Insurance for Private Schools

We offer customized commercial insurance for private school providers

Acera Insurance’s MySchool program offers integrated and customized insurance for private schools in Ontario and across Canada. We have the insurance industry experience and expertise to provide exceptional advice, customer service and claims support for all types of private schools in the province. We understand the unique risks and challenges faced by your institution and will help you develop an insurance program to safeguard your school and allow you to focus on educating and caring for your students. We are a proud supporter of various associations including the Ontario Federation of Independent Schools, (OFIS), and their members!

What is private school insurance?

Private school insurance helps protect your for-profit or non-profit private school by transferring the financial risk of property damage or a liability claim caused by an insured peril. Here are some examples:

• If there is a tornado and your school’s facilities are damaged, your insurance can help cover the costs of repair or rebuilding and help replace damaged property like computers and furniture.
• If a parent sues the school after their child breaks their arm on the playground, your insurance can help cover related medical and legal expenses.

With the MySchool program, you will receive customized private school insurance that meets your school’s individual needs. 

Common types of insurance coverage for private schools

The following are the common types of insurance for private school providers in Ontario and across Canada:

• Commercial General Liability – Helps cover legal expenses if a parent, student or visitor is hurt while on your school’s property, or if you or a staff member damages property of others due to your negligence. For example, someone slips and falls on the sidewalk leading to the school’s entrance, suffering injuries, and decides to sue you.
• Abuse Liability – Allegations of abuse can happen and may include complaints of molestation, harassment, corporal punishment or other forms of mental abuse, which is why we ensure our clients have abuse coverage on an occurrence basis. costs of repairing
• Commercial Property – This coverage helps cover the repair or rebuilding your insured property that is damaged or destroyed by an insured peril like water damage, fire, hail or wind.
• Commercial Auto – If your school owns any vehicles, this insurance is essential to cover third party liability and accident benefits and other physical damage and loss of use coverage. You can also add optional coverages like all-perils, collision, comprehensive, and loss of use. We can also place the passenger hazard coverage required if you transport children.
• Professional Liability Insurance – Also known as errors and omissions, this coverage is recommended for the most common complaint of ‘failure to educate’, which is occurring with more frequency.
• Director and Officer’s Insurance – Helps cover legal expenses and protects the personal finances of directors and officers of the school if they are accused of wrongful acts or mismanagement in their role. For example, a director could be accused of breaching fiduciary duties or failing to meet provincial regulations around creating and maintaining a safe workplace.
• Employment Practices Liability – as a component of Directors and Officers Insurance, this coverage will respond to allegations of wrongful termination, harassment in employment and discrimination.
• Employee Benefits Liability – Helps cover legal expenses if your school makes a mistake in administering employee benefits. For example, if the administrator fails to enroll a staff member in the benefits program .
• Cyber Liability – This helps cover expenses related to a privacy breach or cyber attack. This can include legal fees, regulatory fines, public relations, and more.

We also offer additional coverages such as abuse liability and expenses reimbursement, criminal expense reimbursement, child trauma and abduction event expense, employment practices liability, umbrella liability, enhanced property coverage, sudden and accidental pollution as well as offer perks like a disappearing deductible for qualifying losses and flexible payment and financing options.

We can also offer a group benefits program for schools with more than ten employees, including medical, dental, vision, prescription drugs, life, critical illness and disability coverage.

At Acera Insurance, we design an insurance program fit for your private school’s individual needs.

Why is D&O insurance needed for private schools?

Director and officer’s insurance, or D&O insurance, is important for both for-profit and non-profit private schools in Canada. Directors and officers of the school can be held personally liable for wrongdoing in their role; this coverage helps protect their personal finances and covers legal expenses in this scenario.

Wrongful acts can include accusations of a failure to follow federal or provincial laws and regulations around safety in the workplace, employment practices and environmental practices; misrepresentation; and mismanagement of finances or breach of fiduciary duties. D&O insurance can cover legal expenses including defence costs, judgement awards and settlements to protect the personal finances of a private school’s directors and officers.

Cyber Insurance and Private Schools

Organizations of any type and size can be targets of cyber attacks or fall victim to a data breach – even private schools! Responding and recovering from such an event can be difficult, which is why we offer cyber insurance to Canada’s private schools.

This coverage helps with expenses related to a cyber attack or data breach including legal costs, regulatory fines, public relations assistance and more. It also provides support with how to respond and deal with the aftermath of this type of event.

How much does private school insurance cost?

The cost of private school insurance in Ontario and across Canada depends on the individual school. Premiums are impacted by many factors, including:

Get a private school insurance quote with us today by contacting the MySchool team.

Private School Insurance Discounts – Lower Risks, Lower Costs

The best way to control your private school insurance costs is to control and minimize your risks. Here are a few ways you can invest in protecting your school:

• Follow the provincial curriculum.
• Develop clear policies for admission, code of conduct, discipline, complaints, access to student records, and evaluations and communicate these effectively.
• Demonstrate and document that you follow your policies.
• Have regular and clear communication with parents and students.
• Conduct criminal reference checks for all employees and have a written application that includes an attestation to the truthfulness of their statements and that they have not had any incidents or complaints made against them.
• Employ qualified staff, such as teachers who are members of accredited bodies, such as the Ontario College of Teachers.
• Have a contract for students and parents that outlines fees, refunds, rules and regulations.
• Install security equipment such as motion lighting, fencing, automatic locking doors, alarm systems and cameras where they would be beneficial.
• Install water leak detection and/or water shut off valves to minimize water damage in the event of a broken pipe, faucet or valve.
• Maintain walkways and doorways to ensure they are clear and not slippery.
• Have the appropriate insurance coverage.

Speak to a MySchool private school insurance program advisor for more information on how to manage different risks at your school. Risk management is a huge benefit to working with us!

Get the Best Private School Insurance for Your Needs with MySchool

MySchool provides private schools with a dedicated team, unparalleled knowledge, risk analysis and management advice and claims service. We give you peace of mind with your insurance so you can focus on educating at your school. We work with OFIS to help their members get the right insurance coverage. Learn more about MySchool.