What Your Church's Insurance Agent Doesn't Want You to Know

(NOTE: I wrote this piece in an effort to pass on some valuable knowledge I accumulated during nearly nine years in the church insurance fie...

Purpose Statement

The church insurance business is a game, a contest between the church and the insurer. You'd like to think you're working together, ...

Churches to Be Kicked Out of NYC School Buildings January 1

Having spent 9 years in the church insurance business, which included providing coverage for dozens of churches that met in schools, this co...

Church Arsonist Pleads Guilty, But You'll Never Guess Why He Did It

Having been in the church insurance business I know there are a variety of people out there with grudges against churches that can actually ...

Church Insurer Becomes Target of Angry Wisconsin Union Teachers

This picture was taken in a teacher's lounge inside a high school in Wausau, WI.  It identifies Wisconsin companies the unions accuse of...

A.M. Best Downgrades Rating of Church Mutual Insurance

I missed this story when it originally ran on May 28, 2010 , but it was pointed out to me by a former Church Mutual agent: A.M. Best Co. has...

The Shredder

I think I've been out of the business long enough now to tell this story. One morning I got a call from a church in my territory that wa...

Church Vans

I posted this story over at HolyCoast.com , but it reminded me of many of the things about church vans that can become an insurance nightmar...

1 Day, 4 Appointments, 333 Miles

As an agent my appointments were either set by me directly, usually for new business calls, and by my office for renewal meetings. We kept ...

The Poison Chicken

During my early training I spent a Friday doing new business and renewal appointments with one of the senior people from the office. We had ...

26 Miles Across the Sea

In February of 1999 the company got a request to bid on a group of camps, including one on Catalina Island, 26 miles off the coast of Los An...

The Crazy Guy

This story isn't about an insurance situation, but a guy I encountered one day while on the road in my territory. I had an appointment ...

The Entrepreneur in the Middle of Nowhere

Almost every year I would get a card or a call from a pastor whose church was located about as far away from my office as you could get and ...

The Environmentalist Preacher

I was having lunch with the pastor of a church and we were talking about his plans for a new church complex on some raw land they owned. We ...

The Arrogant Preacher

I've spent 35 years dealing with pastors as a member of a traveling music ministry, and nine years in the church insurance business. Mo...

Loss Run Surprise

Loss runs are documents prepared by insurance companies to show the claims experience of a particular client. They're often required as ...

Stupid Agent Tricks

Well, they're not really stupid. I just wanted to borrow the title from Letterman's Stupid Pet Tricks. Training (sort of) I did not ...

The Lady Preacher

I didn't run into too many lady preachers in my nine years of church insurance work. If I did they were usually pastoring some new age ...

Liars and Cheats

One of the frustrating things about working in the church insurance business was dealing with liars and cheats. You wouldn't expect that...

The Cults and the Weirdos

Part of being in the church insurance business was dealing with every kind of church, including many which were pretty much cults. There are...