PTO Today

Why do we need insurance – doesn’t the school cover us?
We are just a parent group – who would sue us?
Can I see a list of covered events?
Can events be held off school grounds?
Do we need to send a list of all of our events for the year?
How reliable are the insurance carriers you use?
Who is covered under the Fidelity Bond policy?
Who is covered under the D&O (Officer’s Liability) policy?
What are the limits for each coverage type?
Who is covered under the General Liability policy?
What is covered under the Property policy?
Who is covered under the Excess Accident Medical policy?
How is General Liability different than Excess Accident Medical?
How is General Liability different from D&O (Officer’s Liability)?
Why does Fidelity Bond require an audit and other controls?
Can the treasurer do the bank reconciliation?
What does it mean to “gift” something to the school?
How do I apply for coverage?
When will my coverage go into effect?
How do I add an Additional Insured?
What are the deductibles for the policies?
Does the policy cover liquor liability?
Can I see a copy of the policies?
How can we obtain Risk Management Tips and learn how to reduce Liability for our organization?
How do I report an incident?
How do I file a claim?
Why do I need to be a PTO Today Plus Member to purchase Insurance?
Parent Group Insurance: Events
General Liability coverage is excluded for the following events
General Liability Coverage Summary
Property Coverage Summary
Crime Bond Coverage Summary
Excess Accident Medical Coverage Summary

Why do we need insurance – doesn’t the school cover us?

In many states, school districts are not allowed to cover parent groups because they are independent from the school and not government entities. There are some school districts out there, however, who might still cover the parent teacher group under their policy. The best advice is to give your school a very specific list of your activities and request a written letter from the school stating that all of your activities are covered. Some policies only cover the parent teacher group for events during school hours and on the school campus so that needs to be clearly spelled out as well. Quite often the school assumes you are covered without actually looking into the specifics. The only way to be sure is to get something in writing!

We are just a parent group – who would sue us?

Unfortunately, parent teacher groups are not immune from 3rd party liability or from law suits, even if they are incorporated. Every year, parent groups face 3rd party liability suits or are victims of embezzlement. As a parent group officer, it is your responsibility to make sure your group has sound practices to prevent potential problems. You should also ensure your group is covered in the event that something bad does happen. It only takes one bad event to erase years of hard work.

Can I see a list of covered events?

A partial list of covered/excluded events can be found here www.ptotoday.com/insurance/events

Can events be held off of school grounds?

The policies provided cover the parent teacher group anywhere within the United States. You can hold events away from your school and you are still covered!

Do we need to send a list of all of our events for the year?

No, you do not need to submit a list of your events. Please check with the Covered and Excluded Events document located at www.ptotoday.com/insurance/events to check if your event is covered. If you don’t see your specific event listed here, please email insurance@ptotoday.com to confirm coverage is provided. It is important to remember that your policy covers parent group sponsored events. To be considered parent group sponsored:

1. The event must be approved by the parent group
2. The event must be scheduled and planned by the parent group
3. The majority of the manpower must be provided by the parent group

How reliable are the insurance partners you use?

Aon Association Services, a division of Affinity Insurance Services, Inc. has over 30 years of experience administering insurance programs for the nonprofit community. AIG as the insurance carrier, provides all coverage for the PTO program through various underwriting companies and they are rated, A , Excellent by A. M. Best’s Rating

Who is covered under the Fidelity Bond (Crime) policy?

The Bond policy is a blanket bond that covers anyone who your organization trusts with the money. This can be a President, Treasurer, Committee Chairperson or Volunteer.

Who is covered under the Directors' & Officers' (D&O) Liability policy?

D&O covers all the officers of your group in the circumstance they are sued personally for a decision made by the group. The D&O policy has a $1,000,000 limit per claim and a $10,000,000 annual aggregate limit.

What are the limits for each coverage type?

General Liability - $1,000,000 per occurrence limit/$2,000,000 annual aggregate limit
Bond - $25,000 annual limit
D&O - $1,000,000 per claim, $1,000,000 per organization, $10,000,000 aggregate limit
Property - $10,000 annual limit.
Excess Accident Medical - $25,000 annual limit

Who is covered under the General Liability policy?

General Liability provides coverage for included/covered events to your entire parent group – all the volunteers and members.

What is covered under the Property policy?

Property coverage extends to any personal property of the parent teacher group, such as computers, popcorn machines, and fundraising merchandise. If you “gift” an item to the school, however, that item would be considered school property and covered under the school's insurance policy.

Who is covered under the Excess Accident Medical policy?

Excess Accident Medical covers your entire parent group - all the volunteers and members.

How is General Liability different from Excess Accident Medical?

General Liability specifically covers 3rd party bodily injury and property damage claims. Excess Accident Medical provides out of pocket medical expense to help avoid lawsuits. Excess Accident Medical also provides medical expense coverage for things that are excluded from the General Liability policy including automobiles and school buses (for field trips).

How is the General Liability different from D&O (Officer’s Liability)?

General Liability protects your group from 3rd party bodily injury and property damage claims arising out of your sponsored events. The coverage “trigger” occurs when there is property damage or bodily injury at a covered event. For example, if a third party is injured while participating in a PTO sponsored event, a claim could arise that should be filed under the General Liability policy. A General Liability claim could also arise from actions of a PTO member who damages school property.

D&O Liability specifically excludes bodily injury and property damage claims. D&O protects your PTO and your officers if someone alleges misrepresentation or mismanagement of your parent group.

If PTO officers hire a company to provide bounce houses for a back to school kickoff, but fail to verify insurance or undertake any due diligence regarding the vendor, and an incident occurs involving the vendor, the Officers could be sued personally for their decision to hire this uninsured vendor. There does not have to be bodily injury or property damage to trigger a D&O claim. In fact, if the claim alleges either bodily injury or property damage, the claim should be filed under the General Liability.

Why does Fidelity Bond require an audit and other controls?

The best thing you can do to protect your group’s money is to put in place sound financial controls. Insisting that someone who does not sign checks reviews the bank statement will help to protect your organization from having a loss, as well as limit the dollar amount of the loss through early detection. The person who doesn’t have check signing authority basically needs to date and sign the monthly bank statement indicating it has been reviewed. The audit does not need to be done by an accountant, just an independent person who understands the process. PTO Today’s Treasurer’s Toolkit has several other helpful financial controls to help you safeguard your money.

Can the treasurer do the bank reconciliation?

Yes, the treasurer can reconcile the bank statement. It’s important, however, to have someone else review the reconciliation to make sure it was done properly. You might want to consider Finance Manager (www.ptotoday.com/manager) to make bank reconciliation easy. Since Finance Manager is a web based software program, your financial data is accessible to anyone with the right permission level. This makes reviewing the bank reconciliation a very simple process!

What does it mean to “gift” something to the school?

When you donate or “gift” something to the school and they accept the gift, then the school also accepts responsibility for those items and it further separates your group from liability. This is quite often done with playground equipment and similar types of items. Please remember that “gifting or trusting” items to a school will provide some defense in court but cannot stop someone from filing a lawsuit.

How do I apply for coverage?

You can apply online at www.ptotoday.com/insurance and pay with a check or a credit card. If you do not wish to do that, you can download the application and send it to us via the mail. To view the various Plus memberships, go to www.ptotoday.com/insurancepackages.

When will my coverage go into effect?

Your policy can start as soon as the day after you purchase assuming we receive the completed application, payment for your membership, and your application is approved.

How do I add an Additional Insured?

To add an additional insured, simply contact AON (see contact information noted below) with the wording that you need for the additional insured, including the address and fax number/e-mail for the additional insured as well as all of your group's contact information (group name, address, phone #). They will email you the new certificate with the additional insured information.

Meghan Hayes
Aon Association Services, a division of Affinity Insurance Services, Inc.
1120 20th Street, NW Ste 600 Washington, DC 20036

Phone: 800-432-7465 ext 5338, direct 202-862-5338 Fax: 202-223-4080

What are the deductibles for the policies?

The only policies that have a deductible are the Property, D&O and the Fidelity Bond policies. The deductible for D&O is $2,500. The deductible for Fidelity Bond (Crime) and Property is $250.

Does the policy cover liquor liability?

The General Liability coverage provides “HOST LIQUOR LIABILITY” coverage which protects your organization for third party claims brought as a result of your serving alcoholic beverages. This coverage, however, specifically excludes claims if it is determined that your organization was in the business of manufacturing, distributing, selling, serving or furnishing alcoholic beverages. Since this reference to an organization being in this “business” is somewhat ambiguous, we recommend that an organization operating a “cash bar” purchase specific liquor liability insurance. Because of the cost associated with this coverage, it is strongly recommended that PTO's hire a food/beverage contractor and get added as an Additional Insured to their liability coverages (including liquor liability). If it is determined that you must purchase Liquor Liability coverage, you can approach Aon Association Services (meghan_hayes@asg.aon.com) and a separate quote will be obtained for the PTO in question. Pertinent information would include number of people expected at the event, the time of the event and the anticipated liquor receipts.

Can I see a copy of the policies?

A complete summary of all the policies can be found at www.ptotoday.com/insurance/policies

How can we obtain Risk Management Tips and learn how to reduce Liability for our organization?

Aon has put together a document to help your group reduce the chance of ever having to file a claim. You can find this document at www.ptotoday.com/insurance/loss.

How do I report an incident?

All claims/incidents should be reported to AIG on a direct basis and they will respond to you promptly. IMPORTANT: Please follow the attached claims instructions which are segmented by coverage type. When filing a claim you will need to include the following:

• The master policy number for the specific coverage type
• Your organization’s name
• Your contact information (phone, e-mail, fax)
• Your school name and address
• A a brief description of the incident.

It is important to file a notice of an incident that could give rise to a claim. Costs are mitigated by early involvement of an insurance adjuster.

How do I file a claim?

Please find the attached claims instructions.

Once a claim is filed, your PTO group will be notified by AIG with respect to acknowledgement of the receipt of the claim and clarification if additional information is needed from your organization.

You can find claim forms at www.ptotoday.com/insurance/claims

Why do I need to be a PTO Today Plus Member to purchase Insurance?

By pooling all our members together we're able to offer you exceptional coverage at a discounted rate you won't find elsewhere. As a Plus member you'll enjoy all the exclusive benefits of being a Plus member, including downloadable access to ALL expert guides (a $235 value), members-only library of online articles and bonus tools, and first dibs on special offers and complimentary sampling programs from our partners.

 

Parent Group Insurance: Events

General Liability coverage is included for the following events:

After School Programs	Childcare	Ice Cream Socials
All Night Lock-Ins	Colored Sand Painting	Jail Auction
Animal Rides	Community Forums	Karaoke
Apple Bobbing	Concession Stands	Line Dancing
Arts & Crafts Activities	Confetti Eggs	Litter Cleanup
Auctions	Costume Parties	Magic Shows
Babysitting at PTO Meetings	Cow Bingo	Math Fairs
Bake or Food Sales	Easter Egg Hunt	Open Houses
Balloon Artists	Egg Toss	Parades (except vehicular incidents)
Band Concerts	Enrichment Programs	Parent Education Workshop
Baseball Toss	Face Painting	Pee Wee Golf
Bazaars	Family Portraits	Performing Arts
Bean Bag Toss	Fashion Shows	Petting Zoos
Beautification Projects	Fishing (from land)	Picnics
Bike Rodeos	Food Sales	Pizza Night
Book Fairs	Fortune Telling	Ring Toss
Bowling	Fun Runs	Science Fairs
Broom Hockey	Golf Tournaments	Spelling Bees
Cake Walks	Grad Nights	Sumo Wrestling
Camping	Haunted Houses	Talent Shows
Candy or Wrapping Paper Sales	Horse led Hayrides (no vehicles)	Water Balloon Toss
Carnivals (except mechanical rides)	Hobby Shows

For the following activities to be covered by your insurance they must have supervision and be held at a facility that has appropriate insurance or with a vendor who has appropriate insurance and names your parent group as an additional insured.

Alcohol, when served at functions
Bounce Houses
Dunking Booths
Inflatable Slides
Moon Walks
Rock Climbing Walls
Skating Rink (Roller and Ice)
Ski School/Programs
Swim Parties

General Liability coverage is excluded for the following events:

Automobiles
Aircraft
Asbestos Exposure
Boy/Girl Scout Sponsorship
Bungee Jumping
Fireworks
Hang Gliding/Parasailing/Parachuting
Hot Air Balloons
Lead Exposure
Luge/Tabogganing
Mechanical/Motorized Rides at Carnival
Motorsports / Race Track Risks
Nuclear Exposure
Organized Athletic Events
Paintball
Pyrotechnic Displays or Devices
Rocketry
Rodeo
Saddle Animals
Skateboarding
Trampolines over 46” in diameter
Vehicular Transportation of Any Type
Velcro Jumps
Watercraft Workers Compensation Claims

This list is not all inclusive. Please email us if you have a question about whether your event is covered

Questions About Parent Group Insurance? Call 800-557-2670

 

Coverage Summaries

 

General Liability Coverage Summary

General Liability provides coverage for sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of bodily injury or property damage from a covered event.

A good benchmark to remember is that there must be bodily injury or property damage to trigger coverage under the general liability policy. PTO Today's Insurance Program also offers the ability to purchase Excess Accident Medical Coverage for an additional premium. Excess Accident Medical is different from the general liability coverage in that, it provides “no fault” coverage for covered events. A suit (which is necessary under the GL policy) does not have to be brought against the PTO to trigger coverage for the Excess Accident Medical.

PTO Today's General Liability program includes coverage for Personal and Advertising Injury and Products –Completed Operations (see policy for definitions).

There is also coverage for Sexual Abuse & Molestation with a $1,000,000 limit per event and $1,000,000 aggregate limit.

The General Liability policy provides sub limits for Fire Damage and Medical Payments. The Fire Damage sub limit is $100,000 and the Medical Payments sub- limit is $5,000. Fire Damage Liability provides coverage for the ensuing property damage to property, that the PTO is occupying, due to the PTO's negligence. Medical Payments is a “no-fault” coverage providing up to $5,000 for first aid administered at the time of the accident, necessary medical, surgical, x-ray and dental services, and the necessary ambulance, hospital, professional nursing and funeral services. A suit does not have to be filed in order for the PTO to receive the $5,000 benefit. Should the expense exceed this limit, the claimant would seek protection under the general liability policy.

The General Liability policy is an “occurrence” based policy (with the exception of the Sexual Abuse & Molestation coverage limit). If a covered event occurs during this policy period, this general liability policy could respond.

The Sexual Abuse & Molestation coverage part is on a “claims-made” basis. A “claims-made” policy requires that the covered event and the reporting of the claim take place during the policy period and after the retroactive date. It is important to report notice of a potential claim to the carrier prior to the expiration of the policy term.

Volunteers are covered as part of the PTO under the general liability policy, as respects to their involvement on behalf of the PTO.

The PTO Today general liability policy does not have a deductible.

See the PTO Today website www.ptotoday.com/insurance/events for a list of covered and excluded events.

Should you have any questions, please call

Meghan Hayes
Aon Association Services, a division of Affinity Insurance Services, Inc.
1120 20th Street, NW Ste 600
Washington, DC 20036

Phone: 800-432-7465 ext 5338, direct 202-862-5338
Fax: 202-223-4080

 

Property Coverage Summary

This property policy is a “Causes of Loss – Special Form”. This means that covered causes of loss means Risks of Direct Physical Loss unless the loss is:

• Excluded in Section B, Exclusions; or
• Limited in Section C, Limitations (see full policy for more details)
• The Cause of Loss – Special Form is generally a broader coverage form versus a named peril policy. If it is not excluded, then the peril is covered.
• Coverage limit is $10,000 and carries a $250 deductible, to be assumed by the local PTO.
• This policy provides coverage to the Business Personal Property that is damaged from perils not excluded under this policy, with a maximum liability of $10,000.
• Theft or loss of Scrip is not covered by your Property Policy.

Covered Property includes the property of the PTO that is:

• Furniture and fixtures
• Machinery and Equipment
• All other personal property owned by you and used to run your business
• Leased personal property for which you have a contractual responsibility to Insure

 

Crime Bond Coverage Summary

The PTO Today Crime policy provides coverage for:

• Employee Theft: $25,000 Limit of Liability
• Premises Coverage: $25,000 Limit of Liability
• Transit Coverage: $25,000 Limit of Liability
• Depository Forgery Coverage: $25,000 Limit of Liability
• This policy contains a $250 deductible, to be assumed by the local PTO.
• This policy provides coverage for a covered event within the United States, its' territories and Canada.
• Money, Scrip, Securities and Checks are covered under the above limits of liability. (See policy for definitions)
• The Crime bond provides coverage for the officers, directors and volunteers under the above limits of liability for each insuring clause.
• The local PTO does not have to provide a list of those to be covered under this bond. This bond provides blanket coverage for those working on behalf of the local PTO.

 

Excess Accident Medical Coverage Summary

• Provides “no fault” coverage up to $25,000 for accident medical expenses (See policy for exclusions)
• Provides up to $10,000 for Accidental Death Benefit.
• Provides a maximum of $10,000 for Accidental Dismemberment.
• Dental Maximum is $250 per tooth with a $1,000 maximum per accident

Covered activities include:

Participation in Policyholder sponsored activity, including sponsored group travel to and from a covered activity.
See policy for covered Accident Medical Expenses/Services