California Fires Hit Church Fire Insurance Providers And Churches
California was once considered the best place that church fire insurance providers wanted to be, now with the never ending California fires this is starting to change this.
Church property insurance companies, are starting to take a more serious look, when it comes to churches being in or near a national forest.
They are also looking at churches that are backing up to hills that could present a fire danger.
With millions of dollars in church fire insurance coverage on the line, insurance premiums are moving up quickly.
Church fire insurance companies are deciding to not provide a church insurance quote on some new churches, as they believe they would result in a total loss.
The California Fires have assisted in creating what is known as a hard insurance market.
California Fires Sparks A Church Fire Insurance Crisis.
California residence have been facing one crisis after another, from Covid-19, flooding, and fire related losses. Insurance companies fire losses have been mounting over the past few years in California alone, totaling $13 billion in 2017, and the state’s Camp Fire cost $12 billion in 2018.
Once of the churches we insured located in the Camp Fire, was completely burned to the ground. The church fire insurance company, paid out over $2 million dollars on this single church property. In total there were 18 churches located in this community, and all of them were completely destroyed.
One way church fire insurance providers attempt to protect themselves, is by spreading out their risk associated with the insurance they write for specific church buildings and properties. This is accomplished by a secondary company called reinsurance.
Reinsurance is the process where an insurance company transfer some of the risk to another insurance company on the back end. Reinsurance companies have been raising their church building insurance rates, against the primary church insurance companies due to the large number of losses.
Is Church Property Insurance Mandatory In California
When your church has a mortgage, your lender will require you to maintain church property insurance.
Your church property insurance provider, will also include liability protection for your church.
Church liability insurance will cover the following:
- General Liability
- Directors and Officers
- Abuse Coverage
- Employment Practice Liability Insurance
- Religious Expressions Coverage
- Crime Policy
As part of your overall church insurance program, there are a number of additional coverages your church will need in addition to church property insurance.
Churches Seeking Affordable California Fire Insurance
Churches located in areas that are now considered fire prone areas, are seeing large increases in their churches insurance. This is largely due to their location being reclassified by their local fire department.
The local Fire Chief is responsible for assigning protection classifications. These fire protection codes range from the low end of Protection Class 1, up to a Protection Class 9. The higher the number, the higher your insurance premium will be.
Church fire insurance companies, use these classification numbers as part of their rating, in order to come up with an overall insurance premium.
Churches that once were classified as protection class 2 or 3, are not being reclassified as a protection class 7 or 8. This results is a large increase in their overall insurance cost.
Once thought to be protected church buildings, are now being viewed as a fire risk. Even church buildings that are located in a city, which are a half a mile or a mile to the nearest hill or forest are now being viewed as a fire risk.
Church insurance premiums are also on the rise, as insurance companies are trying to cover all of these higher cost that were not anticipated. If it important for insurance companies to remain solvent, so churches are still able to obtain insurance coverage.
If the number of available church insurance companies shrinks, this will only force pricing even higher. Insurance companies, have attempted to contain cost by increase property deductibles. This removes some of the smaller claims, that impact the church fire insurance companies.
We Are Your California Church Fire Insurance Agent
Integrity Now Insurance Brokers is a church property insurance expert. We have the resources your church needs when looking for fire insurance for churches.
Our church insurance agents will review your insurance policy, and provide your church board with the needed recommendations. Our focus is to ensure your church is property insured and protected.
We understand there needs to be a balance between insurance and your annual insurance cost. We also understand insurance pitfalls, such as the coinsurance clause that can cost churches millions of dollars in church fire insurance coverage.
Your church insurance brokers will help you choose the best church insurance company, for your organization. As different insurance companies have different ideas of what they prefer to insurance, we help facilitate the process in finding a company.
Call us or completed our online church insurance quote form.
