Overall, Cal Matters reports that claims against schools in the state have totaled nearly $3 billion. (Credit: Adobe Stock/Rawpixel.com)
When California’s Assembly Bill 218 was signed into law in 2019, it reshaped the state’s liability landscape — especially for organizations that deal with minors. AB 218 extended the statute of limitations and reopened the door to previously time-barred civil lawsuits for childhood sexual assault. As a result, now some institutions are facing a tidal wave of lawsuits stemming from decades-old incidents. This has renewed many organizations’ scrutiny of their insurance choices and risk management practices.
What is AB 218?
Prior to the passage of AB 218, California’s civil statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse suits only extended until the survivor reached age 26, or within three years of discovering they had a psychological injury from the abuse, whichever came later. The new framework allows survivors to bring these suits until age 40 or within five years of when the psychological harm was discovered, whichever is later.
The law also introduced a new three-year revival window from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022, that allowed previously expired claims to be filed. If a case is still viable, AB 218 also allows for treble damages — or triple the original award — if a defendant is found to have deliberately concealed the abuse.
Insights from risk experts
Recently, Beazley’s Christina Herald, focus group leader for crime and fidelity and U.S. Safeguard, and Paul Nash, EPL & Safeguard focus group leader, sat down with PropertyCasualty360.com to discuss the insurance and risk management implications of AB218.
“What I think is generally recognized now, is that the scope and the severity of the unforeseen financial hardship for many entities in California was probably underestimated at the time, which is why we've seen… some establishments struggling to procure insurance because of that very reason,” Nash said about the passage of AB 218.
These kinds of cases are also not reliant on whether the person or people who committed the abuse are still with the organization — or even if they’re still alive.
“Organizations like schools, churches, healthcare entities, youth clubs are now seeing lawsuits for incidents that occurred many decades ago, and even if the perpetrator has passed away or there's no records, the entity still can be found liable so many of the organizations might not have had insurance, or have insurance to respond to these… incidents and it can lead to significant financial strain for the organization,” Herald said.
The effects of this resurgence in suits can be seen in several high-profile awards given to survivors of assault in the six years since the law’s inception. This includes a reported $135 million verdict against a Riverside County school in 2023. Overall, Cal Matters reports that claims against schools in the state have totaled nearly $3 billion.
In April 2025, Los Angeles County also reportedly paid $4 billion to settle around 6,800 claims from victims who were abused in foster care or probation department facilities.
Schools and other entities struggling with these kinds of incidents can help prevent them in the future by evaluating and adjusting their risk management practices.
Nash explained that one of the best ways for these organizations to start the process of creating a safer environment is by teaching not just the adults in charge, but also child participants in programs, what inappropriate behavior looks like. He also mentioned the importance of encouraging every adult who works with children to report abuse when they see it, not just those who are already considered “mandated reporters.”
Beazley has offered molestation insurance in the U.S. since 2006, but the company released a product called SafeGuard in 2014 to expand its coverage offering to also include risk management resources and a crisis response sub-limit.
“AB 218 emphasizes liability for failing to take reasonable steps to prevent abuse. So organizations need to have the appropriate safeguards in place, which are background checks for staff and volunteers — which is underwriting criteria for the Beazley safeguard team — supervision, protocols and restrictions on one-on-one between an adult and a youth,” Herald explained.
The emergence of artificial intelligence also complicates sexual abuse risk exposure, as this technology is easy for bad actors to utilize in nefarious ways, including grooming, exploitation and the creation of child sexual abuse material.
With all of these looming liabilities, Herald emphasized that it is not enough for organizations to do the bare minimum.
“It's the continuous policy evaluation, training and revision for emerging risks,” she shared. “It's a focus on reviewing insurance coverage to make sure it's robust and meets the needs of the organization, and working with different third parties, whether it be on the risk management front or on the response side, so that if an organization does have an allegation of sexual abuse, it's important to do the right thing in that moment and prevent further victims… we want to create safer environments, and we want to ensure organizations that are doing the right thing.”
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