Disaster-Proof Your Finances

Critical Coverages Provide Peace of Mind

What’s worse than your ministry’s kitchen catching on fire? Having to dig into your reserves to pay for things not related to the actual fire. Property insurance covers the damage caused by the fire, but what if before you can begin those repairs city code requires you to replace all the outdated electrical wiring in your building. Since it’s not related to the fire, you’re forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket to fix the wiring issue, leaving your ministry activities under baked.  

This common scenario can dramatically affect a ministry, regardless of the age of its building. What can be a minor inconvenience turns into a major construction project, especially if you live in an area with strict code regulations. From tearing down undamaged portions of a building to installing an elevator, you never know what local codes will require, or how much it will cost. But there’s a way to protect your ministry finances from unexpected expense. In the event of a large property loss, Brotherhood Mutual offers some specialized protections to assist with the continuation of ministry activities. Check your policy or ask your Brotherhood Mutual agent to make sure you’re protected by these specialized coverage options.

Defend Against Surprise Renovation Costs

One important coverage is the Ordinance or Law Extension. This helps cover the costs of complying with enforceable ordinances, laws, or codes related to the use, demolition, construction, or repair of damaged buildings. If you’re in an older building, even a small fire can require major renovation, which likely isn’t covered by your base property insurance policy. For example, if a fire damages a certain percentage of your total structure, local code may require you to tear down your entire facility. This means a ministry would potentially need to come up with the additional cash to rebuild most of its building.

This coverage pays up to the selected limit for things like the value of undamaged portions of a building that are legally required to be torn down because of an ordinance, the increased cost of demolishing and removing the debris of an undamaged portion of the building, and the increased cost of rebuilding in a manner that is compliant with current building codes.

Replace Lost Income

Another important coverage is Earnings and Donations and Extra Expense Coverage. This optional coverage provides funds to help make up for the loss of income or additional expenses that may occur when your ministry is forced to close or relocate due to loss caused by a covered incident. It pays for things like lost earnings and donation income, payroll, and expenses you incur resuming your operations during restoration.

This was a critical coverage in the case of a church in Kansas. Del Rae McCullough, an agent with American Church Group of Kansas, received a call from an insured ministry informing her that the church had burned to the ground. After the initial shock wore off, McCullough quickly sprang into action. Fortunately, the ministry had another building on its property that it was able to use for worship as the church was rebuilt. Because the ministry had purchased this coverage, Brotherhood Mutual was able to reimburse the church for the cost of installing air conditioning in the building, enabling the congregation to comfortably worship throughout the remainder of the summer.