Landlord Insurance Issues

SCORE chapters and branches often meet and conduct mentoring sessions or workshops at locations owned by churches, chambers of commerce, libraries or other organizations. The landlords or owners of these properties frequently have questions about their own liability if a claim should arise against the SCORE group using their premises. The following points offer some answers:

• SCORE chapters or volunteers cannot agree to hold the landlord harmless, but if a suit is brought against the landlord as a result of a client or attendee’s injury, and SCORE is truly responsible for that injury, SCORE would want the landlord to be protected.
• The best way to ensure such protection is through liability insurance, which any landlord would almost certainly have. To further guarantee a landlord’s protection against claims by injured parties, SCORE can ask the landlord to add the chapter name to the landlord’s insurance policy.
• The chapter will pay any increased premium necessary to add SCORE’s name to the landlord’s insurance policy, but that premium should be low, since the physical area used by SCORE is likely to be quite small compared to the total area owned and used by the landlord.
• SCORE maintains its own general Liability insurance. Chapters may request a certificate of insurance from SCORE’s existing plan. If a chapter is residing daily in a location requiring liability insurance, this may be necessary. This is a legitimate chapter expense and can be reimbursed against the chapter budget. To request a Certificate of Insurance follow the instruction on the Chapter Certificate of Insurance Request Form page.

All volunteers are encouraged to contact the SCORE Vice President of Finance whenever they feel an opinion is warranted on any legal issue they may encounter.