Refugee & immigrant services agencies insurance checklist: what a refugee services agency should carry

The refugee services agency insurance checklist

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Refugee & immigrant services agencies usually carry professional liability (e&o), general liability and directors & officers. Resettlement and immigrant services agencies house arriving families, file immigration paperwork with deadlines that change lives, manage client stipends, and run on volunteers who drive, translate and visit homes. The funder and your landlord ask for proof of each. The checklist below says what every item does, who requires it and how to check it on the policies you already have.

Reviewed by Michael LaBarbera, Licensed property & casualty agent, Provident Financial Group · Reviewed Oct 12, 2026 Updated Oct 14, 2026

Who asks a refugee services agency for what

Who	What they usually want to see
Grant funders & government contracts	General liability, professional and abuse coverage at stated limits, directors and officers, and a crime bond over any funds held
Landlords & commercial leases	General liability with the landlord as additional insured, property coverage on tenant improvements and workers' compensation
Cities, counties & permits	General liability, auto and workers' compensation at the limits in the permit or contract

Each of them wants a certificate, and most want it again at every renewal. A live certificate link from the wallet shows today's coverage to every holder and tells them when it changes.

How to check what you already have

Professional liability declarations. Claims-made or occurrence, the retroactive date (it should not have moved), the limit per claim and aggregate, the deductible, and whether defence costs sit inside or outside the limit.
General liability declarations page. Three liability numbers matter: each occurrence, general aggregate and the products–completed operations aggregate. Then the forms list: blanket additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory wording satisfy every contract; scheduled forms satisfy one.
Directors and officers declarations. Entity coverage, employment practices if packaged, the retention, and the exclusions for prior and pending matters.
Cyber declarations. The headline limit matters less than the sublimits: social engineering, funds-transfer fraud, ransomware and business interruption, plus the regulatory coverage and the panel of breach vendors.
Workers' compensation information page. Item 3.A must list every state you work in, item 4 must carry the right class codes, and the employers' liability limits should meet what contracts ask. Check that the estimated payroll is close to this year's.
Hired and non-owned auto. Look for the symbols 8 and 9 or an endorsement by that name on the auto or general liability policy; without it, staff in their own cars are uninsured on company business.
Abuse and molestation. A separate limit, not a sublimit of general liability; whether it is occurrence or claims-made; and whether the organisation and the individual are both covered.
Crime declarations. Employee theft, forgery, funds-transfer fraud and social engineering each have their own limit; third-party coverage if you work in clients' premises.
Participant accident. The medical limit per injury, the deductible, whether it pays primary or excess of the family's health plan, and the activities covered.
Auto schedule. Every vehicle listed with the right garaging address and use; symbols that include hired and non-owned auto; physical damage with the lender as loss payee where the vehicle is financed.

What usually goes wrong for refugee and immigrant services agencies

Immigration filings prepared by staff who are not authorised representatives, which is both a legal and a professional-liability problem.
Client stipends and rent payments handled with no crime coverage.
A retroactive date that moved when you switched carriers, cutting off earlier work.
Contracts with indemnity clauses wider than the policy will support.
Damage to the exact thing you are working on is excluded on most general liability forms; installation floaters and care, custody and control endorsements fill that hole.
Volunteers assumed to be covered by workers' compensation; in most states they are not.

What underwriters will ask a refugee services agency

Families served and services, who prepares filings and under what accreditation, client funds managed, volunteers and transport, and funding
Services, largest engagement size and the contracts you sign
Claims-made retroactive date and any prior claims or circumstances
Residential versus commercial split of the work
Whether any work is done above three stories or below grade
Number of volunteers, background checks and what they do

Have the answers in the wallet before the renewal and the quote request fills itself in; CoverMatch sends one application to every eligible carrier and lines the quotes up against what you have.

Renewal timing

Audits at year end compare payroll, receipts and subcontractor costs with the estimate, so keep the wallet's size figures and the subcontractor certificates current. Start comparing sixty days before expiration, and ask for the limits the next contract will need rather than the ones the last one did.

Questions people actually ask

Is immigration paperwork a professional liability exposure?

Yes; a missed deadline or a wrong form can cost a family its status, and the claim is professional. Only accredited representatives or attorneys may prepare most filings; professional liability covers the authorised work and documentation defends it.

What covers client funds the agency manages?

Crime coverage with client-funds and funds-transfer fraud provisions, which funders require. Dual controls and reconciliation are the practice; a spoofed landlord email redirecting rent payments is the loss agencies see.

What is a retroactive date on an E&O policy?

The date before which no work is covered. On a claims-made policy you want it to stay at the day you first bought coverage, not reset at each renewal or carrier change. CoverMatch checks it on every quote comparison because it is the difference between covering ten years of work and one.

Does general liability cover damage to a customer's property while I work on it?

It covers damage to the rest of their property, not usually the part in your hands. Many forms exclude property in your care, custody or control, so a refugee services agency that handles valuable items or systems needs an endorsement or an installation floater. The policy explainer in the wallet flags the exclusion when it reads your policy.

Are volunteers covered by workers' compensation?

In most of the licensed states, no, because they are not employees. A volunteer accident policy pays medical bills when one is hurt, and general liability with volunteers named as insureds covers what they do to others.