despite its name, general liability insurance is not very general.
General Liability vs. Property Insurance
These two coverages solve very different problems, and Texas churches usually need both.
Property insurance protects the things your church owns. That can include the building and its contents. Property like pews, furniture, sound systems, office equipment, and supplies for the children’s ministry. If a fire damages the sanctuary or a pipe bursts and ruins the fellowship hall, property insurance is the coverage that will respond.
General liability insurance protects the church from certain claims made by other people. If a visitor is injured on church property, a volunteer damages someone else's property, or the church is accused of causing a covered injury, general liability pays the resulting claim and legal defense costs.
A single event can even involve both coverages. If a storm damages the church building and debris from the property damages a neighboring vehicle, the church could potentially have both a property loss and a liability issue.
That is why a complete church insurance program cannot rely on just one type of coverage. Property insurance protects what your church owns. General liability protects you when someone else says your church caused them harm.
Evaluating Your Church's Risk Exposure
A general liability policy is only as good as the exposures it is designed to cover.
Through our True Texas Church Insurance program, we look at how your church actually operates before we make insurance recommendations. We look at things like who comes onto your property, what your ministries look like, how volunteers are involved, and where your liability risks are. Your insurance policies should cover how your particular church actually operates.
If your current church insurance isn’t built for the way your church operates, then it is time for a change. Good stewardship means protecting your church’s mission for years to come.