queensland flood appeal...• call your motor vehicle insurer to lodge a claim and obtain a claim...
TRANSCRIPT
February 2011 Page 1
February 2011
The Heart Behind the Service When you hear the word ‘insurance’, it is likely that your first thoughts jump to money, loss or just
more paperwork! For most Australian Baptist Insurance Scheme (ABIS) constituents who just
want to get on with the business of serving and ministering to their community, your state insur-
ance officer can help you do just that.
Belonging to your State Baptist Union means your ABIS representative understands the mission of
your organisation and the special circumstances you can encounter. Their heart is to serve and re-
source Baptist organisations whether it be a multi-site Aged Care facility, a K-12 College or even a
Church congregation of six members.
By participating in the Scheme, you are assisting smaller congregations and ministries to operate
with the same security and peace of mind that larger organisations experience. This could not be
achieved without the support and united vision of all our Baptist constituents.
Hall Hirer’s Liability From 30th September 2010, the hall hirer’s liability is now included for a nil premium under the church’s general liability policy. You
can use the below checklist as a guide to know when public liability insurance is required by a hirer or not. However, if in doubt,
please check with your ABIS state office first.
If the following, then no public liability insurance required as this is included under the church insurance:
• Church ministry/ church organised activity/part of church life (Wedding, Funeral ceremony).
If the following, then public liability insurance is now included for a nil premium for hall hirers. You will just need a copy of the booking:
• Private family functions – wedding reception, parties (21st
, 50th
, kids birthdays), baby-shower, funeral reception, private family gath-
ering.
If the following, then the hirer will need to have/organise their own public liability insurance:
• Business/School
• Legal entity
• Organisation with a more formal structure – any organisation that is for profit and/or that is charging fees to people.
(excerpts from Queensland Baptists website (http://www.qb.com.au) from David Loder, QB General Su-
perintendent)
We continue to be shocked by the devastation caused by recent floods but are heartened by reports
of the work our churches and ministers are doing and the prayer offered for those who are affected.
Thank you for your interest, love and concern for your fellow Queenslanders. Many have contacted
us expressing concern for the thousands of people who have been affected. While our physical build-
ings have mostly escaped damage, the enormous spread of the floods means that many communi-
ties are suffering. We can now announce that the QB Flood Appeal has been established.
DONATIONS TO QUEENSLAND BAPTISTS FLOOD APPEAL
Details for the tax deductible fund are as follows:
• Send a cheque made payable to QB Flood Appeal, P.O. Box 6166, Mitchelton Q 4053
• Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
Westpac Bank, BSB 704 913, Account No 1741, Account Name QBC Gift Fund, Reference Flood Ap-
peal
If you wish to receive a tax deductible receipt for your EFT donation, please email your name, ad-
dress, amount donated and date of transaction to [email protected]
• Credit Card Donation (Ph 07 3550 3737)
• On line at www.qbc.com.au
Queensland Flood Appeal
In this edition...
Claims Guidelines
4
Church Vandalism
2
Copyright
3
Good News Story
3
February 2011 Page 2
One of the sad facts of today’s society is
that vandalism and damage to people’s
property is very common and unfortu-
nately, the church is not immune.
The church I worked in suffered break-ins
on a number of occasions and various
levels of damage.
Having had a number of insurance claims
dealing with the police and having to give
detailed police reports many months fol-
lowing the incident, it is important for all
churches to consider the procedures for
your church family to follow should they
be confronted with a break-in or an at-
tempted break-in if no one else is on the
church property. This is not meant to be a
scare tactic but merely to create aware-
ness of the process to follow.
Below are some recommended points
that can be reproduced into a flyer and
handed to all church key holders and
church ministry leaders. Please feel free to
use or update for your church situation.
If you notice damage to the church prop-
erty from a break-in or an attempted
break-in, please follow these guidelines:
• Do not touch or enter through the af-
fected door or area - police will ulti-
mately fingerprint this area and you do
not want your fingerprints mixed with
anyone else's - (this is a common mis-
take made - we need to protect the area
from being used).
• Do not enter the building by yourself in
case the offender is still inside. Contact
someone else and have 2 people enter
the building, if it is safe to do so. In
need, contact (name of church contact
person) on (mobile contact number).
• Enter the building through another un-
affected door and check through the
building for damage or anything stolen.
If you are unsure about entering, do not
and phone the Police urgently on 000.
• Obtain photographic evidence if possi-
ble.
• Take note of who was the first to arrive
at the church property and noticed the
damage / break-in and the time - the
police will want these details.
• Work out who was the last to leave the
premises prior to the damage / break-in
happening and the time - the police will
want these details.
• For non urgent crimes or incidents, con-
tact the Police Assistance Line (PAL) on
131444 in NSW, ACT, SA, WA, Tasmania
& NT or (03) 9247 6666 in Victoria, with
the above details available. They will
usually organise for police / police finger
printers to call out.
• Advise insurance company of what has
happened and potential claim – the
church office will usually attend to this.
• Organize repair of damaged area but
need to make sure the police have com-
pletely finished with the area first.
• If the police end up catching the person/
people responsible, those who discov-
ered the damage, and first entered the
property, and made the report will end
up going to police interviews - some
time would usually elapse before this
happens (could be months). Everyone
involved will need to make sure of all
their facts because you need to know
specifics in an interview, regardless of
how long ago it was - that is why it is
best to take note of all details in an inci-
dent report and write them down
straight away.
Tim Williams
Manager, Insurance and Standards
Church Vandalism
ABIS Insurance Panel As there have been quite a few changes in the insurance panel from 30th September 2010, please see below as a sum-
mary of your insurance providers for the period 30 September 2010 to 30 September 2011:
Property Allianz Insurance
Personal Accident (Pastors and Spouses) Accident and Health
Corporate Travel ACE Insurance
Management Liability and Comprehensive Crime Chubb Insurance
Motor Vehicle Vero Insurance - only for those who have received a separate
invoice for this
Personal Accident (Volunteers and Youth) Accident and Health
Liability and Professional Indemnity Vero Insurance
February 2011 Page 3
Earlier last year, I received a frantic
phone call from the Administrator of
Trinity Baptist Church to advise me that
the Church ceiling had unexpectedly
collapsed.
I quickly realised the matter was ex-
tremely serious and how fortunate that
the event had occurred on Saturday and
not Sunday.
The day of the collapse was fine with no
weather conditions to contribute to the
event. My initial thoughts were that
there must have been some form of de-
fect in construction, a wear and tear or
lack of maintenance issue that generally
would be an exclusion under the insur-
ance policy. Hence, the Church may not
be able to claim insurance.
I immediately contacted our insurance
assessor who attended the Church on the
Saturday morning to assist with making
the property safe and ensuring debris
was cleared. The assessor’s role was also
to establish the cause of the collapse and
to determine whether this was an in-
sured event. Due to the extent of de-
struction and damage, this was not possi-
ble at the initial visit by the assessor. A
building consultant subsequently had to
be engaged to help determine the cause
of the collapse.
After several extensive visits of searching
and sifting through the debris, the con-
sultant was able to identify evidence of
rain water ingress into the ceiling space
caused by gutter overflow over a period
of time. This was an insurable event.
The role of an assessor in a claim is im-
portant and beneficial in particular in
such cases. Even if the claim had not
been insurable, an assessor is able to
assist make recommendations and assist
the church with engaging contractors for
repair.
Greg Thomas
Insurance Manager
Baptist Churches of South Australia
Good News Story
Motor Vehicle Windscreen Claims
Most motor vehicle insurers have a nil excess on windscreen damage only claims. However, please check your policy terms and condi-
tions. Here are a few handy steps to assist you in the event of a claim:
• Call your motor vehicle insurer to lodge a claim and obtain a claim number
• Book your car to get the windscreen repaired and quote the claim number
• Usually the invoice for repairs will then get paid directly by your insurer when there is a nil excess.
Motor Vehicle Claims
SMART Repair Centres
For those who have motor vehicle insurance through ABIS
(you will have received a separate invoice for this insurance),
the next time your vehicle is involved in a claim and if:
• The vehicle is driveable and
• There are 3 or less panels damaged
Ask your Vero claims consultant about the SMART Repair
Centre. Vehicle turnaround repair time is generally 3 days.
All you will need to do is book your vehicle in, a cab charge
will be organised for you to return you to your place of work
and your vehicle should be ready to pick-up in 3 days. You
will usually be advised otherwise if this will not be possible
due to parts, etc...
Jean Lim
Insurance Account Executive
Baptist Union of Victoria
February 2011 Page 4
One of our churches recently found it-
self embroiled in a legal challenge over
copyright infringement after its pastor
chose to use a poem as an introduction
to a sermon.
The pastor had become aware of the
poem from a funeral he attended many
years before. The funeral folder did not
give an author or copyright details, and
so the pastor’s sermon simply indicated
that this was an unattributed piece of
prose. Six months after preaching the
sermon, the church placed a transcript
on their web site. The author of the po-
etry, based overseas, had apparently
employed a copyright lawyer to monitor
the internet for unauthorised use of their
works. The quote was discovered, and a
legal letter sent to the church. Immediate
action was taken –the sermon transcript
was removed and a letter of apology
sent, but the legal response continued.
It is important to understand how easily
this situation can arise. The use of the
poem unattributed was a simply error
born of naivety. No attempt at attribu-
tion was made, although attribution
would not have changed the author’s
response but may have tempered the
claim. No harm was meant, and you
could be forgiven for thinking that there
was little gain (particularly of a financial
nature) that could be directly attributed
to the quote. The author’s lawyers took a
different view – that a license fee ought
to have been paid prior to quoting from
the poem, and that it was impossible to
calculate how much benefit had been
obtained through its misuse. Despite
several legal obstacles to a successful
prosecution, the church leadership (after
legal advice) ultimately recognised there
had been something inappropriate done,
and a negotiated settlement would be
better than a protracted legal battle. The
overseas lawyers would not accept any
compromise and ultimately a five figure
sum had to be paid.
The case highlights the dangers associ-
ated with quoting stories, poems, images
and text from sources without attribution
and appropriate recognition of copyright.
This is particularly true when transcripts
of messages are uploaded onto the inter-
net, as on-line search tools are incredibly
sophisticated and powerful. The lessons
from this difficult situation include:
• Know the sources of your quotations
and attribute them properly.
• Investigate whether copyright ap-
plies to a particular work and abide by
the restrictions place by the owners,
even if they appear unfair.
• If an item is copyright you cannot
include it in any published work (even an
online sermon) without written permis-
sion and paying any required fee. Attri-
bution is not enough to remove copyright
infringement.
• If you are producing a transcript of a
message, include footnotes to cover at-
tribution, in more detail than you would
tend to mention in a spoken message.
• Recognise that publishing material
on-line makes it available to a much
greater audience than your circle of con-
tacts.
• If you receive a letter regarding
copyright infringement, take it seriously
and act quickly to minimise the damage
caused. We recommend that you contact
your State Director of Administration as
soon as possible.
Having paid up an entitlement to CCLI (as
most churches do) or even CAL (as some
churches also do) ,does not absolve you
of responsibility to correctly attribute
works, nor do they provide blanket cov-
erage of all copyright issues. These li-
cense are basically to allow you to use
material within your church and to pro-
duce them in any written form for a
wider audience (such as the web).
Phillip McCallum
Director of Administrative Services
Queensland Baptists
Copyright
In the event of any incident that might give rise to an insurance claim, here
are some general guidelines to assist you.
1. All reasonable steps should be taken following an accident or loss to
protect the property or person from any further damage or injury.
2. Any loss by theft and/or wilful or malicious damage should be immedi-
ately reported to the nearest Police station.
3. Take any photos, complete the correct claim form and keep all steps
well documented.
4. Forward claim documentation including any supporting papers to ABIS.
You can contact your nearest ABIS state office at the start, however, if
the office is closed, focus on Steps 1 to 3 and then forward to the ABIS
office once the office is re-open.
Jean Lim
Insurance Account Executive
Baptist Union of Victoria
General Claims Guidelines
Queensland Ken Conwell
New South Wales Tim Williams
South Australia Greg Thomas
Victoria, Tasmania
and Northern
Territory
Jean Lim
Sue Roggero
Western Australia Terry Hicks
For further information or assistance,
the following are your ABIS State Baptist
Union Office contacts:
National Kym Bennetts