The last few years have battered church budgets across Texas. Leaders like Teddy have stared down annual property insurance renewals that feel like a direct threat to their church in Waco. Every dollar added to insurance is a dollar taken from youth programs or missions.
When a new proposal landed on Teddy's desk advertising substantial property insurance savings, his first reaction was relief. He even has a moment of genuine hope that the church has finally found a way to stop the bleeding and protect their finances. But he also wonders if there is a catch.
Teddy decides to put Chat-GPT to work and see if there was anything obvious about the new church insurance policy being proposed. He uploads it and starts asking questions about the insurance provider, policy terms, and limitations.
With a little bit of massaging, he found a set of words in the package policy that he had never heard of before. The words "managed repair program" were new to him. He was now looking for a full coverage review from the insurance agent who had sent the proposal over.
Teddy knows that there is no free lunch. Discounted premiums on church insurance policies aren't always a good thing. Saving money is good. Giving up valuable coverage and control of claim settlement can be a terrible thing.When the next hailstorm hits, will they be able to fully restore the church?
Teddy’s intrigue and immediate worry are the perfect response to a new insurance plan hitting the market. The savings on property insurance premiums are real, but they are more of an illusion when the policy pays claims after a hail storm.
Managed Repair Programs are the insurance industry’s direct and aggressive reaction to the rising costs of the Weather Tax in Texas. Insurance companies are paying out huge sums due to the exponential rise in claim frequency and severity, and they are now desperate to protect their own bottom line. Not your church’s mission.
When you agree to an insurance policy with this clause, you are agreeing to a non-standard claim evaluation process that fundamentally changes the value of your property coverage. You are getting a cheap premium now, but you are buying a load of problems during a claim.
You are, in essence, ceding complete control over the future of your church building to an insurance company's claim adjuster and restoration contractors through their managed repair program.
Once you have filed the claim, the adjuster will begin to investigate like a normal insurance provider. After it is approved, that is where things change dramatically in favor of the church insurance company. They now have complete control of who completes the work on your church property and how much it should cost.
This is the moment your premium savings can dissolve. While you may save a few thousand dollars on the premium today, you are potentially exposing the church to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in restoration costs tomorrow.
This is why we want every church leader to understand the three catastrophic ways a Managed Repair Program makes you lose control.
When you file a claim under a standard Replacement Cost Value policy, you maintain control. You choose your contractor, approve the scope of work, and negotiate the fair cost of full restoration of your church property. This is what Teddy was used to and looking for in an insurance policy. When you accept a Managed Repair Program for claim settlement, you lose these rights immediately. Let's look at three primary ways your church loses.
The insurance company is very clear on this point. The insurance policy requires the church to use the insurance company’s contractor to complete the scope of work they determine. That is not a suggestion; it is a contractual requirement. And it is largely non-negotiable.
Think about what that means for Teddy's church. They lose the right to choose a local, trusted contractor who understands the unique structure, history, and standards of your facility. They are forced to accept the carrier's scope of work with no negotiation.
Teddy cannot ask his church member who owns a respected, local commercial roofing company to do repairs. Instead, they are required to use an unknown, often non-local contractor who reports to the insurance company, not to them.
Teddy's responsibility to the congregation and the integrity of their building is replaced by a contract requirement to use a contractor whose primary objective is to minimize the insurance company’s payout. You lose your most important leverage in the claims process. The right to select your own trusted partner. That isn't very Texan.
This is perhaps the most dangerous deception of the Managed Repair Programs. This clause does not guarantee full restoration of your church property. It only provides "acceptable repairs" as determined by the insurance provider.
What does "acceptable" mean to a large insurance carrier? It means the cheapest, fastest repair that gets them out of the financial obligation. This can leave a church with mismatched flooring, bricks, siding, or shingles. If your sanctuary has a unique style of brick, they may not pay to source the perfect match. They will use what is "acceptable" and widely available.
As Teddy thought about this, he realized the company's contractor has no incentive to use quality materials that match. They are operating solely in the insurance company's best interest, minimizing cost, not maximizing restoration. His church could be left with a Frankenstein building, partially repaired with mismatched materials.
The core problem with Managed Repair Programs is that they fundamentally corrupt the definition of Replacement Cost Coverage in your church property insurance policy. In coverage terms, Replacement Cost means the insurance company pays to replace the item with a new item of similar kind and quality, up to the policy limits.
Under a Managed Repair Settlement, the insurance company dictates what is approved and how much money it should cost. Will they fully restore your stained glass? Will they completely restore your designated historical building? Acceptable doesn't guarantee full replacement or restoration.
If their internal management of the claim is significantly below a full restoration cost, the church is left with a massive funding gap or a building that does not resemble what you had before the claim.
That gap forces a costly and unplanned fundraising campaign, diverting time, energy, and money away from your core ministries to make up the difference the cheap policy refused to cover. The savings you saw on the premium become an illusion.
The insurance company offers savings, but those savings lead to problems in the claim process because your church cedes control over full replacement and contractor choice. You are betting your church's mission on the goodwill of a company that has already demonstrated it is focused only on saving money.
To overcome this dangerous illusion, you need an experienced church insurance specialist who can first complete the necessary risk assessment and then help you evaluate all property policy options.
This includes looking at creative ways to find the right amount of coverage for your specific church, ensuring the policy reflects the complexity of the building and your ministries. This gives you the clarity you need to stop guessing and demand a policy that maintains Full Replacement Cost and preserves your right to select your own local contractor.
Don’t trade The Promise Of Certainty for an illusion of savings. You deserve a policy that guarantees full restoration and puts you, not the insurance company, in control.
Click the button to get the right property policy for your church so that you can have The Promise of Certainty.