Abuse scandals, natural disasters, spying; these are now risks general counsels of colleges and universities are facing, as well as public entities. Learn where your exposures lie and how to combat potential claims below.

Sexual Transgressions

Increasingly, organizations have beenfaced withsexual transgression crimes and civil liability from victims. With this kind of potential liability, you should turn to internal insurance professionals, outside risk management consultants or to brokers to provide proper notice and seek coverage from every potentially available insurance policy.

Certain claims againstan institution or its officers may be covered by the Directors and Officers (D&O) liability insurance policy. Further, claims for liability for injury or damage may be covered by general liability insurance policies, and claims related to professional negligence may be covered by professional liability insurance policies.

Natural Disasters

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Tulanes campuses experienced extensive property damage and an interruption of business. Appraisal experts reportedly valued Tulane's business interruption losses, as well as lost library, art materials and research, in excess of $250 million.

The university's insurance policies in effect at the time of the hurricane included all-risk property, casualty, library and fine arts and specialized equipment. While the university eventually recovered large sums under various policies, that recovery required a fight. There was litigation with the insurance company for library contents over the extent of coverage and a protracted fight with an excess insurance company over whether flood and water damage were covered.

When faced with significant loss on account of property damage following a natural disaster, look towards property policies and various other specialized policies. Work with a risk management professional to identify applicable insurance policies.

Cyber Liability

Institutions of higher education and/or various public entites collect a large amount of sensitive information and are oftentaskedwith safeguarding health records, financial information, social security and other sensitive information. Yet, every year, many organizations fall prey to hackers potentially compromising the information of thousands of students and employees.

Cyber insurance policies are available to redress the perils of data security breaches. Typically, these standalone policies claim to cover the costs incurred following data breaches, including those incurred by:

• Notifying people whose information has been compromised

• Providing credit-monitoring services to those affected

• Hiring computer consultants to decipher the causes of the breach and to remedy them

• Handling indemnity and defense against suits alleging online copyright or trademark infringement