What is association liability insurance?

Association liability insurance is a specialist liability insurance product designed for community sector, childcare and not-for-profit clients.

What does the cover include?

Miramar liability underwriters Jasmine D’Souza and Robyn Blackett, who work on the association liability product, explain that it’s a comprehensive package cover that includes the following lines:

• Director’s and officer’s (D&O) liability.
• Professional indemnity.
• Employment practices liability.
• Fidelity.

In addition to these essential covers, Jasmine and Robyn say Miramar Association Liability Insurance also includes a range of automatic extensions, including crisis loss and public relations expenses cover.

“Cover for claims made by or against volunteers and taxation disputes cover are also included,” the pair explain. “These are two areas of special concern to not-for-profits.”

What are the advantages of buying liability insurance as a package for these types of clients?

“Even when not-for-profits and associations take out D&O liability insurance, there are often gaps in that cover,” the underwriters explain. “Most D&O insurance is designed for public companies and does not cover claims against the organisation itself.”

“But with many not-for-profits and associations being cash-flow poor, this specialty liability insurance covers the organisation at risk, in the event of a claim. Associations and not-for-profit entities also face other risks that are not covered by D&O insurance, such as wrongful dismissal and sexual harassment claims arising from the staff superannuation fund, and crisis management costs, for example.”

What are some of the key factors that affect the pricing of association liability insurance?

“Like any type of insurance, the price and availability of association liability insurance is impacted by general insurance market conditions,” Robyn says. “But when it comes to individual risks, the key factors that affect pricing are turnover, claims history and limit of indemnity.”

What are some of the features and benefits of Miramar’s association liability cover?

Miramar’s Association Liability Insurance policy can provide cover for statutory liability up to a limit of $1,000,000, pollution defence costs up to $500,000, and tax audit costs up to $50,000, Jasmine says.

“The policy can provide cover for up to $10 million indemnity limit and extra insolvency cover, subject to our underwriting guidelines,” she explains.

“In addition, Miramar has over ten years of experience in arranging this product, and we have low deductibles.”

Contact us for more information

For more information about association liability insurance or about liability insurance in general, get in touch with the team at Miramar. Contact details for all of our experienced insurance professionals can be found on our website, while association liability submissions can be sent to the Miramar liability inbox: liability@miramaruw.com.au.

Miramar Underwriting Agency Pty Ltd (‘Miramar’) acts as agent for the Insurer(s) of the product, certain underwriters at Lloyd’s.