There is no longer an individual fee charged for each third party insurance application for 3rd party events held at parishes, special insurance coverage is still needed and applications must be submitted. There is still a cost for this special insurance and parishes pay for this coverage, however it is included within their annual insurance billing rather than billed as a separate fee. Many parishes charge a nominal fee to use their facilities as there are always costs for utilities, clean up, administration, along with protection from liability.
Parishes need to understand how to determine when a special event is parish sponsored, or if it is an affiliated organization event or other third party event. The Diocese of Bismarck with the assistance of the Catholic Mutual Group has published Guidelines for Special Events Coverage that parishes should use to determine when a special event is parish sponsored, if it is an affiliated organization sponsored or other third party special event. By referring to 5 key questions in the document you will understand how and when to use a Facility Usage Indemnity Agreement with the third party or an fill out an Application for Special Events Coverage and submit the form to the diocese.
Often, groups like the Knights of Columbus and Catholic Daughters are thought of as parish organizations, but these organizations are nationally based and operate under parish charters and unlike an Altar Society, they have their own tax identification and do not use the parish tax identification. If these organizations sponsor events at a parish and the funds from the event are deposited back in their organizations (Question 2 in the document), regardless if some of the proceeds are eventually directed back to the parish, these are not parish sponsored events and the organization should sign the Facility Usage Indemnity Agreement or a Special Events Insurance application should be submitted. See more at: http://bismarckdiocese.com/documents/Finance/Special%20Events%20Coverage.pdf