Today marks the start of a new year for our Liability Insurance Cover. This year AIB decided that it was time for a review of market conditions. There had been some aggregation in the market among providers so it presented as a good time to review market terms and conditions.
We instructed our broker accordingly and joined with the Methodists in a re-marketing exercise.
This has resulted in the reappointment of Lumley General.
Shortly Chris Cheer will be sending out renewal invoices to members holding cover. Please ensure that you make payment before 30 April 2015.
The remarketing exercise proved beneficial to members and we have achieved an overall premium saving of 12% this year. Greg Wright (Methodists) and I ended up interviewing the best three providers as recommended by our broker. With Liability Insurance it is difficult to achieve savings from the market norm due to the long lead time and dimensions surrounding some claim exposures and in offering this discount Lumley have shown confidence in AIB and our membership.
Members Questions
Your insurance is very comprehensive, covers a very broad range of activities and has a very broad description of who is insured. You can find these descriptions in the policy, which is in the members section of the website www.aib.org.nz
We have been asked a number of questions by members during the course of the renewal, mainly focusing on members responsibilities and if cover is provided. The most common one being “How do I know if I have an exposure?”
The Government continues to introduce legislation that poses risks and responsibilities to members (boards, trusts etc). While our insurance is broad and comprehensive we cannot cover you for fines and penalties incurred if you breach many laws. This is because you cannot contract outside the law in a way that does not oblige you to comply with the law.
We are doing some work with the broker and insurer on providing you with some risk mitigation tools that may include checklists. These will be provided on a best practice basis but will be from the insurer’s point of view and will not be a replacement for legal advice. For example, if you contract professionals to provide services to your parishes then it is prudent to ensure that they have Professional Liability insurance rather than try and arrange it for them or take on the risk for your selves. While AIB, its brokers and insurers will do as much as we can to cover you for the legal costs and non-legislated settlements associated with claims against you, we cannot be considered your legal advisors.
Many years ago, having been appointed Compliance Officer by the NZ arm of one of America’s largest companies, it was made very clear to me how important the international directors viewed the role of compliance. This was probably due to how litigatious American society is, nonetheless the lessons were invaluable.
One of the first things that I did, as Compliance Officer, was draw up a matrix. This listed the activities our company was involved with, the laws that applied to those activities, what internal risks arose and if we required insurance. With some trusts (School’s) this sort of information might be best drawn up with the help of your lawyer.
Once this information is collated it is relatively easy for us to confirm that you are covered or alternatively arrange an appropriate declaration so we can arrange cover.
The failsafe when it comes to insurance is, if you are unsure, disclose.
The Methodists have a couple of business activities which are not usual in our social sector but having disclosed them they were able to complete the appropriate declaration and have been covered accordingly.
My recommendation to members is to appoint someone as responsible for compliance (if you haven’t already). When any new activity is entered into they then consult the policy for what, and who, is covered. If they are unsure, then contact AIB describing the activity (this can generally be via your renewal declaration).
If you have any questions regarding your invoice please do not hesitate to contact Chris Cheer in the first instance.
If you have a claim or knowledge of a potential claim, it is extremely important that you notify me immediately.
Kind regards
Dave Peters
Executive Director