Baptist Insurance Services Report for Assembly 2022
Baptist Insurance Services Ltd (BIS) is a ministry of Australian Baptist Ministries and is our national Baptist insurance scheme. BIS organises insurance on property and other assets in excess of $5 billion and on behalf of over 1,350 constituents. In NSW & ACT, the scheme currently has insured assets totalling more than $1.3 billion.
Services offered by BIS include:
- Handling claims
- Providing advice
- Delivering risk management workshops, education and resources
- Conducting insurance information sessions for all Association members
- Visiting clients to assist in understanding insurance and risk management
- Providing online Work Health and Safety Training.
2021 was a very interesting year due to the continuing impact of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns. Many church properties were unoccupied for a period of time but insurance continued to be important to protect people and property.
A severe storm in March 2021 impacted many church properties, which resulted in many claims being made. Property claims were also made during the year for theft, fusion, accidental damage, fire, glass breakage, hail damage, water ingress, and impact by a motor vehicle.
Besides impact to property, claims were also made for other types of incidents – unfair dismissal; ransomware attack; bullying; slip trip & fall; volunteer & student injuries.
Insurance renewal presented another challenge for churches. Significant losses in numerous classes of policies, combined with insurers losing business due to COVID-19, caused premiums to increase nationally and globally. Certain insurers also refused to underwrite certain classes of insurance. This included our previous Cyber insurer.
After significant work, BIS was able to obtain insurance cover for most of our scheme policies at a competitive rate. We continue to offer comprehensive cover to protect the church family and the church leadership.
The BIS Work Health & Safety (WHS) online training resources were well utilised in 2021. The training is offered for free online and may be completed at your convenience. There is no limit to the number of people in your church who can participate. In addition, BIS also has a free ‘Identifying Hazards’ training module.
To access the WHS Training, as well as many risk management and insurance resources, please go to the BIS website: http://www.baptistinsurance.com.au/ and follow the links at the top of the page.
If you have any insurance questions, please do not hesitate to contact the NSW & ACT Insurance Manager, Tim Williams, on 02 9868 9213, 0403 615 033 or tim.williams@baptistinsurance.com.au.
