Providing Independent education comes with risk: to the buildings that contain offices and classrooms, to the people who study and work inside them, and to the credibility of the organization itself. As the sector grows, these risks have also grown in complexity: in the cyber and technological realm, for example, and based on external global factors like climate change and world-wide pandemics. That’s where an insurance partner can provide protection.
“Choosing the right insurance partner is critical for an independent school. In today’s ever-changing environment, schools face greater challenges than ever before,” says Colin Robertson, chief underwriting officer and vice-president of risk control at Ecclesiastical, an insurance company that specializes in assisting “organizations that enrich the lives of others” like charities, arts, and culture or heritage organizations, faith communities, and educational institutions.
“The risk associated with student supervision and the compounding impact of standards and boundaries for working with students are areas where Ecclesiastical has a wealth of experience. [CAIS schools] need someone who knows what can get a school into trouble and better still, what to do to manage the process when things go offside,” says Patti A. MacNicol, vice-principal, Administration & Innovation at Toronto’s Upper Canada College, who, as a client of Ecclesiastical, can testify to the firm’s expertise in addressing urgent issues, from property damage to PR key messaging.
“On a winter weekend following a significant property damage accident on our campus, the Ecclesiastical team were on site within minutes of contacting them,” she says. “The vice-pesident of claims and the manager of speciality lines claims both came on-site, in person on a Sunday morning to assess the damage and assist us. They then managed the claim and counterclaim process on our behalf and brought a very successful resolution to the process surprisingly quickly.”
Ecclesiastical began operating in the U.K. as far back as 1887 to protect churches from fires. Its expansion to Canada has been broad and successful: it’s established regional offices in Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver, and Calgary. Trusted with iconic buildings like London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Montreal’s Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Ecclesiastical is one of the biggest names in not only protecting well-known organizations’ finances, but their reputation as well.
“The school board of directors expects our insurer to respond to claims in a manner that is aligned with our mission and values and to be attentive to the importance of managing our reputation,” says Stephen Hardy, director of finance at The Sterling Hall School in Toronto, which filed a claim with Ecclesiastical after an accidental fire alarm partially flooded the school’s gym floor.
“We have had three major claims at the school in the 13 years I have worked [at Sterling]. Ecclesiastical responded quickly and professionally from the initial contact with their claims customer service. The adjusters they used for property claims arrived on-site very quickly and expedited the repair work and kept us informed of progress. We have had excellent service at the senior management level for a major personal injury liability claim that required a significant investment of time and was handled professionally and with great care and consideration for the parties involved, including first-class legal advice and support.”
For schools exploring insurance options, both MacNicol and Hardy recommend looking into a provider’s track record, claims process, and perhaps most importantly, whether they know the business of independent education.
“The most essential question is whether they understand the nature of your operations,” says MacNicol. “We are in the people business, an important consideration when assessing risk and the mitigating factors that we must consider in the management of our operations. So, we aren't like the typical corporate insurance client. And Ecclesiastical gets that.”
