Are volunteers covered when driving their personal vehicles for church activities?

In many cases, volunteers are indeed covered while using their personal vehicles for church activities. Coverage is typically secondary as the volunteer’s personal auto insurance is considered the primary coverage if they are involved in an accident while driving on behalf of the church. Most church package insurance policies contain non-owned auto liability coverage, which may provide secondary liability protection for the organization if it is named in a lawsuit arising out of the accident. However, non-owned auto coverage usually does not pay for physical damage to the volunteer’s personal vehicle, and it may not protect the individual driver directly in all situations. Because of this, your organization should verify that volunteers carry valid personal auto insurance, establish driver screening and safety protocols, and maintain appropriate hired and non-owned liability coverage.

It is also important to understand that most non-owned auto policies exclude “for hire” transportation exposures. This means coverage may not apply if the church or nonprofit is being paid to transport people, such as operating a shuttle service, contracted transportation program, or fee-based passenger service. Organizations involved in any type of compensated transportation should discuss this exposure with their NCG Account Manager to determine whether specialized commercial auto coverage is needed.