In today’s volatile insurance market, to maintain is to gain

Proactive upkeep of your property prevents crises and helps you obtain competitive insurance rates.

Everyone agrees, in principle, that facility maintenance is a good idea. But beyond that, opinions diverge like the spreading cracks in a building’s foundation.

There’s the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” contingent: “We will not invest a penny in the furnace until it explodes or implodes.” Set against it is the Ben Franklin faction: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Many others are in the middle. Changes in the church and nonprofit insurance market, however, may move everyone to Ben’s point of view.

Tightening the screws
Insurers are grappling with what has been called “a perfect storm” of natural disasters, inflation and litigation-based claims. As a result, carriers are scrutinizing insurance renewals and new applications, eager to screen out risky clients. They have even applied “cancelation by drone,” using data obtained from soaring high above a property to assess risk.

This enhanced scrutiny has resulted in:

• Churches and ministries being dropped from coverage.

• Churches and ministries struggling to find replacement insurance.

• Both paying significantly higher renewal rates when they do find insurance.

“With industrywide challenges, some things are simply out of a customer’s control. However, when it comes to maintaining property, your actions can make a real difference.”

A decision to invest in preventative maintenance can make it much more likely that:

• Your property and liability insurance will be renewed.

• Your policy will be renewed at a competitive rate.

• Your level of risk remains low in the future.

What you can do
Although many organizations engage in emergency repairs (is there a choice?), preventative maintenance is what sets an organization apart from the herd.

A maintenance plan has the obvious benefit of keeping things from falling apart. But it also demonstrates to insurers that you are a good customer.

It's optimal if you are able to hire a professional to evaluate your property and develop a maintenance plan. If this isn’t possible, then make the most of your internal knowledge. We recommend starting with:

• Water damage prevention

• Fire prevention and carbon monoxide detection

• Power surges and electrical hazards

• Vandalism

• Slip-and-fall hazards

You can learn more in our free resource guide on facility maintenance.