The Need For Liability Insurance For Churches: Churches and Lawsuits

Unfortunately, there are many kinds of lawsuits that can be filed against churches.

There could be an accident on church property or an allegation made of sexual or other misconduct. Suddenly, the church is involved in litigation.

When there are close ties to church leaders, this can really cause complications. If you peruse the newspaper or the Internet today, you will see many cases like this. Churches are like families, and in many cases, there are many members of the same family involved in a church.

Any person involved in church business should be vetted. And in the case of childcare or youth ministry, it is especially important that the person be well-known. It is preferable that they have been in the church for six months to a year prior to being placed in a position of authority, and background checks and reference checks must be done. When working with children, two people should always work together. This is for their protection as much as it is for the protection of the child. If there are any questions about the character of one worker, the other can vouch for them.

It might be tempting to overlook these things when the new childcare worker is the pastor’s nephew, but there have been many sad cases of misconduct…whether the person is related to the pastor or not.

At Integrity Now Insurance Brokers, our goal is to protect your church from unnecessary lawsuits, but if a lawsuit should happen, you will know you have the coverage you need. Please give us a call for a free quote.  You can also request that we provide you with a sample document called “Child Protection Policy and Procedures”.  This is an extensive document to help you get started on protecting your children.  This is just one of many documents we provide to our clients to help keep their church safe.

Integrity Now Insurance Brokers, Inc.

www.ChurchPropertyInsurance.com

562-606-1030