Everyone involved in a parent Teacher group is usually volunteering for the same reason… the kids. You are putting your valuable time and effort into making your PTA, PTO or Booster Club the best that it can be, but certain risks threaten that effort if you and your organization are not covered.
At AIM, we offer four different insurance policies to Parent Teacher groups that have totally different objectives, and therefore totally different benefits.
Here are the benefits of making sure your PTA, PTO or Booster Club is covered:
Benefit #1: Your Organization and its members are protected from lawsuits (Event Insurance)
While attending your fall carnival, a child could fall down and get hurt. You may not see that as a risk that you should be concerned with, but what if the parents of that child don’t have health insurance? The family will be looking for someone to help with those expenses. After all, it was at your event that their child was injured.
In the event that an incident leads to a lawsuit against your PTA, PTO or Booster Club, as a volunteer named in a lawsuit, your personal assets could be at risk. Event Insurance (General Liability policy) protects not only your PTA, PTO, or Booster Club but protects you as a member as well.
The Extended Medical Payments portion of this policy will come into effect for minor medical injuries that are sustained by a volunteer of your Organization, a board member, or a third party at one of your Organization’s sponsored events.
This is by no means a health insurance policy. The Medical Payments clause of your liability policy will pay secondary to any personal health insurance that the injured party may have. Medical Payments coverage helps protect your Organization and its members by deterring a lawsuit, while helping the injured party cover out of pocket expenses they may incur in seeking treatment.
Benefit #2: Your Organization is protected from embezzlement, robbery and theft (Embezzlement Insurance)
A Parent Teacher group should be run like a business. You have a budget to work within, deadlines to meet, and events to plan. The main concern in any business is finances. You may have many different officers with check signing capabilities or you may trust one of your volunteers to run to the bank to deposit fundraising money.
Although there may be various safeguards set up to protect your funds, there is still a large risk of someone embezzling your money. Embezzlement Insurance (Fidelity Bond) is set up to protect your money, scrip, securities, and other cash equivalents against embezzlement, robbery, and theft.
With the Embezzlement Insurance coverage, your funds are covered from embezzlement by anyone that you entrust with your PTA, PTO or Booster Club’s money. Some of the people your Organization might trust with your funds include officers, volunteers and members.
Benefit #3: Your Organization’s property is protected (Business Personal Property)
Your Property policy covers personal property of your PTA, PTO or Booster Club from perils such as fire, lightning, windstorm, theft, and vandalism. Personal property of Parent Teacher groups are typically items including popcorn machines, school store supplies, cash registers, posters, coffee makers, and any other property that your Organization uses on a regular basis. Fundraising merchandise is also covered for the same perils.
Here is an example of what this might look like…
Your PTA, PTO or Booster Club conducts wrapping paper sales as a fundraiser and takes delivery of that merchandise on Friday. Until the children pick the merchandise up on Saturday, you agree to keep the wrapping paper in a portable storage building. What you don’t realize is that the storage building has a leaky roof and a rainstorm is coming.
Overnight, all of your wrapping paper is ruined, the children have come to pick up their wrapping paper for delivery, and your Treasurer says that your Organization still owes the fundraising company for the wrapping paper. This policy is designed to protect you in a situation like this.
Benefit #4: The decisions for your Organization are protected (Directors and Officers Liability)
We’ve covered your events with the General Liability Policy and Medical Payments Coverage, but what about the decisions that you make as a board?
As with any business, you as an officer of your Parent Teacher group can be sued for decisions that you make individually or as an Organization. These decisions can include what type of fundraiser to have, where to hold an event, or any other managerial decisions. This policy is to protect the way you manage your PTA, PTO or Booster Club and the decisions that are made by you and other board members.
The Directors and Officers Liability policy provides $1,000,000 to cover decisions you make as an officer. Other things that might fall under this coverage are inappropriate use of Organization funds, wrongful acts, misleading statements or negligent acts, discrimination, not following your by-laws, and misrepresentation.