A member of a church in Apopka offers to drive an elderly widow to Wednesday evening service, as she has done for months. On the way, she turns left across traffic on U.S. 441 and is struck by an oncoming pickup. Her passenger is badly hurt, and so is the other driver. Her personal auto policy pays its limit, which is not nearly enough, and the attorney for the injured driver adds the church to the lawsuit. She was, after all, driving on church business.
The church owns no vehicles and has never bought a commercial auto policy. Like many congregations, it assumed that meant it had no auto exposure. It does, and it is one of the most common gaps we find when reviewing a church’s insurance.
Two Different Auto Exposures
Churches face auto liability from two directions, and most only recognize one of them. The first is the vehicles the church owns, such as a passenger van, a bus or a pickup used for maintenance. Those vehicles need a commercial auto policy that covers liability for accidents they cause and, if the church chooses, physical damage to the vehicles themselves.
The second exposure comes from vehicles the church does not own. Members and staff drive their own cars to visit the sick, deliver meals, pick up supplies, transport youth to events and bring older members to services. When one of those drivers causes a serious accident while serving the church, the injured party can pursue the church as well as the driver. That exposure exists whether or not the church owns a single vehicle.
How Hired and Non-Owned Auto Coverage Works
Hired and non-owned auto coverage is built for the second exposure. The non-owned portion responds to the church’s liability when someone drives their own vehicle on church business. The hired portion responds when the church rents or borrows a vehicle, such as a moving truck for a rummage sale or a van rented for a retreat. Both are liability coverages. Neither pays to repair the volunteer’s car, which stays with the volunteer’s own policy.
Non-owned coverage generally sits behind the driver’s personal auto insurance. The personal policy pays first, and the church’s coverage protects the church once those limits are used up or when the claim is aimed at the church directly. For a congregation with no owned vehicles, it can usually be added to the church’s general liability or package policy at a modest cost, and it belongs on nearly every church program. We explain the coverage in more depth in our guide to hired and non-owned auto insurance in Florida.
Why the Church Ends Up in the Lawsuit
An organization can be held responsible for the acts of people carrying out its work, and plaintiffs’ attorneys name every party with the resources to pay. A volunteer driving a member to a church service, a youth leader driving teenagers to a camp, or a staff member running an errand for the office all create a connection between the driver and the church. Once a claim exceeds the driver’s personal limits, the church becomes the next place to look. Without non-owned auto coverage, the church may be defending that claim with its own funds.
Fifteen-Passenger Vans
Churches that own a vehicle often own a large passenger van, and carriers treat these vehicles as a category of their own. Fully loaded vans handle very differently from ordinary vehicles, particularly in emergency maneuvers, and their rollover risk has made some carriers cautious about insuring them at all. Many carriers ask specific questions about how a church uses its van, who drives it and how far it travels.
Several practices make a real difference to both safety and underwriting. Limiting who may drive the van to a short list of trained, approved adults is the first. Keeping passenger counts and cargo within the manufacturer’s guidance, avoiding roof racks and heavy loads behind the rear axle, and replacing tires based on age as well as tread all reduce the chance of a rollover. Requiring every passenger to wear a seatbelt, particularly on youth trips, is just as important. Some churches have replaced fifteen-passenger vans with smaller vans or buses designed for passenger transport, which can make the vehicle easier to insure.
Screening the People Who Drive
Driver screening is the most basic control a church can put in place, and carriers ask about it. Anyone who drives a church-owned vehicle should have their motor vehicle record checked before they are approved and periodically after that. A minimum age and a clean recent record are reasonable standards, and many carriers set their own.
Volunteers who drive their own cars on church business deserve attention too. At a minimum, the church should confirm they carry current auto insurance with reasonable liability limits, because their personal policy is the first layer of protection for everyone involved. A volunteer with only the state minimum, or with a lapsed policy, leaves the church’s coverage to absorb much more of a claim. Anyone transporting minors should be screened more carefully, and that screening connects directly to the church’s abuse prevention program, which we cover in abuse and molestation coverage for Florida churches.
Setting Clear Expectations
The churches that handle this well tend to put a few simple practices in writing. They keep a list of people approved to drive on church business, decide in advance which trips the church will organize and which it will leave to families, document who drove and who rode on trips involving minors, and require proof of insurance from volunteer drivers who transport others. None of this needs to be complicated, but having it in place before an accident is what makes the difference afterward. Our church insurance page shows how auto coverage fits into the rest of a church program.
Worth Confirming With Your Agent
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Whether hired and non-owned auto coverage is on your church’s policy
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Whether every church-owned vehicle is on a commercial auto policy with adequate liability limits
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How your carrier treats fifteen-passenger vans and what driver requirements apply
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Whether drivers of church vehicles have had their motor vehicle records checked
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Whether volunteers who transport others carry current auto insurance with reasonable limits
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Whether trips involving minors are documented and drivers are screened
Talk to Prestige Insurance Group
Prestige Insurance Group helps churches across Florida close the auto gaps that most congregations do not know they have, whether the church owns a fleet of vans or no vehicles at all. If members drive on church business, we can review your current coverage and show you what it would take to protect the church and the people who serve it.
Call the office nearest you. Se habla español.
Orlando: 407-993-2331
Miami: 305-969-8776
Stuart: 772-247-3788
Prestige Insurance Group, License L057894
