Liability coverage unique for this business,
Barclay notes. Due to the potential severe
liability exposures, many Funeral Homes
will carry an Umbrella policy.
“It’s a great testament to the
funeral industry that there is huge
potential for liability with
funeral homes—but most are so
careful and concerned about the
bodies they work with that insurance is very inexpensive and
easy to obtain,” observes Schley.
Among the carriers currently
active in the space: Nationwide,
Hartford, Travelers, Guard
Insurance Group, Harleysville
(acquired by Nationwide last year), Federated
Insurance and Leading Insurance Group Co.
“There are a few more companies writing
it recently, because it’s a profitable piece of
business,” says Shink, who adds that capacity
is strong and that funeral-home coverage
is increasingly seen as a “mainstream” line
at commercial carriers. NU
There is huge potential for liability with funeral homes, but most are so careful and concerned about the bodies they work with that insurance is very inexpensive and easy to obtain.” Earl Schley, vice president of Bay Area Insurance
RESOURCE
MARKETPLACE
GRADUATE EDUCATION
STRONG CAPACITY;
Silver Hearse & Purple Nails
Distinguish Brooklyn Undertaker
■ BUYER PROFILE
DORIS AMEN, funeral director and proprietor of the Jurek Park Slope Funeral Home in Brooklyn, N.Y.,
sends her clients out in style in a 1978
silver hearse, for which she carries commercial insurance. The vehicle is anything
but subtle. “People know I’m coming,”
says Amen, who also favors a purple shade
of nail polish.
When asked about some of the
extreme risks posed by her profession,
Amen mentions, for one, the possibility
of “extreme leakage” from a body,
underscoring just how specialized the loss-mitigation challenges faced by a funeral-home director are.
While the protections against such
potentially mortifying incidents must
always be in place, these types of incidents,
thankfully, are not common. Indeed, in
Amen’s case, “I’ve been fortunate enough
to not have something [embarrassing] like
that happen in the 31 years I’ve been doing
this,” she says.
On the insurance-buying front, Amen
notes that she switched from “one of the
big carriers” several years ago when she
“started asking questions, and I didn’t like
the answers I was getting. I halved my
premium. Absolutely halved it,” she says,
noting that some of the credit belongs to
her agent, Craig Shink, with Fabricant &
Fabricant Inc. NU
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
POLICY PROFILE
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Funeral Homes
TYPICAL COVERAGES: Property, Auto,
General Liability and Professional Liability
TYPICAL COVERAGE CEILING: $1 million
per occurrence/$2 million annual
aggregate for General Liability, and a
$1 million combined single limit for
Auto Liability
AVERAGE PREMIUM: A small community
funeral home/director business: $2,500-
$5,000 range. Larger operations in the
$50,000-$75,000 annual premium range.
Much more for national chains.
The Midwestern Higher Education Compact
(MHEC-pronounced mek) is soliciting proposals from insurance brokerage firms for administrative services for its programs of insurance. MHEC’s current program of insurance is
the Master Property Program with 50 colleges
and universities insuring more than $79 billion
in values.
Participation in a pre-bid webinar on
January 25, 2012, is mandatory. Brokerage
firms seeking to be a candidate for program
administrator are NOT authorized to approach
any markets on MHEC’s behalf.
Proposals will be received by the Midwestern
Higher Education Compact office no later than
Monday, March 12, at 4:00 PM CDT, at which
time they will be opened and reviewed. The
Request For Proposal may be obtained on
MHEC’s website at: www.mhec.org/rfps as
of Wednesday, January 11, 2012. Questions
should be directed to Mary Roberson, MHEC
Director of Communications and Marketing,
maryr@mhec.org.
PropertyCasualty360.com PropertyCasualty360.com
January 16, 2012 | National Underwriter Property & Casualty | 23 January 16, 2012 | National Underwriter Property & Casualty | 23
