Why are church insurance premiums going up?
Church property premiums are climbing even though the broader commercial property market is actually softening in 2026 — and that distinction matters. Industry indices show general property rates flat to down this year as capacity returned and reinsurance costs eased. Churches and nonprofits are the exception: insurers have pulled back from the segment and building replacement costs stay high, so ministry property hasn't followed the wider market down.
Two forces keep church property rising while the general market eases:
- A segment insurers are retreating from. Some carriers have stopped writing churches and nonprofits, or non-renew accounts with any claims history. When fewer carriers compete for ministry accounts, the segment doesn't get the price relief the broad market is seeing.
- Replacement-cost inflation. The cost to rebuild a sanctuary at today's material and labor prices has climbed sharply. Even with no change in rate, a building insured to proper replacement cost carries a higher premium than it did three years ago — and underinsured buildings get trued up at renewal.
The flip side is the casualty lines — commercial auto and umbrella. There the broader market is rising fast (more on that below), so a flat or modest renewal on those coverages is a sign your program is well placed, not something to take for granted.
What a Georgia church should actually expect at renewal
A well-placed Georgia ministry program is seeing far smaller increases than the headlines suggest. Across our 700+ Georgia ministry accounts in 2026, property is renewing up about 10–12%, workers' compensation is flat, commercial auto is up roughly 2%, and umbrella and excess are flat. The single largest driver of any property increase is your building's replacement value — not a blanket rate hike.
MinistrySure 2026 Renewal Trends by Line
Reflects renewals across MinistrySure's 700+ Georgia ministry accounts. Your church's actual change depends on building values, claims history, and coverages.
How that compares to the broader 2026 market
Across the commercial insurance market in 2026, brokers and market indices report property rates flat to slightly down, workers' compensation flat, commercial auto up roughly 7–15%, and umbrella and excess liability up 8–15% — driven largely by litigation and outsized jury verdicts. Set against that, a well-placed Georgia ministry program is holding far better, especially on the casualty lines punishing the rest of the market.
| Coverage line | Broader 2026 market | Well-placed ministry program |
|---|---|---|
| Property | Flat to down | +10–12% (segment exception) |
| Workers' comp | Flat | Flat |
| Commercial auto | +7–15% | ~+2% |
| Umbrella / excess | +8–15% | Flat |
Broader-market figures from 2026 commercial insurance market indices and broker outlooks; ministry-program figures from MinistrySure's 2026 Georgia renewals.
The takeaway runs two ways. On property, churches are an exception to a softening market — so the right move is making sure your building is valued correctly, not overpaying on a panic renewal. On auto and umbrella, the broader market is rising sharply; staying flat there is the payoff of a program placed by a specialist, not luck.
Why do some churches see 50%, 100%, even 300% increases?
The dramatic spikes that make headlines almost always come from one of four things: a claim on the policy, a carrier exiting the church or childcare market and non-renewing the account, a building that was badly underinsured being corrected to real replacement cost, or coverage forced into the surplus-lines (E&S) market. These are placement and risk problems — not the baseline cost of insuring a church.
In widely reported 2024 cases, one church's premium jumped from about $23,000 to $80,000 after its carrier dropped it — despite no claims — and another moved from roughly $12,500 to $73,000. Those are real outcomes, but they are the extreme end: churches pushed out of the standard market entirely. They are not what a well-managed Georgia program renews at.
There's a quieter version of the same problem worth watching for. As the market hardened, carriers began narrowing coverage at renewal — sub-limiting or carving out abuse and molestation, directors and officers, pastoral counseling, and hired and non-owned auto. A higher premium attached to a quietly thinner policy is a worse outcome than a higher premium with your coverage intact. Read the renewal terms, not just the number.
A spike isn't the price of insuring a church. It's usually a signal — about a claim, a carrier exit, or a building that was never insured to what it would actually cost to rebuild.
What to do if your church's premium jumped
If your renewal came back sharply higher, don't simply shop for the lowest price — that's how coverage gaps get bought by accident. Start 90 to 120 days before your policy expires, ask why the increase happened, and get a coverage review from a specialist who can tell you whether the number reflects real risk or a placement problem.
Three questions answer most of it:
- Is this rate, or replacement cost? If your building valuation was trued up to current rebuild cost, part of the increase is correcting a gap that would have hurt you at claim time. That's not waste — that's coverage you were missing.
- Did anything get carved out? Compare this year's limits and exclusions to last year's. A flat or lower premium with a narrowed abuse, D&O, or counseling limit is a step backward.
- Are the right carriers even seeing my account? A generalist agent may have one or two markets for a church. A ministry specialist works with multiple carriers built for churches — not just one or two markets — and can tell you whether your number is competitive.
A coverage review compares what you have against what ministry-focused carriers can offer, checks your building values against current replacement cost, and shows you exactly where your money is going. If your current pricing is fair, we'll tell you that too.
Did your church's renewal jump?
We'll review your current policy, check your building values, and tell you whether the increase reflects real risk or a placement problem.
Request a Coverage ReviewFrequently asked questions
How much is church insurance going up in 2026?
For a well-placed Georgia church, property premiums are rising about 10–12% at renewal in 2026, while workers' compensation and umbrella/excess are largely flat and commercial auto is up about 2%. The bulk of any increase is on the property line, driven mostly by rising building replacement costs. Notably, that runs against a broader commercial property market that is flat to down this year — church and nonprofit property is a segment exception, not a blanket hike across every coverage.
Is it normal for church insurance to double at renewal?
No. A 50%, 100%, or larger jump almost always signals a specific problem: a claim on the policy, a carrier exiting the church market and non-renewing, a building that was badly underinsured being corrected to real replacement cost, or coverage forced into the surplus-lines market. It is not the baseline cost of insuring a church, and it is worth a second opinion.
Why did my church insurance get non-renewed?
Most non-renewals in 2026 trace to carriers pulling back from the church and childcare market or offloading accounts with claims history — not to anything your church did wrong. Non-renewal is not the same as cancellation; you have time before the policy expires to place coverage with a specialist. See our church insurance non-renewal guide.
When should we start shopping if our renewal went up?
Start 90 to 120 days before your policy expires. That window gives a specialist agent time to review your current coverage, check your building valuations against real replacement cost, and approach the right carriers — rather than scrambling for the cheapest number days before expiration, which is how coverage gaps get bought by accident.
What coverages are hardest to place in the hard market?
Abuse and molestation, directors and officers, pastoral counseling, and hired and non-owned auto are increasingly being sub-limited or carved out at renewal — sometimes without the church noticing. A rising premium with a quietly narrowed policy is a worse outcome than a higher premium with intact coverage, which is why reading the renewal terms matters as much as the price.
Will switching agents lower our premium?
Not always — and chasing the lowest price is how churches end up underinsured. A ministry-specialist agent's job is to match coverage to how your church actually operates and place it with the right carrier, so you know whether your number reflects real risk or a placement problem. The honest answer sometimes is that your current pricing is fair; a coverage review tells you which.
MinistrySure is an independent insurance agency in Loganville, Georgia specializing exclusively in churches, Christian schools, and faith-based ministries. Led by brothers Matthew and Michael Campbell, MinistrySure has served 700+ Georgia ministries with three decades of combined church-insurance experience.
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