Insurance rises for Jewish groups
RACHEL POMERANCE
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - Beefing up security in the aftermath of Sept. 11 isn't the only new hurdle for American Jewish institutions.
Jewish institutions are struggling with new insurance rates - 50 percent increases or more in some cases - that threaten to consume critical funds.
At the same time, these institutions - including federations, Jewish community centers, synagogues and organizations - are fighting to maintain their protection in the event of a devastating terrorist attack.
"This is a major crisis for our system," said Diana Aviv, vice president of public policy for the United Jewish Communities.
The situation is the result of major changes in the insurance industry, which suffered staggering losses from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Insurance companies have distributed those costs to their clients, and are also cutting back on providing the terror coverage they once routinely did.
And in the few states, including New York, that prohibit companies from excluding terrorism coverage, it is proving even more difficult to find companies to cover them.
But the question among Jewish organizational leaders is whether they are being unfairly targeted.
They suspect the answer is no but are posing the question regardless.
The insurance industry rejects that notion.
Rates are going up for everyone, according to P.J. Crowley, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute, a nonprofit group sponsored by the insurance industry.
"Are Jewish groups being singled out? No," he said. "But insurers are being selective in providing coverage."
"Almost everything" is a potential risk for being a terrorist target, including prominent Jewish buildings, said Gary Karr, spokesman for the American Insurance Association.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are negotiating a compromise bill that would ensure that groups could attain affordable terrorism insurance coverage.
Insurance coverage for commercial property was increasing at 15 percent to 20 percent the year before Sept. 11, but is up 30 percent on average since then, Crowley said.
He said it is not unusual for some premiums to go up 50 or 100 percent.
Across the country, community leaders are feeling the pinch.
Insurance rates nearly doubled for the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles when it renewed its policy shortly after Sept. 11.
This year, it will be even worse, according to Jack Klein, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the council, Los Angeles's Jewish federation.
Klein described "a difficulty or inability to secure policies without a terrorism exclusion, and if you could get that policy, we're looking at up to a 40 percent increase for this year."
The UJA-Federation of New York and its 44 beneficiary agencies in the area have also seen their insurance rates skyrocket.
The group's general liability rates soared 65 percent, from $2.4 million to at least $4.8 million, and property insurance shot up from $870,000 to $1.7 million, said John Ruskay, executive vice president of the UJA-Federation of New York.
Those costs could have significant ramifications for the services and programs that the federation provides.
The high insurance costs "will lead to difficult choices about priorities and programs," Ruskay said.
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