Insurance: Camps, Legal Advice and More

The question recently came up about our insurance coverage with Westland Insurance:  Do we have adequate liability coverage for summer youth & children's camps?

The response from Westland was:

For the churches that are listed on the policy and their own members/children are participating in the camps the Lombard Policy would respond.

For those churches that have insurance elsewhere, they would have to check with their insurers/brokers to see if it is covered or if they need an extension or separate event coverage.

What this means is that if your church has insurance coverage with another provider (not Westland) and will be sending youth or children to a Foursquare camp you need to ensure the church policy includes camps and events. 

The insurance policy of the hosting church and/or national church may not respond in the event a claim is made.  If the church is with Westland insurance, the policy will only provide coverage for member/children from your church. 

In all cases, it's best to double check to be sure.

Free Alert!!  For those churches who have their insurance through Westland, the Lombard Policy provides Free and Confidential Legal Assistance.  These services would include labour law, tax law, administrative law, and employment law. 

The number is 1.800.786.0656 and is available from 9a.m. to 8p.m. Monday to Friday (EST). 

Legal advice (billable) is still available through the FGCC legal counsel.Please note that situations that result in actual litigation suits or criminal charges are to be reported immediately to the national office. 

Finally, a correction needs to be made on the Insurance post from April 2011 with regards to Abuse Coverage.  The post stated that if you are insured through Westland Insurance the church is automatically covered under the national church policy at no extra charge to the national office or individual church.  However, there will be a charge to the church for the coverage at a prorated/reduced rate (based on membership) under the national church plan.  Sorry for any confusion this may have created.

If you still have questions or concerns about your church insurance policy please contact the national office.

Blessings on your Canada Day weekend! 

Rhonda Berkhiem

BANKING: Government Payments

As I'm writing this post I am also taking a very deep breath and exhaling...great self-control is required when communicating about questions concerning CRA payroll accounts :) 

In particular, when payments for individual church payroll deductions are misapplied to wrong accounts or to the national office payroll account by the CRA.

We may have a solution to the problem but it will require a bit of action on your part:

I have been in discussion with the CIBC Bank over the past few weeks to confirm a simple process for our churches to set-up Online Government Payments for payroll deductions.  If the church is still mailing in payments to the CRA it's highly recommended moving to a direct pay method.

First, it will ensure that payments will be applied to the correct account.  Second, it will save time from preparing cheques or travelling to make payments at the bank.  Finally, if payments are being mailed they will not be delayed by the current mail disruptions.  But that's another story!

For those churches that are currently banking with CIBC, please contact Charmaine Provost directly by email at charmaine.provost@cibc.com or you can also contact her by phone at 604.665.1008.  If you have questions or would like more information before proceeding please let me know.

Hope this is useful!!!


Useful Quote of the Day: 

A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.

Wayne Gretzky