By Maria Castillo Diaz Mcastillodiaz@clements.com
Every year Clements Worldwide releases its Clements Worldwide Risk Index (CWRI) to share key findings from participating organizations on their key losses and concerns over the past 6 months. In the Summer/ Fall 2016 edition, the international schools that were surveyed provided the following results as key risks:
How are Risks Evolving?
As Clements has been participating in schools conferences around the world over the last year we have heard other key concerns from school such as:
Natural Disasters preparedness being challenged
Cyber extortion / threat / phishing claims on the rise
Worldwide recruiting of international employees has extended the schools’ liability exposures outside of the country in which it operates
Riots / strikes / terrorism exposures have greatly increased, which has exacerbated the need for political violence insurance
Developing economies are being more westernized making it easier to file lawsuits
Key Insurance Policies to Review in 2018
Many of these challenges echo those described in the CWRI, particularly as it relates to liability. Clements has seen claims from injuries in a school play from using a prop gun, to liability against teachers when a student does not get accepted into a top school, to sexual abuse claims, to third party liability claims associated with a nearby terrorist attack. Liability, from an insurance perspective, is particularly complex given policy limits and exclusions. We suggest to frequently review existing policies to ensure that they have coverage across all (or at least most) potential exposures.
Cyber is another category that has become more convoluted over the past several years. In the past cyber was primarily related to data breaches. Now, the cyber category covers data breaches, but also criminal activities, including thefts, around cyber extortion and phishing. Therefore, policies must be reviewed to ensure they are covering the risks facing a particular school.
Finally, as we see more natural disaster claims, it is important to consider an emergency evacuation policy for your staff with multiple triggers for security or political violence as well as natural disasters. These policies also contain a salary continuation component which is a great financial resource for schools that often are required to hold reserves for contracted teachers’ salaries in the event the school cannot operate.
Help Us Provide You a Better Risk Forecast – Participate in the Clements Worldwide Risk Index
In the Winter/ Spring 2017 edition of the CWRI, not enough international schools participated in the survey to break out their responses to create a school specific section. Within the next month, Clements will be launching the 2018 survey. Please consider participating, as the data and insights we can share regarding the experiences of your peers is most valuable if we have enough engagement to analyze the school segment separate from the entire pool of responses. The survey only takes 10 minutes and is completely anonymous, but the results can help school administrators, directors, and business managers better plan for risks that could threaten your ability to fulfill your mission of providing the best possible educational experience for your mission.
If you interested in being notified when the survey is launched, receive a copy of the report as soon as it is ready or have any questions about it, please send us an email at request@clements.com.