Local Chapter Insurance

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

But even a local donut shop could find coverage because they're not so specialized or an obscure risk. They may pay a relatively higher premium, but their operations are still mostly predictable, sales are auditable, and safety features can be analyzed. A sorority or fraternity is a whole different animal.

To build on that, local fraternities and sororities are more unpredictable than national organizations as national organizations have all sorts of policies to not only shield the national organization from liability, they ensure there's at least some programming on risk reduction, that there are policies in place which the insurer and the national organization can point to when they're broken as a reason to decline coverage, etc. They send out reps to meet the officers and alums, they provide training opportunities, and they have a sense of who their higher risk groups are. So they're kind of predictable.

I would expect it's pretty rare and difficult for a claim against a national organization to pay much if anything. You're going after the chapter and its assets and individuals.

Local organizations have none of those controls, and would be prone to changing completely in a short period of time. I'd kind of expect you to be uninsurable.
\

[33girl]

This is a way to force you into going national or close completely while keeping their hands clean of any overt action. Extremely slimy on the university’s part.

If your practices are all more or less the same (ie none of the “fraternities can have alcohol in house but sororities can’t” ridiculousness) see if you can all be insured as one large group.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by 33girl

This is a way to force you into going national or close completely while keeping their hands clean of any overt action. Extremely slimy on the university’s part.

The university is covering their own a**, and I can't say I blame them.

If your practices are all more or less the same (ie none of the “fraternities can have alcohol in house but sororities can’t” ridiculousness) see if you can all be insured as one large group.

No no no.

First, look into the combinability issue with Named Insureds on a policy. There's a chance you wouldn't even be able to find insurance under one policy for multiple organizations.

But even if you could, would you want to? If you could skirt around the aforementioned obstacle (and maybe form one entity for which you all shared common ownership), you'd be tied to an insurance policy with organizations over which you have no control or oversight.

Therefore, if you as ABC Sorority is doing everything right and XYZ Sorority is doing everything wrong, you have no way to make them operate in the way you see fit, and if something goes wrong and there are claims, you'll find yourself paying for them in increased rates and premuims year over year. And even if you decide to break off onto your own policy later down the line, that claims/loss history will follow you.

This would create so many monetary and logistical nightmares which I can promise you are certainly not worth it.