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Does Your Department Have Adequate Insurance Coverage?

Follow these steps to make sure your department has adequate liability insurance coverage.

1. Inventory department property and confirm everything is insured.

  • Include vehicles, computers, office furniture, lab equipment, fine arts, and miscellaneous equipment.
  • Give special consideration to anything that is essential to your department's work.
  • Read about UC's Basic Property Insurance, including deductibles, limitations, and exclusions.

2. Insure borrowed, leased, or rented equipment.

Important: This equipment is not automatically covered under the university's basic property insurance program.

  • Determine if the owner already has insurance for these items, or if your department would be responsible if they are lost or stolen.
    • Important: Get written proof of insurance or indemnity wording in a contract. Don't rely on verbal agreements to absolve your department of responsibility.
  • Request that uninsured equipment be included under the university's property insurance:

3. Identify special risk activities or policies.

4. Evaluate your existing insurance coverage.

  • Review the UC San Diego automatic insurance programs to see if they provide sufficient coverage for your department. Be sure to note restrictions, exclusions, limits, and deductibles.
  • Find out if your department is enrolled in any by-request (optional) insurance programs.
    • Check department records for enrollment forms or annual renewal forms.
    • Contact EH&S Risk Management, (858) 534-3820, if you can't find current renewal forms or have questions.

5. Consider purchasing additional insurance for specific risks.

  • Read about by-request (optional) insurance programs, including their limitations and exclusions.
  • Contact EH&S Risk Management, (858) 534-2454, for more information or to enroll in a program.
    • Ask about customized insurance coverage for special cases.

6. Use other loss-control measures to minimize risk.

  • Review department policies that could contribute to losses. Examples include:
    • Key control
    • After-hours policies for office space, classrooms, and labs
    • Off-campus events and programs
  • Ask UC San Diego Police to perform a free security survey. An officer will:
    • Review your department's procedures
    • Identify practices that put your department at risk
    • Recommend theft devices and alarms suitable for your area
    Contact Crime Prevention, (858) 534-3644, to request a security survey.
  • Attend Risk Management classes to learn about protecting your department's assets.
Contact EH&S Risk Management, (858) 534-2454.
When a loss occurs, notify Risk Management, (858) 534-2454, immediately to promptly initiate the insurance investigation and claims process.