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Planning Chapter Events Toolkit Download

The MJ Sorority Insurance Program is designed to provide comprehensive coverage to owned property that is currently housing chapter members. Any leased properties must be assessed on a case by case basis to determine coverage eligibility.

Our current policies presume third party tenants have their own property insurance coverage, which should be recorded in conjunction with the executed lease agreement.

To assess continued coverage eligibility under the your insurance policy, MJ Sorority needs to have a copy of the current lease agreement attached to the property in question. Reviewing your lease agreement will provide us with the necessary information to determine continued eligibility under the current insurance program.

In addition to a copy of the Lease Agreement, we will need to determine if the following risk management guidelines are in place:

Tenant is a single sex organization: ___ Yes ___ No

Adult employee/supervisor is living on the premises: ___ Yes ___ No

Open Flames are prohibited ___ Yes ___ No

Alcohol is prohibited ___ Yes ___ No

Property Manager hired to oversee property ___ Yes ___ No

Also, please provide the following information:

How long has this location been rented to a third party?
When does the lease term end?
What are the future plans for this property and when? (e.g. sell, demolish, rent, house chapter members)

If you have a leased property, please provide your Client Executive with the information requested above.

Pre-Event Questionairre Download

As winter arrives, it is important that we consider the potential of freeze claims, especially during breaks for the upcoming holidays. Preventing frozen pipes is probably the most important consideration over the winter breaks, but closing the chapter house before Thanksgiving and winter breaks involves several additional tasks to ensure that everything is in order and secure. Here’s a checklist we’ve developed to help:

Before break:

Schedule a house-wide cleaning. Make sure all common areas are clean and tidy, and that all personal belongings are removed from shared spaces.
Unplug all non-essential appliances. This includes electronics, lamps, and small kitchen appliances.
Keep the heat on. Set the thermostat at or above 60 degrees during breaks to ensure the pipes don’t freeze.
Dispose of perishable items in the kitchen.
Close all windows and doors securely. This will help to keep out pests and drafts.
Lock all doors and windows. Make sure all windows and doors are locked.
Notify the police and fire department that the house will be vacant. This will help to ensure that they are aware of the situation in case of an emergency.

During the break:

Have someone check on the house regularly.
Shovel snow and ice from the sidewalks and walkways. This will help to prevent slips and falls.
Clear any fallen branches or other debris from the yard. This will help to prevent damage to the house or property.

After returning:

Check for any leaks or damage to the house. Contact Heather Cox, MJ’s Claims Service Manager, if you notice any damage.
Turn up the thermostat and let the house warm up.

Additional tips:

Leave a list of emergency contact information in a visible location. This could include the names and phone numbers of the House Corporation President, house director, and local police and fire department.
Consider having a professional plumber winterize the house for longer breaks. This will help to prevent pipes from freezing.
Consider installing a water detection/heat monitoring system. Learn more here.
Review our resource on preventing frozen pipes. Be prepared before cold temperatures arrive by reviewing our resource on preventing frozen pipes in the first place.

Review and implement the following steps as needed.

Turn on headlights while in a parking garage (during daytime too) to reduce the risk of an accident and to better see people and other cars.
Park in areas that are well lit.
Refrain from walking in the middle of the lane in a parking garage, do not text while walking, and make use of marked crosswalks.
If walking by yourself, get off your cell phone.
Drivers entering a parking lot keep an eye on a vacant spot and often neglect to watch for other drivers and pedestrians who are on the move.
While backing out of a parking space in a parking garage, blind zones created by vehicles parked alongside the spot obstruct the driver’s vision.
Traffic laws aren’t enforceable in parking lots, which can create reckless driving and confusion.
One thinks that being on the phone is safe because the person on the other line can call 911, but that rarely works out.
Chatting can distract you; it’s better to be aware of your surroundings.
If walking alone, hold your cell phone and be ready to make an emergency call.
Many phones now have a button on the screen to dial 911 immediately.
Go one step further and preset one of the buttons on your phone to call the emergency number.
Look underneath your car before approaching it in a parking garage or lot at night.
If you return to your car and see that a van is parked right next to the driver’s side, enter through the passenger side.
Predators often use vans and will disguise it as a family car, even using “Baby on Board” decals.
If you return to your car and it has a flat tire, back away, return to wherever you came from (restaurant, store, etc), and call for help.
Once assistance arrives, approach your car. If someone comes up to you and wants to offer help, politely say, “No thank you.”
When you are checking in to a hotel room, ask the front desk staff to write your room number down privately so that no one hears what your room is. Your room number should be your business only.
Before entering your hotel room, make sure no one is lingering in the hallway.
Always immediately lock your hotel room door after you enter.
When traveling, do not walk with your map in your hand. It is a dead giveaway that you are a tourist. Therefore, you are an easy target.
If you call for room service, and you get a knock on your door, do not immediately open. Ask: “Who is it?” Make the person on the other side of the door tell you who they are before you open it.
When asking for directions and someone offers to show you the way by having you follow them, do not go. Just ask for them to point you in the right direction.
If someone tries to grab you, twist your arm up and down and yell, “Stop!”
Do anything you can to draw attention to yourself.
If someone is chasing after you, run away in a zig-zag pattern which is known to exhaust attackers.
Before booking a hotel, make sure that guest-room doors have multiple locks, including a deadbolt.
Consider using a valet, or park your car in a well-lit area as close as possible to the hotel lobby.
Before getting out of the car, scan the parking lot for any possible assailants. Lock the car and do not leave any valuables inside.
In high-rise hotels, request a room on the third floor or above.
If hotel personnel mention your room number during check-in or another time during your stay, ask for another room.
Don’t enter an elevator if someone inside seems suspicious.
Don’t open the room door to anyone without verification from the front desk, and do not use your name when answering the phone.
Place all valuables in the in-room safe.
Hang the “do not disturb” sign on the door and leave a light and radio or TV on when leaving.
At night or any time there’s concern about safety, request a hotel staff member to accompany you to your room to inspect it.

Source: ChubbWorks.com

As you enter the summer months there are several things that should be done to ensure the property is protected while vacant:

Completed	Closing Task
	Make sure preparations for any summer projects have been completed and a plan of action is in place.
	Check all rooms and areas of the house to determine if security deposits should be returned or kept to pay for damages. You should refer to the move-in form you used at the start of the year. You should have the tenant sign the form on move-out also.
	Clean all areas of the house and make sure all food has been removed or properly stored. Be sure all trash is removed from the property.
	All hallways should be cleared of debris, clutter, and\or furniture and all fire doors must be closed.
	Thermostats should be set to appropriate levels and hot water heater should set to “pilot” position, but not turned off. The boiler pump switches should be turned off for the summer. Unplug all appliances, open refrigerators and freezers and empty ice makers if they are unplugged.
	Secure and\or store all awards, composites, trophies, and any other valuables.
	The outside of the house should be cleaned, including making sure the gutters are clear (we would recommend a professional who is properly insured). Be especially aware of any combustibles that may be stored against the exterior of the house. This should be properly disposed of.
	Check interior and exterior lighting and all external doors to ensure proper security of the property and set any lighting timers to dusk to dawn setting.
	Ensure that all broken windows have been repaired and are locked and blinds\drapes are closed.
	All shrubbery should be trimmed to prevent easy hiding by anyone who may try to break in to the property. The landscaping should be properly maintained during the summer months.
	The university police and/or local police should be notified whether anyone should be or will be at the property during the summer. Ask them to patrol regularly if possible.
	An alumnus or responsible other party should have a key to access the facility if needed and check on the property at least weekly. Remember to disable resident, chapter members’, and employee key\swipe access and\or collect all keys from them. House corporation representative and\or house director, if applicable, should be the last people to leave the house.
	Discontinue all services not needed during break, including mail, newspapers, food deliveries, garbage, etc.
	Create and distribute list to house corporation members, chapter leadership, house director, if applicable, and headquarters contact the names and contact information for house corporation and chapter leadership, all staff members, important vendors and service providers, and appropriate emergency phone numbers.

Thanks to our business partner, CSL Management, for this resource.

Note: you can easily print this resource to use at your chapter house by clicking printer icon to the right of the resource title at the top of this page.

We recommend that you complete a House Inventory Checklist and review it once a year (note about this resource: we have made this resource available in Excel because it has built-in formulas for easy manipulation and calculation. Once you click on the link, you can click on the download link in the upper righthand corner to edit your own version). For more information about the property coverage, please click here.

Use the Chapter House Self-Inspection checklist to review your property and life-safety risk management.

This guide from Travelers, the insurance company for MJ Sorority clients, provides information on incorporating best practices and a prevention plan to help reduce the risks of slips, trips and falls at your business and on your premises.

This guide from Travelers, the insurance company for MJ Sorority clients, provides step by step instructions on how to develop a fire safety plan for your building.

This guide from Travelers, the insurance company for MJ Sorority clients, provides information for property owners on liability regarding sidewalks.