Insurance and Liability Programs
The University of California operates as a “self-funded insured” maintaining program system wide to pay for claims and losses. With the exception of a few very selective specialized coverages, the UC maintains this program of “self-funded insurance” covering our exposures for general liability, property, auto liability, medical malpractice, workers compensation and employment practices liabilities. Each of the ten campuses and five medical centers participate in this system wide program. Funds from our self-funded programs are what are used by Risk Management to cover the costs of claims, property damage, or court assessed liabilities and legal expense related to claims and losses.
Report an Auto, Property or General Liability Claim
Three easy ways:
- Report a Claim
- Email: risk@ucr.edu
- Please review the FAQs for general questions and answers regarding Property or General Liability Claims.
Insurance Programs
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Who and What is covered?
Who and What Is Covered By University Insurance?
- Employees acting within the course and scope of their University employment
- University-owned property
- University-owned vehicles
Who and What Is NOT Covered by University Insurance?
Everyone and everything else, including:
- Employees on their own time
- Students*
- Volunteers**
- Alumni
- Outside parties using University facilities
- Vendors
- Non-owned or -leased vehicles (including rental cars)
- Non-owned property (unless the University has contractually agreed to cover and has care, custody, and control of the property)
*Unless they are under the direct, on-site supervision of a University employee acting in the course and scope of University employment, students are considered autonomous individuals responsible for their own actions.
**Volunteers are eligible for Workers' Compensation coverage IF they:
- Fit the definition of a volunteer;
- Fill out the Registered Volunteer form; and
- Are directly supervised on-site by a faculty or staff member acting within the course and scope of employment
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Automobile Insurance
The University's Automobile Self Insurance Program provides Automobile Liability coverage for University personnel in the course and scope of their employment and Automobile Physical Damage for vehicles owned, leased and operated by the University.
Liability coverage
Liability coverage for third party bodily injury and property damage is automatically extended to all University owned or leased vehicles for which liability is contractually assumed. The University's Liability Coverage is excess over an employee's coverage when using their personal vehicle in the course and scope of their employment.
Physical damage coverage
Physical damage coverage for comprehensive and collision damage is automatically extended to Fleet Vehicles and short term rental vehicles. Coverage must be requested and purchased for Department owned or leased vehicles that are not included in Fleet. Coverage does not extend to employee owned vehicles.
Insurance Coverage Requirements When Using a Personal Vehicle for UCR Travel
If you use your personal vehicle for university business, your personal insurance provides the primary coverage in case of accident or loss.
University insurance programs do not provide coverage for damage or loss to personal vehicles used for business travel. Therefore, employees are responsible for ensuring that their vehicles are sufficiently insured.
The University can pay the first $500 or your deductible for repairs, whichever is less. But that will come out of your department budget, not from the insurance program. After that, your private insurer is the primary source of insurance coverage, even when you are using your vehicle on University business.
Damage to Personal Vehicles
If your personal vehicle is damaged when you are using it to conduct University business, contact your own automobile insurance company to find out your coverage, make claims, and arrange for repairs.
Some campus departments may reimburse up to $500 for repairing the vehicle or for the amount of the deductible (co-insurance), whichever is less. Ask your department's business officer if this option is available before you use your personal vehicle for university business.
Note: Expenses that can be recovered from the employee's insurance agency are not eligible for reimbursement.
If your car is scratched on a campus parking lot but no one took responsibility for the damage or saw who caused it, the University will not pay.
At our discretion, the Risk Management Office may send a claims adjuster to verify the circumstances of your claim.
Resources
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Campus Connexions - Student Event Liability Insurance
As you plan your event, it's essential that you make the appropriate insurance arrangements. Don't put it off, take care of the insurance now!
Learn more about the types of Student Insurance programs through Campus Connexions
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Certificates of Insurance
A Certificate of Insurance verifies that the insurance requirements in a contract or agreement have been met. It conforms that the vendor, contractor, consultant, or facility user has purchased an insurance policy and specifies the coverage levels under that policy.
- Certificates issued to UCR must name “the Regents of the University of California” as additional insured’s.
- Certificates provided by UCR, if your department has a contract or agreement with a non-University entity and they require a certificate of insurance, Risk Management can only issue a certificate of self-insurance on receipt of complete contractual information.
Insurance Coverage & Limits
BUS 63 - Insurance Requirements / Certificates of Insurance
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Employment Practices Liability
Employment practices liability coverage is provided for university employees for alleged wrongful employment related acts (such as harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination) that occur while the employee is in the course and scope of their employment or project. This is a self-insured program funded by each campus and medical center. The Office of Risk Services, Office of the President, manages the funding and administration of the program through the use of a third party claims administrator.
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Fine Arts Liability
Fine Art and Rare Books
Although precious artwork and rare books are covered under the University's property insurance program, the property insurance program doesn't cover every hazard (most water damage, for instance), so if a painting is doused by rain through an open window, your department is stuck for the cost of damage – unless you purchase special fine arts coverage.
Fine arts insurance (Permanent Collection and Domestic Exhibit) covers all perils except:
- wear and tear, gradual deterioration, moths, vermin, inherent vice, or loss or damage sustained due to or resulting from any repairing, restoration or retouching process
- war
- nuclear hazard
- shipment by mail unless by registered first class or parcel post – provided such shipments not exceed $1,000 in value
- loss or damage to property shipped under "on deck" bills of lading.
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General Liability
The University's General Liability Self Insurance Program covers university employees for certain liability claims which arise out of university operations. Protection ranges from coverage for accidents like slips and falls, destruction of property, to other accidents causing injury or damage to others or property of others. This is a self-insured program funded by each campus and medical center.
Coverage
Coverage applies to all university departments and auxiliary enterprises, officers, agents and employees (including bona fide volunteers). Protection is further extended to students enrolled in a formal training program which is limited to the School of Medicine and School of Veterinary Medicine while performing in the course and scope of their studies.
The intent of this program is to provide protection for mistakes made by campus employees resulting in personal or bodily injury, or property damage to third parties. Those "mistakes" are referred to as "negligence" in the law.
Anytime a charge of negligence is made against the university, this program will respond by investigating the charges, and defend the department or individual alleged to have committed the negligent act. Costs of the claim or lawsuit are funded by the program. All claims are investigated thoroughly by a third-party administrator, hired by the university, to provide an objective review of the circumstances leading up to the claim.
Major exclusions
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Claims which arise from the ownership or use of an aircraft. The university maintains a separate aircraft liability insurance policy which provides this protection.
- Claims arising from any water craft which:
- Exceeds 30 feet in length and
- if the claim is for something which took place away from university owned or controlled premises.
- Under bodily injury, any obligations the university would be responsible for under its workers' compensation program. For instance, if a university employee were to slip and fall while on the job, the individual's injuries would be covered under the university's workers' compensation program.
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Professional Medical & Hospital Liability
The Professional Medical & Hospital Liability (PL) program within the UCOP Office of Risk Services is responsible for loss prevention, management of medical & dental malpractice claims and lawsuits that occur at university healthcare facilities. This includes student health, counseling and psychological service centers, veterinary services and/or lawsuits that involve university healthcare practitioners, including university physicians, dentists, residents, fellows, nurses and other healthcare employees for acts and omissions allegedly arising out of the course and scope of university employment.
The PL program also provides for the legal representation of healthcare employees for licensing board investigations under certain circumstances. The Human Subject Injury Program provides oversight and funding of claims involving medical care and treatment for certain injuries sustained by research subjects.
The Office of Risk Services contracts with a third party administrator, Sedgwick CMS, for the day to day management of the above programs.
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Property Liability (UC property)
The University's Property program seeks to protect university assets through restoration of property loss/damage, risk analysis, control and prevention. This program provides coverage for direct physical loss and is extended to property owned or in the care, custody, and control of the regents of the university.
What is Covered?
All property owned by the University is automatically insured for the following perils:
- Theft
- Vandalism
- Fire
- Water (as long as the damage is sudden, accidental, and not from a flood)
- Explosions
- Lightning
- Windstorms
- Hail
- Transportation from one site to another
- Building collapse
As well as any other sudden or accidental damage except for those perils listed below in the What Is NOT Covered section. Other Insurance coverages include boiler, crime, cyber, fine art, and marine/small watercraft.
Coverage is worldwide, meaning the property need not be on University grounds to be insured. Lost or damaged goods are replaced or repaired with property of like kind and quality.
Deductibles and Coverage Limits
The deductible (the amount you pay before insurance kicks in) is $1,000 for all perils with the following exceptions:
- Water Damage - $5000 per occurrence (or 10% of total loss when in excess of $50,000)
- Fire - $5,000 per occurrence
- Forced-Entry Theft - $1000 per occurrence
- Non-Forced Entry Theft - $5,000 per occurrence
The following perils are not covered:
- Damage caused by your own negligence (such as spilling coffee into your computer)
- Earthquakes
- Floods
- Changes in temperature or humidity
- Electrical disturbances (i.e. power failure or surge)
- Unexplainable disappearances
- Losses caused by deferred maintenance (such as a leaking roof)
- Loss of data
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property, such as a professor's unpublished manuscript, is usually not insured. That's because it's usually impossible to place a monetary value on unpublished manuscripts, instructional materials, research notes, research materials, research data, and other such property.
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Report an Auto Accident in a University Vehicle
All UCR Vehicles are equipped with an insurance card with contact information in the event of an accident in a UCR Vehicle.
Drivers are required to report all auto incidents within 24 hours direct to UCR's Claims Administrator, Sedgwick, by calling 1-800-416-4029 and pressing #1. Operators are available 24/7.
If you are injured, please seek medical attention, preferably at a UCR approved Occupational Medical Center
You will also need to file an incident report using Employers First Report of Injury (EFR) application available via R'Space or by submitting the UCR Vehicle Incident Report form.
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Travel Insurance
UC Travel Insurance
TRAVEL ADVISORY: Learn about the 2019nCoV Coronavirus
Read the Letter from President Napolitano - Directive on limiting non-essential travel to China
The University’s travel insurance benefits, designed to protect our health, safety, and security, are available at no cost to UC faculty and staff who travel out of state and out of country on official UC business and to students in UC sponsored and supervised off-campus activities and programs abroad. Coverage also extends to spouses, domestic partners and dependents when traveling with University faculty, staff or student as personal travelers.
The benefits include Security Extraction, Medical Evacuation and Travel Assistance, in addition to other services. Visit the website for more details on the insurance program.
Employees Traveling on University Business
When traveling more than 100 miles from their home campus on official University business, University employees and their traveling companions (see definition below) are covered 24 hours a day, worldwide, for a variety of perils. Employees may also sign up to receive Travel Alerts for their destination. Coverage is free, but employees need to register with UC Away for out-of-state and foreign travel. Upon registration, employees receive a trip registration card confirming coverage and containing the toll-free number to call in an emergency.
In-state travel more than 100 miles from campus is also covered, but registration is not required.
NOTE: Effective October 1, 2015, independent contractors hired and controlled by the University qualify for travel insurance coverage. The contractors must be actively working on University business for the coverage to apply.
Services and Benefits
The travel insurance program offers the following services and benefits:
- Emergency Medical Evacuation
- Rescue and Evacuation after Natural Disasters (to the degree possible)
- Rescue and Evacuation during Local Political Crises (to the degree possible)
- Accident/Sickness Medical Care (international travel only)
- Travel Alerts
- Passport Replacement Assistance and Legal Assistance Referrals
- Trip Delay Reimbursement (up to $200/day for five days)
- Personal Property Loss (up to $5,000)
- Up to 14 Days of Coverage When Not on University Business
- Accidental Death, Dismemberment, or Paralysis Benefits
- Repatriation of Remains
Note: coverage does not include costs of cancellation before you leave on the trip.
REGISTER YOUR TRAVEL COMPANIONS
Traveling companion(s) are persons traveling with the University employee on the same itinerary. Examples include spouses or domestic partners, children, colleagues, friends and/or extended family joining the University employee on the trip. An employee of another academic or corporate institution is not a traveling companion; nor is someone hired within a foreign country as a driver, translator, etc. Employees must list their traveling companions when they register their own travel.
Register for Travel Alerts
Out-of-state and international travelers can receive free real-time alerts through an online service called Worldcue TRAVELER, which provides email notices about political unrest, natural disasters, and health warnings affecting travel destinations. This is an especially valuable resource when traveling to areas where information is tightly controlled.
Please sign up for Worldcue TRAVELER on the last page of the on-line travel registration form. The sign-up paragraph reads as follows:
Click here to create your personal travel profile for this trip with iJet/Worldcue(link is external), the providers of security protection and emergency services, including security extraction and medical evacuation that may be needed when circumstances arise.
If you have already registered your trip but neglected to sign up for Worldcue TRAVELER, you may contact Worldcue TRAVELER directly by sending an email to customerservice@ijet.com or calling (443) 716-2419. You will need to provide your name, home campus, email address, destination, and itinerary.
For additional information, see the UC Trips Frequently Asked Questions(link is external) from the Office of the President, although it is somewhat out of date.
Training
Take the UC Abroad eLearning course in the UCR Learning Center for an overview of traveler safety for those traveling abroad. Topics include: Planning, Safety, Health, and International Security.
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Vendor/Contractor Insurance
Vendors and contractors who do not meet the University’s Insurance requirements for general liability and professional liability can purchase Vendor/Contractor Insurance from the CampusConnexions Program. If the contractor/vendor’s application is accepted, an annual policy for University work costs $500.
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Workers' Compensation
The University of California strives to provide a safe working environment for all employees and to minimize the adverse impact of work-related injuries.
Workers' Compensation is a state mandated benefit for employees with work-related injuries and illness, awarded without regard to who is at fault. California's Workers' Compensation laws are intended to ensure that employees receive prompt medical treatment, among other benefits, when they are injured on-the-job. Under workers' compensation, an injury must meet the test of both arising out of employment and occurring during the course of employment to be compensable.