While it is hard to imagine a parent, Board Member and/or dedicated volunteer embezzling local Little League® funds that were meant for use by their players and teams, unfortunately, good people sometimes make bad choices when personal matters affect their decision making. Money raised by the local league in a concession stand, fundraiser, sponsorship’s, etc., can be an easy target for people to think they can take a temporary loan with the full intention of paying it back before it becomes too large an amount of money to do so. When this occurs, the local league can be devastated by the loss of funds that in most cases never make their way back to the league.
Often local leagues will operate the same as they did during previous season(s). In much the same way, the Board of Directors will choose to enroll in the same insurance coverages they did previously. A majority of Little Leagues in the United States annually enroll in the Crime Insurance coverage. Unfortunately, there are many Little League programs without this protection for embezzlement or theft that can cripple their league operations.
Crime Insurance coverage through a member company of AIG is available to all Little League programs for a nominal fee of $250 per league. This coverage protects leagues against a monetary loss caused by dishonesty, disappearance of money, or other property as well as the burglary or theft of property. Another common type of loss is from embezzlement by an identifiable officer or volunteer of the local league.
Unfortunately, we hear about non-profit organizations, including Little League programs, which are the victims of theft or embezzlement by members of their own organization. Inevitably, every year we have a few cases where leagues suffer this type of loss, contact our office for guidance and are told by the insurance carrier that their league did not have the coverage for the current season so no claim can be considered. For the $250 premium, a local league (or District) has a maximum of $35,000 per loss, with no aggregate limit on the total for the policy year. There are deductibles of $250 for property; $1,000 for money and securities.
The Risk Management Department at Little League International strongly encourage all Little League programs to participate in the Crime Insurance program. Even if your league has already chartered and paid your insurance premiums for the current year, we can work with your league to add this very important coverage.
The league can submit a written request with their League Name, League ID# and payment of the $250 premium to the address below or for additional information, please contact Brent Stahlnecker in the Little League Risk Management Department at 570-326-1921, ext. 2258; or [email protected].