Help prepare your church for severe weather season It’s wonderful to be able to enjoy the warmer temperatures that often accompany Spring, but it is important to remember that the potential for severe weather also increases during this season. Many areas face risks of hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, and hailstorms, but there are steps your church can take to help better prepare for these events should they occur. Here are some severe weather preparedness considerations for your church: Know your risk- Routinely check your local weather forecast so you are aware of your risk for severe weather. Develop a plan- Prepare a severe weather safety and communications plan and practice it with key leaders and your congregation. Assemble a preparedness kit- Put together a preparedness kit to have on hand should severe weather strike. Your kit may include first aid supplies, water, flashlights, batteries, non-perishable food, toilet paper, a radio, wrench/pliers to turn off utilities, blankets, and other important items. Take care of trees- Remove any dead or rotting trees and trim healthy trees to help avoid damage caused by falling branches. Secure objects- Take precautions by securing any loose outdoor objects that could blow away and cause damage during high winds. Close doors and windows- Be sure to close doors and windows securely before severe weather strikes. Maintain clean gutters and drains- Keep your gutters and drains clean to help avoid drainage issues. Appropriate insurance- Having appropriate insurance in place should your church be impacted by severe weather can make a big difference in helping to rebuild your ministry. If you are unsure of what your current policy covers or have questions about risks your property faces, UMIP can help! Contact us at 484-654-3380 or at UMI@sovinsurance.com . Post- storm Finally , if your church has been impacted by severe weather, taking action, when it is safe to do so, can help to reduce additional damage to your property. When authorities have given the okay, visit your property to assess the damage. If there is damage, contact your insurance agency or company as soon as possible to report the damage and begin the claims process. Also, enlist the help of qualified professionals to perform your property inspections as necessary due to the many hazards that may be present (electrical, fire, gas, structural, etc.). When you are covered by UMIP, we will be there when you need us. Churches have unique needs. As a part of the denomination, we understand the unique needs of United Methodist churches and their operations, which is reflected in our coverage options. Your ministry deserves outstanding insurance and UMIP works for you each day to help protect your church’s people, property, and finances. Let's talk! Contact us at 484-654-3380 or at UMI@sovinsurance.com . Or, click here to request a quote online . This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. In the event of a conflict with the content herein, the terms and conditions of any issued policy will control. Individual coverage may vary and may not be available in all states. The commercial insurance coverages for United Methodist Insurance are sold and serviced directly or indirectly by Sovereign Insurance Agency (CA Lic. No. 0B01380) ("Sovereign") and underwritten by various available insurance markets. Sovereign pays United Methodist Insurance a royalty for the use of its intellectual property.

If your church has a daycare, you may have questions regarding your insurance coverage and how it applies to your daycare. For example, you might wonder if your daycare is covered by your current insurance policy. Or what kinds of activities are typically covered for your daycare? We will explore questions like these and others below. Is my daycare covered by my church’s insurance policy? The answer to this question is: it depends. It is important that when you secure coverage for your church it is disclosed that there is a daycare operating on your property. Most reputable insurance agencies that have experience working with churches should be asking if you have a daycare and the specifics surrounding its operations when you initially get your coverage. They will then typically incorporate this into your standard policy. However, it is possible that you may not have coverage for your daycare if it was never disclosed that you have one. For this reason, it is recommended to secure your coverage from an agency or carrier that regularly works with churches and knows what questions are appropriate to ask in order to offer your ministry appropriate protection options. Additionally, keep in mind that even if your church itself does not operate the daycare but rather leases a church space to an unaffiliated daycare, your church should be named as an additional insured on their coverage. If you are unsure if your daycare is included in your church’s insurance policy, contact your agent or carrier as soon as possible to help mitigate risk. What kind of coverage does my church and daycare need? Every church and daycare are different, but a good rule of thumb is that your daycare may need several different coverages to help protect it from risks. These may include: General liability insurance Property insurance Professional liability insurance Abuse and molestation coverage Workers’ compensation Commercial auto insurance Accident insurance Umbrella insurance Your church may already have some of these coverages, but it’s important to find out which ones also apply to your daycare and which ones you may be missing. Your ministry could be saving money on its insurance. Find out how. What kind of activities are typically covered? Typically, daycare insurance covers: Activities that are sponsored and supervised by the daycare Daycare related field trips Traveling in vehicles affiliated with the daycare If you have additional questions regarding coverage for your daycare, UMIP can help. Call 484-654-3380 to speak to a dedicated representative today! This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. In the event of a conflict with the content herein, the terms and conditions of any issued policy will control. Individual coverage may vary and may not be available in all states.

Maintaining your ministry may require you to climb on ladders for many things , including hanging up decorations, cleaning gutters, painting, etc. It’s important that you maintain good ladder safety to help prevent someone being injured if an accident occurs. So, we’ve compiled six great tips for ladder safety. Have you shopped your coverage lately? You could be saving money and not even know it. Six tips for ladder safety 1. Maintain three points of contact when climbing/descending a ladder While on a ladder, it’s important to maintain safe contact with it. Make sure you always have two hands and a foot, or two feet, and a hand on the ladder at all times. 2. Face the ladder when climbing up or descending. When moving up and down the ladder, make sure that you’re facing it so that you don’t lose your grip, get distracted, or slip. 3. Keep your body inside the side rails. In addition to maintaining safe contact with the ladder, you need to make sure that you keep your balance while on the ladder, as well. By staying within the side rails, you help ensure that you stay balanced while on the ladder. 4. Use extra care when getting on or off the ladder at the top or bottom. When stepping onto or off of the ladder, avoid tipping it over or causing it to slide out. Is your church appropriately protected from an accident? Request a free coverage review and find out. 5. Carry tools in a tool belt or use a hand line to raise tools to the roof. When climbing up and down a ladder, it may be tempting to save time by trying to carry tools up and down with your hands. Doing this increases the chance of an accident, so make sure you never carry tools in your hands while climbing up/down a ladder. 6. Keep ladders free of any slippery materials. When placing your ladder against a wall or roof, be sure there are no slippery materials anywhere. Wet floors or smooth walls make it easier for ladders to slip out. When you are covered by UMIP, we will be there when you need us. Churches have unique needs. As a part of the denomination, we understand the unique needs of United Methodist churches and their operations, which is reflected in our coverage options. Your ministry deserves outstanding insurance and UMIP works for you each day to help protect your church’s people, property, and finances. Let's talk! Contact us at 484-654-3380 or at UMI@sovinsurance.com . Or, click here to request a quote online . This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. In the event of a conflict with the content herein, the terms and conditions of any issued policy will control. Individual coverage may vary and may not be available in all states. The commercial insurance coverages for United Methodist Insurance are sold and serviced directly or indirectly by Sovereign Insurance Agency (CA Lic. No. 0B01380) ("Sovereign") and underwritten by various available insurance markets. Sovereign pays United Methodist Insurance a royalty for the use of its intellectual property.

It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through 2022, and that means for the last six months, you may have been overpaying on your ministry’s insurance coverage. Fortunately, there’s still time to review your coverage and see if you can save money for the rest of the year. Consider these two ways to see if your insurance is still the best option for your church. Coverage review A coverage review allows a dedicated representative to review the current policy your church has, the premiums that you pay, and what is protected by your policy. From there, a representative and you can determine whether your coverage is appropriate for your ministry. Recent changes like newly built buildings or a reduction in the number of vehicles your church owns can impact whether you have too much or too little insurance. Once the coverage review has been completed and your priorities have been established, they’ll shop your coverage around to different carriers to see if there are options to help save your church money. A fast, free quote. In addition to coverage reviews, a free quote can also help determine whether more appropriate, more affordable coverage is available for your church. Similar to a coverage review, an agent will collect your information and begin to shop around your insurance to a number of different carriers to see if anyone can beat what you’re currently paying. Request a free quote. Do you currently have a multi-year contract? No problem. Even if your church has a multi-year contract, there still might be opportunities to save money. For this reason, it’s recommended that you still get regular coverage reviews to help ensure you are maximizing savings. Coverage reviews and requesting a quote do not take much time, but they can make a big difference in how much money you can save your ministry. Even if your premium payment stays flat, you’ll have peace of mind in knowing that you are currently getting the best available market pricing, and that your ministry is appropriately covered if something unfortunate happens. When you are covered by UMIP, we will be there when you need us. Churches have unique needs. As a part of the denomination, we understand the unique needs of United Methodist churches and their operations, which is reflected in our coverage options. Your ministry deserves outstanding insurance and UMIP works for you each day to help protect your church’s people, property, and finances. Let's talk! Contact us at 484-654-3380 or at UMI@sovinsurance.com . Or, click here to request a quote online . This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. In the event of a conflict with the content herein, the terms and conditions of any issued policy will control. Individual coverage may vary and may not be available in all states. The commercial insurance coverages for United Methodist Insurance are sold and serviced directly or indirectly by Sovereign Insurance Agency (CA Lic. No. 0B01380) ("Sovereign") and underwritten by various available insurance markets. Sovereign pays United Methodist Insurance a royalty for the use of its intellectual property.

With summertime here, maintaining your ministry’s grounds is probably a priority. Mowing the grass and weeding the flower beds is a good start for keeping things looking nice and tidy, but there are more ways to help make sure your church’s exterior is in tip-top shape. Six Exterior Property Tips Trim trees and shrubs Have a professional remove dead or rotting trees and regularly trim limbs or branches that hang over buildings. This can help prevent them from falling off or being blown away during high winds. Gutter Cleaning Keeping your gutters clean helps prevent them from clogging with leaf debris. Clogged gutters can lead to unnecessary water backups and damage. Exterior Lighting Exterior lighting not only helps illuminate walkways and parking lots to help people avoid tripping or falling, but it can also help reduce the risk from theft or vandalism. If there are broken or burnt-out lights, repair and replace them so they can aid security cameras and help deter vandals. Water Damage Use the nice weather as an opportunity to repair or replace caulking around doors and windows, if needed. This helps maintain watertight seals and prevent water. Make Repairs If you have broken siding, shingles, fences, playgrounds, etc. , use the summertime to repair or replace what requires fixing. This will help reduce the risk of further damage. Equipment Storage You should store outdoor equipment securely and in a safe area. Things like furniture, lawn maintenance machinery, and toys can blow away and cause damage during severe weather. When you are covered by UMIP, we will be there when you need us. Churches have unique needs. As a part of the denomination, we understand the unique needs of United Methodist churches and their operations, which is reflected in our coverage options. Your ministry deserves outstanding insurance and UMIP works for you each day to help protect your church’s people, property, and finances. Let's talk! Contact us at 484-654-3380 or at UMI@sovinsurance.com . Or, click here to request a quote online . This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. In the event of a conflict with the content herein, the terms and conditions of any issued policy will control. Individual coverage may vary and may not be available in all states. The commercial insurance coverages for United Methodist Insurance are sold and serviced directly or indirectly by Sovereign Insurance Agency (CA Lic. No. 0B01380) ("Sovereign") and underwritten by various available insurance markets. Sovereign pays United Methodist Insurance a royalty for the use of its intellectual property.

The protection of your people, property, and finances is a huge responsibility. No doubt you constantly consider the right insurance coverages available to you. The simple answer to the question above is the United Methodist Insurance Program is available to all churches and United Methodist affiliated organizations and agencies that are or have been part of the United Methodist connection at any time in the past. We are dedicated to serving with the highest quality and professional providers. We know that through the pandemic, financial uncertainties, and decisions yet to be made by the Church, one constant is the need to be adequately insured. What are some of the features and benefits of UMIP? Competitive pricing Expanded top-tier carrier network Tailored coverage Outstanding customer service Risk management resources Proper Coverage that meets the minimum insurance requirements set by the General Council on Finance and Administration Requotes available to reflect how your ministry currently operates Products offered by UMIP: Property & Casualty Commercial auto Umbrella Cyber liability Sexual misconduct Terrorism Workers’ compensation Employment practices liability Professional liability (E&O) D&O Other coverages When you are covered by UMIP, we will be there when you need us. Churches have unique needs. As a part of the denomination, we understand the unique needs of United Methodist churches and their operations, which is reflected in our coverage options. Your ministry deserves outstanding insurance and UMIP works for you each day to help protect your church’s people, property, and finances. Let's talk! Contact us at 484-654-3380 or at UMI@sovinsurance.com . Or, click here to request a quote online . This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. In the event of a conflict with the content herein, the terms and conditions of any issued policy will control. Individual coverage may vary and may not be available in all states. The commercial insurance coverages for United Methodist Insurance are sold and serviced directly or indirectly by Sovereign Insurance Agency (CA Lic. No. 0B01380) ("Sovereign") and underwritten by various available insurance markets. Sovereign pays United Methodist Insurance a royalty for the use of its intellectual property.

Sharing space with other organizations and ministries is a great way to extend your relationship with the community, provide assistance to those in need, and perhaps generate some additional revenue or resources. Doing so may also introduce new insurance exposures for your church to deal with. Property of others. Most policies contain an exclusion for the property of others in your care, custody, and control. So, when the once vacant garage burns to the ground while filled with someone else’s stuff … there will not be much property coverage under the church’s policy. Pollution. If something in that storage area is a hazardous material, it could create a coverage issue for you or make your risk more difficult to cover. A spill may be covered by their liability insurance, but this is still a new exposure for your church. Liability Coverage: Make sure that the liability coverage in place is a minimum of $1,000,000 per occurrence. For any coverage provided by a third party, make sure that the church is listed as an Additional Insured 100% of the time. This will ensure that your coverage is adequate and that the third party’s policy will be the first to respond in the event of a claim related to the leased or rented area. Lessors Risk. When a lease is in place for outside use of your premises, the underwriter will add an additional charge to the general liability coverage for lessor’s risk. This coverage provides protection in the event a tenant makes a claim against you for damage to their property or personal injury. General Increase in Risk. Having additional traffic from people not related to the church can create additional hazards not normally associated with a house of worship. This may require additional steps to secure your property and to ensure that you are adequately protected against these new exposures. You should factor the increased cost of insurance coverage into the decision to rent or lease space. The added revenue should easily offset the cost of coverage and prevent a large loss in the event of damage to property or if someone is injured. When you are covered by UMIP, we will be there when you need us. Churches have unique needs. As a part of the denomination, we understand the unique needs of United Methodist churches and their operations, which is reflected in our coverage options. Your ministry deserves outstanding insurance and UMIP works for you each day to help protect your church’s people, property, and finances. Let's talk! Contact us at 484-654-3380 or at UMI@sovinsurance.com . Or, click here to request a quote online . This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. In the event of a conflict with the content herein, the terms and conditions of any issued policy will control. Individual coverage may vary and may not be available in all states. The commercial insurance coverages for United Methodist Insurance are sold and serviced directly or indirectly by Sovereign Insurance Agency (CA Lic. No. 0B01380) ("Sovereign") and underwritten by various available insurance markets. Sovereign pays United Methodist Insurance a royalty for the use of its intellectual property.

Are you starting a new construction project or renovation in the coming months? Please consider the following guidelines to help your organization minimize your risk. Whenever there is a 3rd party performing work on your premises, it’s paramount to transfer your risk fully to that party (where reasonable). Types of situations that warrant your attention are building maintenance, repairs, elevator maintenance, construction/renovations, security services, temporary staffing agency contracts, aircraft chartering, food services, catered events, fireworks displays, watercraft chartering, product suppliers, environmental remediation, and many others. Perhaps the most important thing to remember throughout any of these conversations is that it’s generally free to transfer your risk to that 3rd party. Contractors, architects, sub-contractors, or any other vendors typically do not incur greater costs to take your risk both from a contractual and additional insured standpoint. You may encounter pushback from the 3rd parties but typically can move past the initial discomfort. How do you get General Liability coverage under someone else’s policy? This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. In the event of a conflict with the content herein, the terms and conditions of any issued policy will control. Individual coverage may vary and may not be available in all states. The commercial insurance coverages for United Methodist Insurance are sold and serviced directly or indirectly by Sovereign Insurance Agency (CA Lic. No. 0B01380) ("Sovereign") and underwritten by various available insurance markets. Sovereign pays United Methodist Insurance a royalty for the use of its intellectual property.

I have Advent and our big Christmas service coming up. With Advent coming up, ministries are focused now on their Christmastime services. Chances are, insurance renewal might slip your mind. Many churches renew their insurance on January 1st, and they might also ask themselves, how soon can I take care of this? The answer is, typically, within 90 days. Most insurance carriers will issue a binding quote for 90 days. Luckily, that means that if you, like many ministries, renew your insurance on January 1st, you can start shopping now! There are many benefits to renewing your coverage this time of year, now instead of later. You can avoid last minute stress. We know how busy Christmas can be for ministries! If you start the process now, you could be sitting pretty before December 25th rolls around. Could you save money? Our exclusive program manager, Sovereign Insurance Group, is standing by to shop your coverage. Ensure appropriate protection for your ministry. Make sure you have all the coverage you need. So, what are you waiting for? Give the United Methodist Insurance Program, powered by Sovereign Insurance Group, a try. Call us at 484-654-3380 or visit www.UMInsure.org . This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. In the event of a conflict with the content herein, the terms and conditions of any issued policy will control. Individual coverage may vary and may not be available in all states. The commercial insurance coverages for United Methodist Insurance are sold and serviced directly or indirectly by Sovereign Insurance Agency (CA Lic. No. 0B01380) ("Sovereign") and underwritten by various available insurance markets. Sovereign pays United Methodist Insurance a royalty for the use of its intellectual property.

Recently, you probably have received a letter requesting you to sign a Broker of Record (BoR) letter to remain in the United Methodist Insurance Program. But what is a Broker of Record Letter and why should you sign it? · What is a BoR? A Broker of Record (BoR) letter is an industry standard document that designates who your broker (or agent) is. In the case, UMIP switched agents in June of 2021, and our new agent is Sovereign Insurance Group. So, you are signing a document saying that you’d like to be insured through the UMIP program, serviced by Sovereign. · Staying with UMIP. By signing a BoR with UMIP, you are ensuring that your ministry’s insurance coverage stays with UMIP. UMIP is the only insurance company with direct ties to the denomination. In fact, UMIP was borne out of legislation passed at General Conference in the 1970s designating that there be an insurance program that can support United Methodists. Keeping your church involved with UMIP gives us more clout in the marketplace. · Focus on Church-Specific Insurance. Not all agents and carriers provide the coverage you need. At UMIP, we only place coverage for ministries – meaning that we know the ins and outs of any special coverage you may need. If you work with someone who doesn’t understand your ministry’s exposures, you run the risk of not having access to specific coverages like pastoral counseling liability or specific coverage for historic stained glass, among others. · Access to 20 Carriers . Every dollar is valuable in ministry – we know that because we are a ministry too. By having access to multiple carriers, UMIP aims to provide you the comprehensive coverage at a fair price. If you bought a policy through UMIP, but haven’t made the switch to Sovereign, you can have this access only by signing a BoR. Have you signed a Broker of Record letter yet? Visit https://www.uminsure.org/brokerofrecord to request one today! Got questions? We’d love to chat. Call us at 484-654-3380 or drop us a line at info@umins.org . This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. In the event of a conflict with the content herein, the terms and conditions of any issued policy will control. Individual coverage may vary and may not be available in all states. The commercial insurance coverages for United Methodist Insurance are sold and serviced directly or indirectly by Sovereign Insurance Agency (CA Lic. No. 0B01380) ("Sovereign") and underwritten by various available insurance markets. Sovereign pays United Methodist Insurance a royalty for the use of its intellectual property.

Churches are a safe place for your congregation – spiritually and physically. But there are dangers. Your church’s cyber space is one place bad people want to invade. It only takes one, often unintentional, click to expose your church to ransomware and other threats to your cyberspace. To protect your church, make sure all people who use the church’s desktops, tablets, and mobile devices follow a few simple procedures. Here are some basic steps you can take to help protect your church from cybercrimes. Realize phishing is the number one attack vector for the distribution of malware. You will get an email, a text message or even a Facebook message asking you to click on a link or open an attachment. You can get infected if you go to a questionable website or a website that has been infected with malicious code (This is called drive-by malware). Make sure your computer/smartphone/device is updated to the latest operating system and all applications are patched. Do not ignore your device when it says it needs to be updated. Reduce your attack surface on your device. Only allow trusted applications to run on your device. Beware of all the free software products that you never use. (This is called application whitelisting). Reduce admin rights for users. Admin rights allow users to install programs and malicious code. If your device asks you to enter your password to install or make changes to a program, you need to be careful. Take an inventory of who you are allowing onto your network and what they can access. Does the employee from three years ago still have Admin rights to your network? You do not want every employee to access everything on your network. Use two factor authentication on all remote access to your network, especially remote desktop protocol (RDP). Backing up is not enough ... make sure you test your backups and have a good restoration plan. Remember, if your network is infected with ransomware there is a good chance the Cybercriminals have also stolen your data. Educate yourself and your staff about the dangers of Ransomware and Cybercrime. Contact your local FBI Office if you are a victim or go to WWW.IC3.GOV In addition, here is an excellent resource from the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity, and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). When’s the best time to educate your church members on cyber security? Now. Whether you’ve never done this or did it two months ago, the ever changing landscape of cybercrimes means we all must remain constantly vigilant to protect our people, our property, and our finances. For more information on complete insurance coverage for your church or for answers on other insurance-related questions you may have, call us at 484-654-3380. Look for a free no-obligation quote? We’ve got you covered. Fill out our handy form and we’ll be in touch! This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. In the event of a conflict with the content herein, the terms and conditions of any issued policy will control. Individual coverage may vary and may not be available in all states. The commercial insurance coverages for United Methodist Insurance are sold and serviced directly or indirectly by Sovereign Insurance Agency (CA Lic. No. 0B01380) ("Sovereign") and underwritten by various available insurance markets. Sovereign pays United Methodist Insurance a royalty for the use of its intellectual property.

Cybercrime has become a fact of life in the digital world. The threat is incredibly serious – and growing. Cyber-intrusions are becoming more prevalent, more expensive, and far more sophisticated. Identity thieves pose a threat to average citizens, and online predators can put our children at risk. Even with churches, the first line of defense is YOU! Retired FBI Special Agent Scott Augenbaum spent twenty-nine years in the FBI. His last fourteen years were spent investigating cybercrime. Now, Augenbaum has written a book, The Secret to CyberSecurity: A Simple Plan to Protect Your Family and Business from Cybercrime . Churches are no exception. How to Avoid Being a Cybercrime Victim Become a human firewall and examine every email you receive. Realize that bad guys want to use your email account as a weapon. Understand that bad guys desperately want you to click a link or open an attachment in an email. Unless you have thoroughly validated its authenticity, don’t click on it! Look at the time an email was sent. If it was sent at 2:30 A.M. and you know that person never sends email that late, don’t open it before verifying it. Check the other recipients of the email. If the email was sent to a large group of people, it usually means the account was compromised and an automated program sent the message. If you receive an email with an urgent message from your bank, credit card company, utility company, FedEx, UPS, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or any other financial institution or social media application, don’t open it or click on a link! Log in to the actual account manually through a browser or application to check if there’s a legitimate issue. Make a list of important telephone numbers, such as your bank and credit card companies, and call the numbers you have instead of the ones included in suspicious emails. If you receive an email containing a friend request from social media, do not click on the link in the message to log in to the account. Bad guys love to use social media friend requests to target victims. For example, if you receive a connection request from LinkedIn, delete the email and then log in to the actual LinkedIn application to see if it’s a legitimate request. This is very important: Do not store your usernames and passwords for financial institutions, credit card companies, utilities, email, and social media on OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, or iCloud. Write them down on a sheet of paper and store the physical copy somewhere safe. Your safety is far more important than digital access to passwords. The United Methodist Insurance Program (UMIP) wishes to think Scott E. Augenbaum for being a featured contributor. Augenbaum retired from the FBI in January 2019, after working almost exclusively on computer crime cases in the FBI Office in Syracuse, New York. He has recently launched Hero Publishing, a company devoted to educating the public about the dangers of cybercrime. You can buy his book on  Amazon  or visit his website at scottaugenbaum.com .  ​ When you are covered by UMIP, we will be there when you need us. Churches have unique needs. As a part of the denomination, we understand the unique needs of United Methodist churches and their operations, which is reflected in our coverage options. Your ministry deserves outstanding insurance and UMIP works for you each day to help protect your church’s people, property, and finances. Let's talk! Contact us at 484-654-3380 or at UMI@sovinsurance.com . Or, click here to request a quote online . This material is for informational purposes only and is not legal or business advice. Neither UMIP, nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, represents or warrants that the information contained herein is appropriate or suitable for any specific business or legal purpose. Readers seeking resolution of specific questions should consult their business and/or legal advisors. This content has been prepared by United Methodist Insurance Company (UMI) for informational purposes only. No article or document may accurately contemplate all possible scenarios or church resources. As such, this information is meant to foster discussion by the individual church and its members to develop a plan tailored to its own circumstances. UMI is providing this information with no warranties or guarantees of any kind and it should not be viewed as legal, financial, or other professional advice. All liability is expressly disclaimed. Any claim examples described herein are general in nature, may or may not be based on actual claims, and are for informational purposes only. Any coverage available for a claim is determined from the facts and circumstances of the claim as well as the terms and conditions of any applicable policy, including any exclusions or deductibles. 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