The liability insurance policies discussed above are "third-party liability" policies. This means that the insurance will provide coverage only for occurrences or accidents where a chapter member and/or Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' volunteer is legally liable for bodily injury or property damage suffered by others (third parties).

The third-party liability policies will not provide coverage when a chapter member causes injury or damage (negligently or otherwise) to his or her own person or property. In such cases, the chapter member must rely on his or her own health insurance, disability insurance, property-damage insurance or other types of "first-party" insurance to provide coverage. For instance, if you are at a Thrivent Financial for Lutherans-hosted activity and accidentally drop a hammer on your neighbor's foot (or your neighbor's car), Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' general liability insurance should provide coverage for the resulting bodily injury or property damage. But if you drop a hammer on your own foot (or on your own car), you will have to rely on your own insurance.

Although Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' liability coverage extends to most chapter activities, including chapter service team activities, high-risk activities such as, but not limited to, automobile and snowmobile races or activities involving the use of any aircraft, bungee jumping, hot-air balloons, children's inflatable bounce equipment, or the selling, auctioning off or raffling off of firearms or fireworks of any sort are strongly discouraged and shouldn't be approved by chapter leaders. If you are not sure if your chapter activity is high-risk, contact the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Corporate Insurance Management area with questions about coverage and exclusions before proceeding with the planning of the activity.

It is crucial to report any accident or occurrence that involves bodily injury or property damage occurring as a result of a chapter activity immediately to the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Corporate Insurance Management area.

It also is crucial that the chapter leaders or any Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' volunteer not admit fault or make any comments to others regarding payment for any bodily injury or property damage. The injured party or party that has suffered property damage should be informed that the accident will be reported to Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' insurance company and that a representative of the insurance company will be contacting him or her.

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Professional liability insurance

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans does not provide professional liability insurance for volunteers. A chapter should not sponsor an activity such as a health fair or blood drive or that include any medical procedures, including (but not limited to) blood drawing, blood pressure monitoring, cholesterol screening, mammograms and massages.

However, if the chapter is approached by a licensed healthcare provider to assist with an activity providing medical procedures, the chapter may participate in such an activity if it is sponsored by a licensed health-care provider. However, chapter service team members’ involvement should be limited to performing non-medical related services only. No member of the chapter service team should be involved in performing any of the medical procedures/testing, nor should they provide medical advice at the event.

If a service team will be assisting at such an event, the chapter must obtain a certificate of insurance from the sponsoring health-care provider evidencing that the professionals performing the procedures are insured for this activity under a professional liability insurance policy. This can be done on behalf of the chapter by the service team working on the activity. If no proof of insurance is available, the chapter should refrain from being involved in the activity. The proof of insurance should be provided to the chapter leadership board prior to the activity and kept with the chapter records on the activity.

If you have questions about your chapter’s involvement in an activity or about the required professional liability insurance that must be maintained by the health care professional, contact the Fraternal Service Center prior to the event at 1-800-236-3736.

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