Church Money, Donations & Financial Controls

An Annual Insurance Review Agenda for the Board

Published 2026-09-07 · Church Money, Donations & Financial Controls

Short answer: put a church insurance review board agenda on the calendar once a year, about sixty days before renewal. Work through six things: what changed this year, what you own, what you do, who you pay, what limits you carry, and what the policy excludes. Then record the decisions in the minutes and assign one person to follow up with the broker.

The renewal notice comes in, the treasurer glances at the premium, and it gets paid. That's how most church insurance is bought: not by decision, but by inertia. Nobody reads the policy until the week something has already happened, and by then the only question left is whether it's covered.

An hour a year fixes most of that. Not because the board becomes an insurance expert, but because the board is the only body that actually knows what changed at the church this year, and change is what breaks coverage.

Why does insurance belong on the board's agenda at all?

Because coverage is a governance decision, not an administrative one.

The treasurer can pay the bill. Only the board can decide how much risk the church is willing to carry itself, and only the board is answerable if the answer turns out to be "far more than we thought." Choosing a limit is choosing an exposure. That belongs in the minutes with everything else the board decides.

There's a second reason, and it's simpler. The broker can only quote what you tell them. If nobody tells the broker the church started a preschool, added a van, or began renting the fellowship hall to outside groups, the policy will keep covering the church you were three years ago.

When should you run the review?

About sixty days before renewal. Early enough that you can ask questions, get a revised quote, or move carriers without a scramble. If you do it the week the renewal is due, your only option is to sign.

Put the date in the annual calendar next to the budget. In most churches that means a fixed agenda item at the same meeting each year, so it doesn't depend on anyone remembering.

What goes on the agenda?

Six items, in this order. The order matters, because the first one tells you what to look for in the rest.

1. What changed this year. New property, new programs, new people, new activities. Ask the question out loud in the meeting; the person who knows is rarely the person holding the policy.

2. Property. What the church owns, what it's insured for, and whether that number reflects what it would actually cost to rebuild today rather than what you paid. Ask specifically about the sound and media equipment, instruments, and anything stored off site.

3. Activities and liability. Everything the church does that puts people in a room, a vehicle, or someone else's building. Youth trips, sports, food service, the parking lot, outside groups using your space.

4. People you pay. Employees, contractors, and the difference between them, which turns on control rather than on what the agreement is titled (IRS, Independent contractor or employee). This is where employment practices coverage and workers' compensation questions live.

5. Leadership and money. Directors and officers coverage, and whatever your carrier calls the crime, employee-dishonesty or fidelity cover that responds when money goes missing.

6. Exclusions and sub-limits. The part nobody reads. Ask the broker directly: what's excluded, and what's covered but capped below the main limit.

We walk each coverage line in detail in the coverages a church actually needs, and how to find these terms inside your own document in reading your church insurance policy.

What actually triggers a gap?

Almost always a change the church made without thinking about insurance. A working list to read aloud in the meeting:

• A new building, a renovation, a new roof, or a major equipment purchase.
• A new ministry: preschool, daycare, counseling, food pantry, sports league, school.
• A vehicle bought, sold, borrowed, or a volunteer regularly driving their own car for church work.
• The first paid employee, or a contractor who now looks a lot like an employee, which is a question the IRS will rule on if you ask (IRS, About Form SS-8).
• Renting or lending the building to an outside group, or a wedding business operating on site.
• Overseas or out-of-state mission trips.
• A significant increase in what passes through the offering, or a new online giving platform.
• A merger, a campus, or a plant operating under your name.

Each of those is a conversation with the broker, not an assumption.

A worked example: one hour, in order

Grace Church has nine board members and a renewal date of March 1. The insurance review is a standing item at the January meeting.

Minutes 0 to 10: what changed. The board lists it. The youth group started a Wednesday van run in September; the church began renting the fellowship hall to a homeschool co-op on Tuesdays; a part-time worship director was hired in June, the church's first employee.

Minutes 10 to 25: property and activities. The property schedule still lists the sound system that was replaced two years ago. The van is on the auto policy, but nobody has confirmed whether volunteer drivers are covered or whether their personal insurance responds first.

Minutes 25 to 40: people and money. With an employee on payroll, the treasurer is asked to confirm workers' compensation and the payroll withholding that now applies (IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide), then to find out what employment practices coverage would cost. Two board members note the church has never checked its directors and officers limit.

Minutes 40 to 55: exclusions. The board writes down four questions for the broker rather than trying to answer them in the room. The co-op arrangement is one of them: who insures what, and is a certificate of insurance from the co-op required?

Minutes 55 to 60: assignment and record. One person owns the follow-up, with a report due at the February meeting. The minutes record the questions asked, the assignment, and the date.

Nothing was solved in the meeting. That's fine. The point of the hour is to surface the questions early enough that the answers arrive before renewal.

How churches get this wrong

Assuming the general liability policy covers everything. It's the broadest policy in the folder, which makes it the easiest one to over-trust. Specific exposures are frequently written separately, sub-limited, or excluded: abuse allegations, professional counseling, money handling, and employment claims such as a discrimination charge (EEOC, Religious discrimination).

Never reading the endorsements. The declarations page is a summary. The endorsements are where the policy is actually modified, and that's where an exclusion added at renewal will be sitting.

Treating a certificate of insurance as coverage. A certificate proves a policy existed on a date. It isn't the policy, and it doesn't tell you the limits or the exclusions.

Letting one person hold all of it. When the treasurer who understood the policy resigns, the knowledge leaves with them. Minute the decisions and keep the policy with the corporate records, not in a personal inbox.

Buying on premium alone. A cheaper renewal that quietly halved a sub-limit isn't a saving. Ask what changed, every year, in writing.

When you need more than an agenda

A review is a planning exercise. If something has already happened, whether that's a claim, an incident, an allegation, a demand letter or a lawsuit, stop treating it as an agenda item.

Notify your carrier promptly, because late notice is itself a way to lose coverage, and talk to a lawyer before you write a narrative of events, interview anyone, or send a letter. Coverage disputes turn on the specific wording of your specific policy and on facts a template can't see. Get counsel who can read both.

Common questions

How often should the board review insurance?

Once a year, tied to renewal, plus any time something on the trigger list above happens. A new ministry or a new building shouldn't wait ten months for the annual review.

Should the broker come to the meeting?

It often helps, once every few years. Ask them in advance for a plain-language summary of exclusions and sub-limits rather than a proposal presentation. Come with your own questions written down.

Who should own this between meetings?

One named person, usually the treasurer or a board member with an operations background, with the file kept in the church's records. Ownership by committee means ownership by nobody.

Does the review need to be in the minutes?

Yes. Record that the review happened, what was decided, and what was assigned. If a coverage decision is ever questioned, the minutes are the evidence that the board considered it rather than ignored it.

What if we can't afford better coverage?

Then decide that deliberately and write it down. A board that knows it's carrying an exposure can plan around it. A board that assumes it's covered cannot.

The practical wrap

None of this is complicated work. It's one hour, once a year, with the right six questions and one person assigned to chase the answers. The churches that get caught are almost never the ones that made a hard call about a limit. They're the ones that never had the conversation at all. If you want the wider picture first, start with the coverages a church actually needs and the church operations hub.

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Find the gaps before a claim does. The Church Insurance Audit walks your board through general liability, directors and officers, employment practices and the limits most churches assume rather than check, so the review comes with the questions already written. $39, instant download.

*Faith Docs provides self-help document templates, not legal advice. We are not a law firm. For representation, consult a licensed attorney.*