EMPLOYEE BENEFITS LIABILITY COVERAGE

Picture this: A pastor dies unexpectedly.  He leaves behind a loving family including his second wife and two small children. He has a child from a previous marriage as well.  He modified his life insurance when he remarried making his new wife the beneficiary of his life insurance policy - a benefit provided by his local Church.  There is one small problem.  The beneficiary change form never got mailed into the insurance carrier!  A small but important administrative oversight in a busy Church office.  The death benefit was paid to the ex-wife, leaving the Pastor's new family without financial means.

It is intended to cover the "administration" of group life insurance, group accident and/or health insurance; profit sharing plans; employee stock subscription plans; and worker's compensation, unemployment insurance, social security benefits, disability benefits, etc. (source: www. coverageglossary.com)

The word "administration" is defined as giving counsel to employees, interpreting the program, handling records and effective processing of enrollment, termination or cancellation of employee benefits provided all are acts that are authorized by the Named Insured - the Church.

Churches are facing many of the same employment issues that organizations in the non-religious sector face - letting employees go.
(source: Employee Benefits Infosource).  One-third of those who have lost private insurance and become uninsured either left or lost a job. And, when individuals leave their jobs, they frequently lose their health insurance coverage as well.  The employee may qualify for COBRA - allowing the employee to continue with the group coverage at his or her own personal expense for a designated period of time. One of the most overlooked elements of benefits administration is to assure that the employee is notified of their rights under COBRA.  Make sure your church is knowledgeable not only from a liability standpoint, but from a caring standpoint - reaching out to the families this will affect.

Many church insurance policies do not offer Employee Benefits Liability as a standard coverage.

Be sure to review your church property & liability policy to see if you have this fundamental coverage.  Or contact our Regional Agents - Sharon Heaton (Northern Illinois-Wisconsin) at 815-842-1138, or Patricia Stein (Southern Illinois) at 815-635-1139, for a competitive proposal from the UCCIB.

For more information about the Insurance Board, log onto their website at http://www.insuranceboard.org

MOPS              Other stuff

Volunteers as Employees