The "Coverage B" in the policy does state that personal injury, such as
slander and libel, is covered.  It looks to me like that is covered, the
same as bodily injury and damages.

I did get a ballpark quote for D&O insurance from the CEO of ANI in a
subsequent message to the one I sent on.  She stated that such insurance for
a nonprofit with no employees would be $600.  She didn't say what the
coverage was, but I presume it was $1,000,000, since that seems to be
standard.  I didn't follow up because I do think we can do without it, but
if people think we should find out if we can get coverage for $500,000 I can
ask.

We've gone without insurance for nearly 125 years now.  We went through a
period of really serious mismanagement of our investments about 15 years
ago, and nobody did anything but grumble quietly, so I don't think we're
likely to be sued for mismanaging GSW.  The question of libel and slander
does remain.  It does look like that is also adequately covered under
general liability, but if you want me to, I can ask specifically about that.

I still don't think we need D&O insurance.

Odette

From: J Alex Speer [mailto:jaspeer@meteoriticalsociety.net]
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2017 4:12 PM
To: Odette James
Cc: gsw-councilplus-l@minlists.org
Subject: Re: [Gsw-councilplus-l] Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

Odette:

Because GSW is running field trips more regularly now, requires insurance to
meet in some other locations, and appears it can afford it, having General
Liability Insurance makes sense.

I fully expect the GSW Council, after considering the cost/benefit ratio,
will decide against any Directors and Officer (D&O) liability insurance.
However, I was concerned that this decision might be made on too narrow of
considerations.

Thus far, in the D&O liability insurance conversation, the insurance was
said to be unneeded because GSW does not have employees, does not publish,
or is protected by some aspects of DC charitable immunity or volunteer
protection laws.

•   True - GSW has no employees, and this appears to be the leading
  

cause of legal action against a board of directors.  (Said to be nearly 90%
of reported D&O claims.)

•   GSW meetings are publicly advertised, in practice are open to the
  

public, and the minutes are freely posted online.  These are opportunities
for public libel, slander, and defamation - GSW publishes in both oral and
written forms.

•   I would expect general liability insurance to cover defense expenses
  

to the limit of the coverage for both everyone in GSW and GSW itself for the
types of offenses that are covered.  Items in the long list of exclusions
enumerated in the ANI general liability policy are not covered for either
defense nor settlement.  The ANI policy appears limited to defense and
settlement coverage for losses arising from bodily injury and property
damage only.

•   What is excluded by that ANI general liability insurance could be
  

termed management liability or financial damages, not bodily injury or
property damage.  Most pertinent here are personal and advertising injury
(libel, slander, and defamation); publisher's liability (plagiarism,
copyright infringement); disparagement of goods, products or services;
publication of material that violates a person's right of privacy;
fundraising; mismanagement of assets; and failure to remit/pay taxes.

•   Some states have charitable immunity or volunteer protection laws
  

and there is the 1997 federal Volunteer Protection Act.  These laws vary
from state to state, do not shield a nonprofit organization from liability
or from being sued, cannot preclude federal violation liability, and do not
provide for the cost of defense.

•   GSW ought not rely on being governed by DC jurisdiction because it
  

is a DC corporation.  With field trips possible in surrounding states, GSW
corresponding members though out the country, and a website, a justification
could be made that a legal jurisdiction more favorable to the plaintiff is
possible.

•   Since more than one half of all D&O claims close at zero indemnity -
  

with no payment to the plaintiff - the duty of the insurance company to
defend covered claims is of greater value than the obligations to pay
settlement or judgement amounts.

A cost/benefit judgement will likely be that D&O liability insurance for GSW
is not justified.  My concern is that the GSW Council make the decision with
their eyes wide open as to the variety of their exposure, as they or future
Councils will have their personal assets at risk by serving on Council.  The
alternative here is to have written policies and procedures in place that
are made continually known and followed to minimize any of those management
liabilities.

Alex

On Apr 14, 2017, at 6:02 PM, Odette B. James o.b.james@verizon.net wrote:

Alex - we are considering only one policy for general liability, that from
ANI.

For all - here is the response from the CEO of ANI on what the general
liability insurance would cover.  It appears we are completely covered in
case of a scattershot suit in which someone sues absolutely everybody he or
she can think of associated with GSW for bodily injury, property damage, or
personal injury (in our case, slander and libel would be the only plausible
types of personal injury).

Thinking back to the case that Alex cited at the council meeting - that was
a situation of slander and libel.  Both General Liability and D&O insurance
cover slander and libel.  But D&O insurance covers only "wrongful acts"
(slander and libel are a subset of this type of injury) and would not cover
any expenses connected with lawsuits arising from any other type of
situation, such as injuries on a field trip.  I don't think we need D&O
insurance, as we are unlikely to be sued for "wrongful acts" arising from
mismanaging GSW or its employees (we have none).  The only thing covered
under D&O insurance where we might have a problem is the slander and libel
situation, and General Liability has us covered for that.

So. we don't need D&O insurance.

Cheers

Odette

From: Pamela Davis [mailto:pdavis@insurancefornonprofits.org]
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2017 12:29 PM
To: o.b.james@verizon.net
Subject: RE: Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

Odette,

Thanks for reaching out.  I think there is a confusion her between
"defense" and "attorney fees".  If someone is insured on a field trip and
sues your organization and the individuals associated with it for bodily
injury, the GL policy would cover the full cost of the defense for everyone
in your organization and the organization yourself.  This includes handling
the entire claim to conclusion, whether that entails defending a lawsuit or
just arriving at a settlement to the claim, or denying the claim.  If we
would decline the claim because we were convinced it was not your
organization's or any of your individual's responsibility, we would still
have to provide the defense and indemnification for all of you if the person
injured decides to sue you.  That decision of whether to settle with the
injured party or continue with the defense would be our decision.

Where you see that "legal fees" are not covered, that means that the policy
is not required to pay the other party's legal fees.  Which is true.
However, we, as the insurer, are responsible for handling the claim to
conclusion and that typically means including in the settlement an amount
that will allow the injured party to cover their attorney fees.  We, as the
insurer, can't just leave you, our policyholder, dangling.  We need to
conclude the claim so that you are protected.  We then make sure we get a
full release so they can't come back and try to get any more money from you
for this claim.

I hope this helps.  If not, feel free to call me at the number below.  These
things can be confusing.  And, by the way, you can get other quotes, but I
can assure you that no CEO of another insurance company is ever going to
personally answer your email!

All the best,

Pamela E. Davis

Founder/President/CEO

831-621-6018

800-359-6422, ext. 6018

<image001.jpg>

Celebrating 28 years of service to nonprofits!

From: Odette B. James [mailto: mailto:o.b.james@verizon.net
o.b.james@verizon.net]
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2017 8:51 AM
To: Pamela Davis
Subject: RE: Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

Thank you for the quote.  Our council discussed the insurance at its meeting
on Wednesday and agreed that we do need a general liability policy, but we
would like to get quotes from one or two other brokers before making a final
decision.

One question did come up that we would like answered.  Suppose that someone
did get injured on one of our field trips and decided to sue the field trip
leader and every individual they could think of connected with the
organization as well as the organization itself.  Everyone named in the suit
would have to respond, even if later the court might throw out most of the
people originally named.  The policy states that the insurer will "defend"
the directors, officers and volunteers of the organization named in the suit
as well as the organization itself.  Does this defense encompass helping
them with the individual responses to the original charges?  Would there be
any lawyers fees that the individuals would incur that would not be covered
by the insurance?  The policy does not seem entirely clear on this, as in
one place it states that legal fees will not be covered, yet in other places
it states that everyone will be "defended."

I sent this question to the broker we have been dealing with and she
responded that attorneys' fees would be paid "if the claim warranted it."
That really didn't answer the question.  When would the claim warrant paying
the fees and when would it not?  If one of our officers or volunteers is
named in a lawsuit against the organization, along with the organization,
would the insurance policy cover the costs for that person to defend himself
or herself against the suit?  When would the costs not be covered?

Best regards

Odette James

From: pdavis@insurancefornonprofits.org
[mailto:pdavis@insurancefornonprofits.org]
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2017 4:25 PM
To: o.b.james@verizon.net
Cc: jpittman@cimaworld.com; pdavis@insurancefornonprofits.org
Subject: Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

We are pleased to let you know that your organization has been approved for
membership in the Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance, Risk Retention Group
(ANI) and we are working on a quote for your organization. We will provide
your insurance broker, Cima Companies, Inc., with a quotation for your
organization's liability insurance shortly. Once your broker has an
opportunity to evaluate and review our quote, your broker will be in touch
with you to go over the coverages, premium and specialized free and
discounted services included with the quotation. But, there are a couple of
things about ANI that I'd like you to hear from me, the founder.

ANI and NIAC, an affiliate in California, grew from an idea posed in my
Master's thesis at UC Berkeley. In my thesis, I proposed that instead of
relying on insurance companies that were inconsistent in their willingness
to provide affordable insurance, the nonprofit sector actually could get
control of this important financial service and make sure we were paying our
fair share and no more. My dream was to engage nonprofits in risk management
by providing a variety of free or highly discounted management services as
part of the insurance purchase. And then, if together we had claims
experiences that were better than anticipated, we would share that good
fortune with the members that made it happen. Our experience since ANI's
founding in 2001 has been terrific. ANI members currently accrue credits
toward a dividend plan the company has in place, however, ANI is not yet
paying out dividends.

For example, for ANI members all of the following are FREE for those
purchasing the related insurance coverage:

• Driver Training (online, in person, and self-study) (Auto Coverage)
• Free and unlimited Employment-related and Pre-termination
  Consultations (D&O Coverage)

All ANI members have access to the following services FREE OF CHARGE:

• Unlimited use of our Audiovisual Lending Library
• Risk Management materials on our Secure Website
• Our Webinar Series
• BOARDnetWORK - an online tool for your Board of Directors
• My Risk Management Plan
• Group Purchasing Portal

ANI Members also have access to the following highly discounted services:

• Background Checks
• Disaster Recovery and Planning online tool
• Drug Screening
• Motor Vehicle Record Checks (MVRs)
• Employee Handbook Builder (D&O Coverage)

Click here to download a one-page summary of our services.
http://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/resources/Services.pdf

Yes, ANI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and our nonprofit members are the
beneficiaries of our work. We have grown from $10 million in total grants
from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation to a company rated A VIII by A.M. Best, insuring more than 7000
nonprofits in 32 states and DC. Everything we do is on behalf of other
nonprofits like you. I would welcome a call from you to answer any questions
you might have about ANI as you consider this important decision. My direct
phone number is (831) 621-6018 or you can use the 800 number listed below.
If you want to check out what others are saying about ANI, click
http://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/about/what-our-members-are-saying/
here. If you want more details about Risk Retention Groups, click here
http://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/resources/RRG-QA.pdf .

This year, when your insurance broker reviews with you the quotations for
insurance, I hope you'll see that with ANI, you will get value from your
insurance purchase throughout the year, and not just when you have claims!
And, we want you to know that if your broker is recommending ANI it is
because they are more willing to serve this important sector than to get the
highest possible commission for themselves. Please thank them.

We hope you will join us. Visit our website at
www.insurancefornonprofits.org http://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/ .

51224

Pamela E. Davis
Founder/President/CEO
831-621-6018
800-359-6422, ext. 6018

<image002.jpg>

Celebrating 28 years of service to nonprofits!

Click this link to view our annual report online:
https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/pubs/AnnualReport/index.html

https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org
https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT: This message, together with any attachments is
intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is
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from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby
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attachment is strictly prohibited. If you have received this item in error,
please notify the original sender and destroy this item, along with any
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Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Click this link to view our annual report online:
https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/pubs/AnnualReport/index.html

https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org
https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT: This message, together with any attachments is
intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is
addressed. It may contain information that is confidential and prohibited
from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby
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attachment is strictly prohibited. If you have received this item in error,
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Please consider the environment before printing this email.

GSW-Councilplus-l mailing list

The GSW Councilplus list serv intended for GSW Council members and GSW
Committee Chairs to receive and post messages.

GSW-Councilplus-l@minlists.org
http://lists.minlists.org/mailman/listinfo/gsw-councilplus-l

2a and 2b state that there are exclusions if we knowingly violate the rights
of someone, or knowingly present false information.  I don't see how this
could apply to GSW or its council members or the program chair if a talk
that is slanderous were to be presented at GSW.  The person giving the talk
might know that his or her statements were slanderous or false, but there is
no way the members of the council or the program chair could know that a
speaker was about to slander someone or violate their rights.  I don't see
how this exclusion could apply to us.  Our insurance policy just defends us

• the speaker would have to defend himself or herself.

Odette

From: J Alex Speer [mailto:jaspeer@minsocam.org]
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2017 5:05 PM
To: Odette James
Cc: gsw-councilplus-l@minlists.org
Subject: Re: [Gsw-councilplus-l] Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

Odette:

If I am looking at the same policy, "Coverage B"  (page 6 of 16) says
"personal and advertising injury" is excluded (2a and 2 b).

Alex

On Apr 17, 2017, at 4:44 PM, Odette B. James o.b.james@verizon.net wrote:

The "Coverage B" in the policy does state that personal injury, such as
slander and libel, is covered.  It looks to me like that is covered, the
same as bodily injury and damages.

I did get a ballpark quote for D&O insurance from the CEO of ANI in a
subsequent message to the one I sent on.  She stated that such insurance for
a nonprofit with no employees would be $600.  She didn't say what the
coverage was, but I presume it was $1,000,000, since that seems to be
standard.  I didn't follow up because I do think we can do without it, but
if people think we should find out if we can get coverage for $500,000 I can
ask.

We've gone without insurance for nearly 125 years now.  We went through a
period of really serious mismanagement of our investments about 15 years
ago, and nobody did anything but grumble quietly, so I don't think we're
likely to be sued for mismanaging GSW.  The question of libel and slander
does remain.  It does look like that is also adequately covered under
general liability, but if you want me to, I can ask specifically about that.

I still don't think we need D&O insurance.

Odette

From: J Alex Speer [mailto:jaspeer@meteoriticalsociety.net]
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2017 4:12 PM
To: Odette James
Cc: gsw-councilplus-l@minlists.org
Subject: Re: [Gsw-councilplus-l] Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

Odette:

Because GSW is running field trips more regularly now, requires insurance to
meet in some other locations, and appears it can afford it, having General
Liability Insurance makes sense.

I fully expect the GSW Council, after considering the cost/benefit ratio,
will decide against any Directors and Officer (D&O) liability insurance.
However, I was concerned that this decision might be made on too narrow of
considerations.

Thus far, in the D&O liability insurance conversation, the insurance was
said to be unneeded because GSW does not have employees, does not publish,
or is protected by some aspects of DC charitable immunity or volunteer
protection laws.

•   True - GSW has no employees, and this appears to be the leading
  

cause of legal action against a board of directors.  (Said to be nearly 90%
of reported D&O claims.)

•   GSW meetings are publicly advertised, in practice are open to the
  

public, and the minutes are freely posted online.  These are opportunities
for public libel, slander, and defamation - GSW publishes in both oral and
written forms.

•   I would expect general liability insurance to cover defense expenses
  

to the limit of the coverage for both everyone in GSW and GSW itself for the
types of offenses that are covered.  Items in the long list of exclusions
enumerated in the ANI general liability policy are not covered for either
defense nor settlement.  The ANI policy appears limited to defense and
settlement coverage for losses arising from bodily injury and property
damage only.

•   What is excluded by that ANI general liability insurance could be
  

termed management liability or financial damages, not bodily injury or
property damage.  Most pertinent here are personal and advertising injury
(libel, slander, and defamation); publisher's liability (plagiarism,
copyright infringement); disparagement of goods, products or services;
publication of material that violates a person's right of privacy;
fundraising; mismanagement of assets; and failure to remit/pay taxes.

•   Some states have charitable immunity or volunteer protection laws
  

and there is the 1997 federal Volunteer Protection Act.  These laws vary
from state to state, do not shield a nonprofit organization from liability
or from being sued, cannot preclude federal violation liability, and do not
provide for the cost of defense.

•   GSW ought not rely on being governed by DC jurisdiction because it
  

is a DC corporation.  With field trips possible in surrounding states, GSW
corresponding members though out the country, and a website, a justification
could be made that a legal jurisdiction more favorable to the plaintiff is
possible.

•   Since more than one half of all D&O claims close at zero indemnity -
  

with no payment to the plaintiff - the duty of the insurance company to
defend covered claims is of greater value than the obligations to pay
settlement or judgement amounts.

A cost/benefit judgement will likely be that D&O liability insurance for GSW
is not justified.  My concern is that the GSW Council make the decision with
their eyes wide open as to the variety of their exposure, as they or future
Councils will have their personal assets at risk by serving on Council.  The
alternative here is to have written policies and procedures in place that
are made continually known and followed to minimize any of those management
liabilities.

Alex

On Apr 14, 2017, at 6:02 PM, Odette B. James o.b.james@verizon.net wrote:

Alex - we are considering only one policy for general liability, that from
ANI.

For all - here is the response from the CEO of ANI on what the general
liability insurance would cover.  It appears we are completely covered in
case of a scattershot suit in which someone sues absolutely everybody he or
she can think of associated with GSW for bodily injury, property damage, or
personal injury (in our case, slander and libel would be the only plausible
types of personal injury).

Thinking back to the case that Alex cited at the council meeting - that was
a situation of slander and libel.  Both General Liability and D&O insurance
cover slander and libel.  But D&O insurance covers only "wrongful acts"
(slander and libel are a subset of this type of injury) and would not cover
any expenses connected with lawsuits arising from any other type of
situation, such as injuries on a field trip.  I don't think we need D&O
insurance, as we are unlikely to be sued for "wrongful acts" arising from
mismanaging GSW or its employees (we have none).  The only thing covered
under D&O insurance where we might have a problem is the slander and libel
situation, and General Liability has us covered for that.

So. we don't need D&O insurance.

Cheers

Odette

From: Pamela Davis [mailto:pdavis@insurancefornonprofits.org]
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2017 12:29 PM
To: o.b.james@verizon.net
Subject: RE: Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

Odette,

Thanks for reaching out.  I think there is a confusion her between
"defense" and "attorney fees".  If someone is insured on a field trip and
sues your organization and the individuals associated with it for bodily
injury, the GL policy would cover the full cost of the defense for everyone
in your organization and the organization yourself.  This includes handling
the entire claim to conclusion, whether that entails defending a lawsuit or
just arriving at a settlement to the claim, or denying the claim.  If we
would decline the claim because we were convinced it was not your
organization's or any of your individual's responsibility, we would still
have to provide the defense and indemnification for all of you if the person
injured decides to sue you.  That decision of whether to settle with the
injured party or continue with the defense would be our decision.

Where you see that "legal fees" are not covered, that means that the policy
is not required to pay the other party's legal fees.  Which is true.
However, we, as the insurer, are responsible for handling the claim to
conclusion and that typically means including in the settlement an amount
that will allow the injured party to cover their attorney fees.  We, as the
insurer, can't just leave you, our policyholder, dangling.  We need to
conclude the claim so that you are protected.  We then make sure we get a
full release so they can't come back and try to get any more money from you
for this claim.

I hope this helps.  If not, feel free to call me at the number below.  These
things can be confusing.  And, by the way, you can get other quotes, but I
can assure you that no CEO of another insurance company is ever going to
personally answer your email!

All the best,

Pamela E. Davis

Founder/President/CEO

831-621-6018

800-359-6422, ext. 6018

<image001.jpg>

Celebrating 28 years of service to nonprofits!

From: Odette B. James [mailto: mailto:o.b.james@verizon.net
o.b.james@verizon.net]
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2017 8:51 AM
To: Pamela Davis
Subject: RE: Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

Thank you for the quote.  Our council discussed the insurance at its meeting
on Wednesday and agreed that we do need a general liability policy, but we
would like to get quotes from one or two other brokers before making a final
decision.

One question did come up that we would like answered.  Suppose that someone
did get injured on one of our field trips and decided to sue the field trip
leader and every individual they could think of connected with the
organization as well as the organization itself.  Everyone named in the suit
would have to respond, even if later the court might throw out most of the
people originally named.  The policy states that the insurer will "defend"
the directors, officers and volunteers of the organization named in the suit
as well as the organization itself.  Does this defense encompass helping
them with the individual responses to the original charges?  Would there be
any lawyers fees that the individuals would incur that would not be covered
by the insurance?  The policy does not seem entirely clear on this, as in
one place it states that legal fees will not be covered, yet in other places
it states that everyone will be "defended."

I sent this question to the broker we have been dealing with and she
responded that attorneys' fees would be paid "if the claim warranted it."
That really didn't answer the question.  When would the claim warrant paying
the fees and when would it not?  If one of our officers or volunteers is
named in a lawsuit against the organization, along with the organization,
would the insurance policy cover the costs for that person to defend himself
or herself against the suit?  When would the costs not be covered?

Best regards

Odette James

From: pdavis@insurancefornonprofits.org
[mailto:pdavis@insurancefornonprofits.org]
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2017 4:25 PM
To: o.b.james@verizon.net
Cc: jpittman@cimaworld.com; pdavis@insurancefornonprofits.org
Subject: Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

We are pleased to let you know that your organization has been approved for
membership in the Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance, Risk Retention Group
(ANI) and we are working on a quote for your organization. We will provide
your insurance broker, Cima Companies, Inc., with a quotation for your
organization's liability insurance shortly. Once your broker has an
opportunity to evaluate and review our quote, your broker will be in touch
with you to go over the coverages, premium and specialized free and
discounted services included with the quotation. But, there are a couple of
things about ANI that I'd like you to hear from me, the founder.

ANI and NIAC, an affiliate in California, grew from an idea posed in my
Master's thesis at UC Berkeley. In my thesis, I proposed that instead of
relying on insurance companies that were inconsistent in their willingness
to provide affordable insurance, the nonprofit sector actually could get
control of this important financial service and make sure we were paying our
fair share and no more. My dream was to engage nonprofits in risk management
by providing a variety of free or highly discounted management services as
part of the insurance purchase. And then, if together we had claims
experiences that were better than anticipated, we would share that good
fortune with the members that made it happen. Our experience since ANI's
founding in 2001 has been terrific. ANI members currently accrue credits
toward a dividend plan the company has in place, however, ANI is not yet
paying out dividends.

For example, for ANI members all of the following are FREE for those
purchasing the related insurance coverage:

• Driver Training (online, in person, and self-study) (Auto Coverage)
• Free and unlimited Employment-related and Pre-termination
  Consultations (D&O Coverage)

All ANI members have access to the following services FREE OF CHARGE:

• Unlimited use of our Audiovisual Lending Library
• Risk Management materials on our Secure Website
• Our Webinar Series
• BOARDnetWORK - an online tool for your Board of Directors
• My Risk Management Plan
• Group Purchasing Portal

ANI Members also have access to the following highly discounted services:

• Background Checks
• Disaster Recovery and Planning online tool
• Drug Screening
• Motor Vehicle Record Checks (MVRs)
• Employee Handbook Builder (D&O Coverage)

Click here to download a one-page summary of our services.
http://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/resources/Services.pdf

Yes, ANI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and our nonprofit members are the
beneficiaries of our work. We have grown from $10 million in total grants
from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation to a company rated A VIII by A.M. Best, insuring more than 7000
nonprofits in 32 states and DC. Everything we do is on behalf of other
nonprofits like you. I would welcome a call from you to answer any questions
you might have about ANI as you consider this important decision. My direct
phone number is (831) 621-6018 or you can use the 800 number listed below.
If you want to check out what others are saying about ANI, click
http://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/about/what-our-members-are-saying/
here. If you want more details about Risk Retention Groups, click here
http://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/resources/RRG-QA.pdf .

This year, when your insurance broker reviews with you the quotations for
insurance, I hope you'll see that with ANI, you will get value from your
insurance purchase throughout the year, and not just when you have claims!
And, we want you to know that if your broker is recommending ANI it is
because they are more willing to serve this important sector than to get the
highest possible commission for themselves. Please thank them.

We hope you will join us. Visit our website at
www.insurancefornonprofits.org http://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/ .

51224

Pamela E. Davis
Founder/President/CEO
831-621-6018
800-359-6422, ext. 6018

<image002.jpg>

Celebrating 28 years of service to nonprofits!

Click this link to view our annual report online:
https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/pubs/AnnualReport/index.html

https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org
https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT: This message, together with any attachments is
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Click this link to view our annual report online:
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https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org
https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT: This message, together with any attachments is
intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is
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GSW-Councilplus-l mailing list

The GSW Councilplus list serv intended for GSW Council members and GSW
Committee Chairs to receive and post messages.

GSW-Councilplus-l@minlists.org
http://lists.minlists.org/mailman/listinfo/gsw-councilplus-l

GSW-Councilplus-l mailing list

The GSW Councilplus list serv intended for GSW Council members and GSW
Committee Chairs to receive and post messages.

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What if we put a disclaimer on our meeting announcements stating that we
have not reviewed the contents of the talks presented at our meetings and
any views presented are those of the presenter, not GSW or its council?

Odette

From: J Alex Speer [mailto:jaspeer@minsocam.org]
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2017 8:18 AM
To: Odette James
Cc: gsw-councilplus-l@minlists.org
Subject: Re: [Gsw-councilplus-l] Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

Odette:

The usual phrasing of a suit is that the defendant knew of, ought to have
known of, or had no procedures in place to prevent violation of someone's
rights or presentation of false information.  The last two are the
problematic ones.  All three considering the possibly large number of GSW
people who might have had varying degrees of awareness of a situation.

But again, GSW Council, in evaluating the need for D&O liability insurance,
will decide the probable occurrence and their level of confidence in
defending against any of these or the other challenges.

Alex

On Apr 17, 2017, at 5:31 PM, Odette B. James o.b.james@verizon.net wrote:

2a and 2b state that there are exclusions if we knowingly violate the rights
of someone, or knowingly present false information.  I don't see how this
could apply to GSW or its council members or the program chair if a talk
that is slanderous were to be presented at GSW.  The person giving the talk
might know that his or her statements were slanderous or false, but there is
no way the members of the council or the program chair could know that a
speaker was about to slander someone or violate their rights.  I don't see
how this exclusion could apply to us.  Our insurance policy just defends us

• the speaker would have to defend himself or herself.

Odette

From: J Alex Speer [mailto:jaspeer@minsocam.org]
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2017 5:05 PM
To: Odette James
Cc: gsw-councilplus-l@minlists.org
Subject: Re: [Gsw-councilplus-l] Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

Odette:

If I am looking at the same policy, "Coverage B"  (page 6 of 16) says
"personal and advertising injury" is excluded (2a and 2 b).

Alex

On Apr 17, 2017, at 4:44 PM, Odette B. James o.b.james@verizon.net wrote:

The "Coverage B" in the policy does state that personal injury, such as
slander and libel, is covered.  It looks to me like that is covered, the
same as bodily injury and damages.

I did get a ballpark quote for D&O insurance from the CEO of ANI in a
subsequent message to the one I sent on.  She stated that such insurance for
a nonprofit with no employees would be $600.  She didn't say what the
coverage was, but I presume it was $1,000,000, since that seems to be
standard.  I didn't follow up because I do think we can do without it, but
if people think we should find out if we can get coverage for $500,000 I can
ask.

We've gone without insurance for nearly 125 years now.  We went through a
period of really serious mismanagement of our investments about 15 years
ago, and nobody did anything but grumble quietly, so I don't think we're
likely to be sued for mismanaging GSW.  The question of libel and slander
does remain.  It does look like that is also adequately covered under
general liability, but if you want me to, I can ask specifically about that.

I still don't think we need D&O insurance.

Odette

From: J Alex Speer [mailto:jaspeer@meteoriticalsociety.net]
Sent: Monday, April 17, 2017 4:12 PM
To: Odette James
Cc: gsw-councilplus-l@minlists.org
Subject: Re: [Gsw-councilplus-l] Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

Odette:

Because GSW is running field trips more regularly now, requires insurance to
meet in some other locations, and appears it can afford it, having General
Liability Insurance makes sense.

I fully expect the GSW Council, after considering the cost/benefit ratio,
will decide against any Directors and Officer (D&O) liability insurance.
However, I was concerned that this decision might be made on too narrow of
considerations.

Thus far, in the D&O liability insurance conversation, the insurance was
said to be unneeded because GSW does not have employees, does not publish,
or is protected by some aspects of DC charitable immunity or volunteer
protection laws.

•   True - GSW has no employees, and this appears to be the leading
  

cause of legal action against a board of directors.  (Said to be nearly 90%
of reported D&O claims.)

•   GSW meetings are publicly advertised, in practice are open to the
  

public, and the minutes are freely posted online.  These are opportunities
for public libel, slander, and defamation - GSW publishes in both oral and
written forms.

•   I would expect general liability insurance to cover defense expenses
  

to the limit of the coverage for both everyone in GSW and GSW itself for the
types of offenses that are covered.  Items in the long list of exclusions
enumerated in the ANI general liability policy are not covered for either
defense nor settlement.  The ANI policy appears limited to defense and
settlement coverage for losses arising from bodily injury and property
damage only.

•   What is excluded by that ANI general liability insurance could be
  

termed management liability or financial damages, not bodily injury or
property damage.  Most pertinent here are personal and advertising injury
(libel, slander, and defamation); publisher's liability (plagiarism,
copyright infringement); disparagement of goods, products or services;
publication of material that violates a person's right of privacy;
fundraising; mismanagement of assets; and failure to remit/pay taxes.

•   Some states have charitable immunity or volunteer protection laws
  

and there is the 1997 federal Volunteer Protection Act.  These laws vary
from state to state, do not shield a nonprofit organization from liability
or from being sued, cannot preclude federal violation liability, and do not
provide for the cost of defense.

•   GSW ought not rely on being governed by DC jurisdiction because it
  

is a DC corporation.  With field trips possible in surrounding states, GSW
corresponding members though out the country, and a website, a justification
could be made that a legal jurisdiction more favorable to the plaintiff is
possible.

•   Since more than one half of all D&O claims close at zero indemnity -
  

with no payment to the plaintiff - the duty of the insurance company to
defend covered claims is of greater value than the obligations to pay
settlement or judgement amounts.

A cost/benefit judgement will likely be that D&O liability insurance for GSW
is not justified.  My concern is that the GSW Council make the decision with
their eyes wide open as to the variety of their exposure, as they or future
Councils will have their personal assets at risk by serving on Council.  The
alternative here is to have written policies and procedures in place that
are made continually known and followed to minimize any of those management
liabilities.

Alex

On Apr 14, 2017, at 6:02 PM, Odette B. James o.b.james@verizon.net wrote:

Alex - we are considering only one policy for general liability, that from
ANI.

For all - here is the response from the CEO of ANI on what the general
liability insurance would cover.  It appears we are completely covered in
case of a scattershot suit in which someone sues absolutely everybody he or
she can think of associated with GSW for bodily injury, property damage, or
personal injury (in our case, slander and libel would be the only plausible
types of personal injury).

Thinking back to the case that Alex cited at the council meeting - that was
a situation of slander and libel.  Both General Liability and D&O insurance
cover slander and libel.  But D&O insurance covers only "wrongful acts"
(slander and libel are a subset of this type of injury) and would not cover
any expenses connected with lawsuits arising from any other type of
situation, such as injuries on a field trip.  I don't think we need D&O
insurance, as we are unlikely to be sued for "wrongful acts" arising from
mismanaging GSW or its employees (we have none).  The only thing covered
under D&O insurance where we might have a problem is the slander and libel
situation, and General Liability has us covered for that.

So. we don't need D&O insurance.

Cheers

Odette

From: Pamela Davis [mailto:pdavis@insurancefornonprofits.org]
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2017 12:29 PM
To: o.b.james@verizon.net
Subject: RE: Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

Odette,

Thanks for reaching out.  I think there is a confusion her between
"defense" and "attorney fees".  If someone is insured on a field trip and
sues your organization and the individuals associated with it for bodily
injury, the GL policy would cover the full cost of the defense for everyone
in your organization and the organization yourself.  This includes handling
the entire claim to conclusion, whether that entails defending a lawsuit or
just arriving at a settlement to the claim, or denying the claim.  If we
would decline the claim because we were convinced it was not your
organization's or any of your individual's responsibility, we would still
have to provide the defense and indemnification for all of you if the person
injured decides to sue you.  That decision of whether to settle with the
injured party or continue with the defense would be our decision.

Where you see that "legal fees" are not covered, that means that the policy
is not required to pay the other party's legal fees.  Which is true.
However, we, as the insurer, are responsible for handling the claim to
conclusion and that typically means including in the settlement an amount
that will allow the injured party to cover their attorney fees.  We, as the
insurer, can't just leave you, our policyholder, dangling.  We need to
conclude the claim so that you are protected.  We then make sure we get a
full release so they can't come back and try to get any more money from you
for this claim.

I hope this helps.  If not, feel free to call me at the number below.  These
things can be confusing.  And, by the way, you can get other quotes, but I
can assure you that no CEO of another insurance company is ever going to
personally answer your email!

All the best,

Pamela E. Davis

Founder/President/CEO

831-621-6018

800-359-6422, ext. 6018

<image001.jpg>

Celebrating 28 years of service to nonprofits!

From: Odette B. James [mailto: mailto:o.b.james@verizon.net
o.b.james@verizon.net]
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2017 8:51 AM
To: Pamela Davis
Subject: RE: Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

Thank you for the quote.  Our council discussed the insurance at its meeting
on Wednesday and agreed that we do need a general liability policy, but we
would like to get quotes from one or two other brokers before making a final
decision.

One question did come up that we would like answered.  Suppose that someone
did get injured on one of our field trips and decided to sue the field trip
leader and every individual they could think of connected with the
organization as well as the organization itself.  Everyone named in the suit
would have to respond, even if later the court might throw out most of the
people originally named.  The policy states that the insurer will "defend"
the directors, officers and volunteers of the organization named in the suit
as well as the organization itself.  Does this defense encompass helping
them with the individual responses to the original charges?  Would there be
any lawyers fees that the individuals would incur that would not be covered
by the insurance?  The policy does not seem entirely clear on this, as in
one place it states that legal fees will not be covered, yet in other places
it states that everyone will be "defended."

I sent this question to the broker we have been dealing with and she
responded that attorneys' fees would be paid "if the claim warranted it."
That really didn't answer the question.  When would the claim warrant paying
the fees and when would it not?  If one of our officers or volunteers is
named in a lawsuit against the organization, along with the organization,
would the insurance policy cover the costs for that person to defend himself
or herself against the suit?  When would the costs not be covered?

Best regards

Odette James

From: pdavis@insurancefornonprofits.org
[mailto:pdavis@insurancefornonprofits.org]
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2017 4:25 PM
To: o.b.james@verizon.net
Cc: jpittman@cimaworld.com; pdavis@insurancefornonprofits.org
Subject: Your Quote for Liability Insurance from ANI

We are pleased to let you know that your organization has been approved for
membership in the Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance, Risk Retention Group
(ANI) and we are working on a quote for your organization. We will provide
your insurance broker, Cima Companies, Inc., with a quotation for your
organization's liability insurance shortly. Once your broker has an
opportunity to evaluate and review our quote, your broker will be in touch
with you to go over the coverages, premium and specialized free and
discounted services included with the quotation. But, there are a couple of
things about ANI that I'd like you to hear from me, the founder.

ANI and NIAC, an affiliate in California, grew from an idea posed in my
Master's thesis at UC Berkeley. In my thesis, I proposed that instead of
relying on insurance companies that were inconsistent in their willingness
to provide affordable insurance, the nonprofit sector actually could get
control of this important financial service and make sure we were paying our
fair share and no more. My dream was to engage nonprofits in risk management
by providing a variety of free or highly discounted management services as
part of the insurance purchase. And then, if together we had claims
experiences that were better than anticipated, we would share that good
fortune with the members that made it happen. Our experience since ANI's
founding in 2001 has been terrific. ANI members currently accrue credits
toward a dividend plan the company has in place, however, ANI is not yet
paying out dividends.

For example, for ANI members all of the following are FREE for those
purchasing the related insurance coverage:

• Driver Training (online, in person, and self-study) (Auto Coverage)
• Free and unlimited Employment-related and Pre-termination
  Consultations (D&O Coverage)

All ANI members have access to the following services FREE OF CHARGE:

• Unlimited use of our Audiovisual Lending Library
• Risk Management materials on our Secure Website
• Our Webinar Series
• BOARDnetWORK - an online tool for your Board of Directors
• My Risk Management Plan
• Group Purchasing Portal

ANI Members also have access to the following highly discounted services:

• Background Checks
• Disaster Recovery and Planning online tool
• Drug Screening
• Motor Vehicle Record Checks (MVRs)
• Employee Handbook Builder (D&O Coverage)

Click here to download a one-page summary of our services.
http://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/resources/Services.pdf

Yes, ANI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and our nonprofit members are the
beneficiaries of our work. We have grown from $10 million in total grants
from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation to a company rated A VIII by A.M. Best, insuring more than 7000
nonprofits in 32 states and DC. Everything we do is on behalf of other
nonprofits like you. I would welcome a call from you to answer any questions
you might have about ANI as you consider this important decision. My direct
phone number is (831) 621-6018 or you can use the 800 number listed below.
If you want to check out what others are saying about ANI, click
http://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/about/what-our-members-are-saying/
here. If you want more details about Risk Retention Groups, click here
http://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/resources/RRG-QA.pdf .

This year, when your insurance broker reviews with you the quotations for
insurance, I hope you'll see that with ANI, you will get value from your
insurance purchase throughout the year, and not just when you have claims!
And, we want you to know that if your broker is recommending ANI it is
because they are more willing to serve this important sector than to get the
highest possible commission for themselves. Please thank them.

We hope you will join us. Visit our website at
www.insurancefornonprofits.org http://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/ .

51224

Pamela E. Davis
Founder/President/CEO
831-621-6018
800-359-6422, ext. 6018

<image002.jpg>

Celebrating 28 years of service to nonprofits!

Click this link to view our annual report online:
https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/pubs/AnnualReport/index.html

https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org
https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT: This message, together with any attachments is
intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is
addressed. It may contain information that is confidential and prohibited
from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby
notified that any review, dissemination or copying of this message or any
attachment is strictly prohibited. If you have received this item in error,
please notify the original sender and destroy this item, along with any
attachments. Thank you.

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

Click this link to view our annual report online:
https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/pubs/AnnualReport/index.html

https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org
https://www.insurancefornonprofits.org/

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT: This message, together with any attachments is
intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is
addressed. It may contain information that is confidential and prohibited
from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby
notified that any review, dissemination or copying of this message or any
attachment is strictly prohibited. If you have received this item in error,
please notify the original sender and destroy this item, along with any
attachments. Thank you.

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

GSW-Councilplus-l mailing list

The GSW Councilplus list serv intended for GSW Council members and GSW
Committee Chairs to receive and post messages.

GSW-Councilplus-l@minlists.org
http://lists.minlists.org/mailman/listinfo/gsw-councilplus-l

GSW-Councilplus-l mailing list

The GSW Councilplus list serv intended for GSW Council members and GSW
Committee Chairs to receive and post messages.

GSW-Councilplus-l@minlists.org
http://lists.minlists.org/mailman/listinfo/gsw-councilplus-l