How Does Abuse and Molestation Coverage Progress?
Abuse and molestation coverage is often misinterpreted.
Organizations such as churches, nonprofits, charities, and private schools, among others, are more likely to become liable to claims of abuse and molestation. When we talk about abuse, it can mean various things. For instance, allegations of mental abuse, physical abuse, distress, humiliation, and more can be included under abuse and molestation.
Such an allegation can be catastrophic for any organization and can ruin its reputation and financial stability regardless of whether the claim is true or false. Plus, the legal costs associated with such cases are even worse.
Who Needs Molestation and Abuse Coverage?
As mentioned above, organizations that cater to children, vulnerable adults, and seniors are at the top of the list. Small organizations or religious ministries assume that they don’t need abuse and molestation insurance coverage. However, this is far from the truth.
To protect their employees, visitors, and members, it’s crucial that every organization—regular or nonprofit—invest in abuse and molestation coverage.
This coverage is one of the most underinsured coverages by most churches. While the claims are one of the most devastating from every level. Abuse and molestation coverage is not the coverage you want to skimp on.
Understanding Abuse and Molestation Coverage
With the rising case of abuse and molestation, it’s fortunate that such insurance policies are readily available to offer protection and security. Before you invest, ensure that you understand all the aspects that abuse and molestation insurance covers.
No matter how baseless or absurd the claims are, abuse and molestation coverage will help your organization combat such issues and protect you from claims alleging abuse and molestation.
Your church insurance brokers will help your organization implement specific policies and procedures, to help reduce the chance of an abuse and molestation incident from happening. The higher your insurance coverage the more expectations the church property insurance companies will have on your organization.
How to Safeguard Your Organization Against Such Claims?
To ensure minimal instances of molestation and abuse in your organization, you need to take several precautions. These include:
Screen your Employees and Volunteers who Work with Kids
The most important thing is to screen your workers before you hire them. Whether they’re a full-time worker or an occasional volunteer, an efficient screening process is mandatory.
Your screening process should include the following at a minimum:
- Annual background checks
- Employee application
- Volunteer applications
- 3 or more reference checks
- 6 Month waiting period before being allowed to work with kids (Get to know the character of your staff)
Instituting precautions as part of your organization will help you to minimize the chances of an abuse or molestation allegation from happening in your organization. While having abuse and molestation insurance coverage is important, it is more important to take active measures to prevent the incident before it can happen.
Written Abuse and Molestation Policy and Procedures Manual
This is to ensure all your employees are on the same page regarding such sensitive issues. Make sure the policies and procedures are clear, and every employee is aware of them. They should know what they should do in case such an incident happens. It’s essential to establish boundaries for clients and employees.
Your churches and nonprofit organizations should review and update your manual on an annual basis. In addition, it is important to ensure someone is assigned to the duties of screening all individuals.
We recommend reviewing all individuals who have been screened by your organization on an annual basis. This will ensure no one slipped through the cracks and was forgotten. We understand life can happen which is why we recommend instituting this annual review.
Protecting your kids is our top priority.
Hire the Best Church Insurance Agents in California
If you’re looking for a specialized church insurance company to get your church insured, get in touch with experienced church insurance agents at Integrity Now Insurance Brokers. They offer an extensive range of comprehensive policies, including house of worship insurance, commercial auto insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, church property insurance, church general liability insurance, ministry insurance, and more to safeguard the ministries across Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Ohio, Texas, and California.
Call or email us now to get started. You can also visit our website to explore more about our services.
