A church is trying to leave downtown Spokane, crime and insurance rates are part of the reason

Pastor Jonathan Bonetti estimates his downtown Spokane church has had as many as 25 broken windows in the last seven years.

Repairing all that property damage has been expensive in more ways than one. Not only has it cost Redemption Church thousands of dollars, it’s made insurers nervous.

“Not every one of those (broken windows) was a claim,” Bonetti said. “But obviously when you file that many claims with an insurance company, they get a little wary.”

Eventually, Great American Insurance Co. had enough with Redemption. They dropped the church as a client and Bonetti had to go shopping for a new provider.

He searched for more than a month and reached out to 12 companies before he found one willing to cover his church – for three times what they’d been paying.

Monthly insurance premiums for Redemption’s property, which is valued at $2.2 million by the county assessor’s office, have gone from $950 to $3,000.

Redemption Church, which has roughly 150 members, is trying to sell its building and leave downtown Spokane. Rising crime is the main driver, Bonetti said, but insurance costs are also a factor. The church can’t afford to pay an extra $24,000 a year for coverage.

“It’s not sustainable,” Bonetti said.

Kenton Brine, president of the NW Insurance Council, said insurance costs are generally increasing. Inflation, higher construction material costs, a tight labor market and supply chain delays all play a role.

Insurance companies consider crime rates when offering coverage, but Brine said a neighborhoodwide increase in vandalism probably isn’t what tripled Redemption’s rates. He said it typically takes a catastrophic event, like an earthquake or wildfire, to change a company’s underwriting or pricing.

“If a policyholder – either a business, church or homeowner – files repeated and costly claims, it is not unusual for their insurer to not renew their policy, or, at a minimum, to increase their premium,” Brine said.

Bonetti said he doesn’t blame Great American for dropping his church. The number of claims was extreme, he said.

“It’s understandable and it puts us in a tough situation,” he said.

Numerous downtown businesses said their properties have been vandalized in the last few years. But most said that, as far as they know, their insurance premiums have held steady.

“We have not had to enter claims like the church has,” Kirishian Rugs owner Richard Kirishian said. “Fortunately we have not been broken into and we have not had broken windows. I’m actually kind of surprised.”

Jack Gumm, manager of Clark’s Cleaners, said his business has filed seven property damage claims in the last two years. He said he suspects those claims have led to higher premiums.

New Community, a church located half a mile west of Redemption, has had its own insurance woes.

Kevin Longmeier, the church’s administrative pastor, said New Community has been dropped by an insurance provider in the past. A flooding problem, roof leaks and thefts were the main culprits, he said.

“We have since learned we can’t really file the claims that we need to file,” Longmeier said. “We just try to pay out of pocket because we know our premiums are either going to go through the roof or we’d have to find a new insurer.”

Longmeier added that his church, which pays about $1,250 a month for insurance, has boarded up windows “because we can’t afford to pay to replace glass every time it’s broken.”

New Community doesn’t plan to leave downtown.

“We’ve always felt like this is the exact spot that our church needs to be and needs to continue to be,” Longmeier said. “We want to be a place of hope and a place of respite and a source of resources for folks that don’t have them.”

Bonetti said he feels that crime is destroying downtown Spokane near Second Avenue and Division Street. He said he believes the loss of Starbucks, which closed last year due to safety concerns, is indicative of the neighborhood’s decline.

“There’s just been really an increase in a feeling of hopelessness on the corner,” Bonetti said. “Everybody is dealing with this in one way or another.”