Have you ever tried to get an insurance company to pay for siding replacement of hail-damaged siding? Better yet, have you ever been “lucky” enough to try and convince an insurance carrier to pay for replacement of all siding on a building (even the siding not damaged by hail) so all the siding can match […]
Do You Know How to Properly Report Claims to Insurers?
When an association, director, management company or manager is sued, each named party has to make a decision (preferably in consultation with legal counsel) whether to report the claim to insurers for a possible paid defense. In an effort to avoid negative claim history, and to decrease the chances for a premium increase, a defendant […]
Late notice held to bar a $6,000,000 Hurricane Wilma claim in Florida
In The Yacht Club on the Intracoastal Condo. Ass’n. v. Lexington Ins. Co., – Fed.Appx. –, 2015 WL 106862, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 293 (11h Cir., Jan. 8, 2015), a unanimous panel of the Eleventh Circuit recently held that a Florida condominium association’s multi-million claim for extensive Hurricane Wilma damage was barred because the insured […]
Minn. Supreme Court Rules Against Insurance Company in Key Storm Damage Dispute
A small Eagan condo association took a Fortune 500 insurance company all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court — and won. And the ruling could impact every Minnesotan with a homeowners insurance policy. Read more……..
Understanding Condo Association & Unit Valuation
Quite a few pieces must be in place to ensure no coverage gaps exist in either the condominium association’s or unit owner’s coverage picture. Three questions must be considered by the agent writing the coverage: Read more……..
Ruling could impact Citizens Property Insurance rates (FL)
A decision from the state’s highest court over lawsuits could cause Citizens Property Insurance rates to go up. The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday about whether the state-funded insurance company should be open to bad faith lawsuits. Read more……..
Florida Supreme Court To Hear Citizens Insurance ‘Bad Faith’ Dispute
In a case stemming from Hurricane Ivan a decade ago, the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments about whether the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. can face a “bad faith” lawsuit because of its handling of a damage claim. Read more……..
Does Your NC Property Owners Association Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance? Yes!
The North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act (“Act”) requires all employers with three or more employees to carry workers’ compensation insurance. The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that employees injured by an accident while working have a safety net to cover lost wages and medical expenses. The Act, however, has a very technical definition […]
When Waters Rise – Flood Insurance for Co-ops & Condos (NY)
According to a 2013 poll by the Insurance Information Institute, only 13 percent of American homeowners have some sort of flood insurance policy, and those living in New York City are low on that list. Read more………..
Protecting Self & Staff: Don’t Skip the Liability Coverage!
Ahhh, lawsuits. People suing people. Companies suing companies. People suing companies. Residents suing boards. A quick surf of the Internet and you can find many instances across the country where condo boards are sued. You can also find multiple lawsuits in which boards are sued for possible misappropriation of funds. Read more……..
The ABCs of Insuring Your Condo: Common Terms and Options for Insurance
The experts who advise condo associations on insurance matters admit that the basic policies are pretty standardized and often seem to be all the same. Trustees may tend to gloss over the details and assume that anything important relative to condo communities is already built in to their coverage—and much of the important stuff probably […]
General Contractors: Make sure you have a Subcontractor Exception to the Your Work Exclusion in your CGL Policy
Do you know what your CGL insurance policy covers? General contractors may expect that their CGL policy covers the cost to repair defective work, or other components of the project that were damaged by defective work. This may be one of the primary reasons a contractor purchases CGL insurance. Read more……..
Identifying Insurance Options: One Size Does Not Fit All!
You can’t underestimate the value of insurance. In a simple analogy, operating a business—or the day-to-day business of a co-op or condo—without adequate insurance coverage is a lot like skydiving without a parachute. Needless to say, it’s a risky proposition. Read more……..
When Waters Rise: Flood Insurance for Condos
When is a flood not a flood? That’s a serious question for southeast Florida’s residential communities. Even if they have flood insurance, damage caused by heavy rains and backed-up sewers may not meet the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) definition of a flood—and that can mean financial devastation for condo or co-op owners who thought […]
Flood Plain Facts: How Federal Flood Insurance Can Save Your Co-op / Condo
If your board isn’t up on the two Fs — flooding and federal insurance — you may be inviting trouble. Here’s what you need to know, both in terms of having a flood-insurance policy and in how to collect enough from it to afford repairs and restoration. Read more……..
Beware of indemnification clauses!
It is very important that associations be careful of indemnification clauses because by signing a contract with such language, the association may be exposing itself to liability not covered by the association’s insurance policy or policies. Read more…….
Know the Players and Their Role in Insurance
Insurance offers one of the best examples of how a community association board can work most effectively with their community manager and the professionals involved. Keep in mind the two major points: Read more………
Directors’ Bankruptcy Does Not Relieve D&O Insurer of Obligation to Defend
The bankruptcy of insured directors did not relieve the insurer that had issued a directors and officers (D&O) endorsement to a commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policy of the obligation to defend or indemnify them, even where they had been dismissed from the lawsuit, an appellate court in Wisconsin has ruled. Read more…….
Legal Analysis and Law Articles on Insurance, Reinsurance, Surety, Risk Management, and Subrogation
The National Law Review is one of the nation’s top resources of legal articles for insurance coverage and risk management and compliance issues. Legal topics include: Coverage or lack of coverage under insurance agreements: construction defect; directors and officers liability; environmental liability; ERISA coverage; entertainment and media exposures; excess liability and surplus lines, fidelity bonds; […]
Meet the Flood Insurance ‘Robin Hood’ Who Saves Condo Owners Millions
The builder of the most luxurious condominiums on this sugar-white sand beach had a problem. One of the twin towers of Turquoise Place was just inside a line on a federal flood map, a small difference that could cost the condo owners more than half a million dollars a year for flood insurance. Read […]
Why Taxpayers Will Bail Out the Rich When the Next Storm Hits
As homeowners around the nation protest skyrocketing premiums for federal flood insurance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has quietly moved the lines on its flood maps to benefit hundreds of oceanfront condo buildings and million-dollar homes, according to an analysis of federal records by NBC News. Read more……..
Protection for the Board – D & O Insurance
We receive many calls from board members of homeowner association clients inquiring about complaints made by unhappy members of their communities and threats of lawsuits against the directors. The complaints run the full gamut from failure to enforce the governing documents, to unfair enforcement of the governing documents, to failure to abide by the governing […]
A Message from CAI Government & Public Affairs (re: Flood Insurance)
Today, January 8, the U.S. Senate is voting to invoke cloture (a.k.a. bring the debate to an end) on S. 1846, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act (HFIA). If cloture is invoked, the Senate will proceed to debate and a vote on passing HFIA. Please contact your Senators today urging support of invoking cloture and […]
Insuring Honesty and Integrity: Two Must-Have Insurance Policies for Boards
When you decide to run for a board, you’re usually thinking about all the great changes you’re going to make to your building community, along with all the time and effort that you’re prepared to sacrifice for the good of your home. Read more…….
Contractor Coverage & Liability
All professional contractors and service providers are required by law to carry insurance to cover their activities. Any condo building should also carry its own insurance to cover accidents or other incidents on the property—this could include anything from slip-and-falls to staff injuries to damage from doing electrical work. Read more…..
Understanding Your Insurance Policy’s Fine-Print
Surprise. Surprise. The major storm events we’ve experienced in New England may give condo owners and trustees a very good reason to look at the insurance coverage for all of their association properties. Read more….
10 Things to Know About Condominiums (Insurance)
To adequately insure one’s condo apartment, it is important to review the condo association’s bylaws and proprietary lease to find out which structural parts of the condo units are covered by the association and which are not, the Insurance Information Institute advises. Read more…..
$12 Million Reasons Your Associations Need Liability Insurance
On January 16, 2011, Andrew Curtis, a nine-year-old boy, and his father were riding their bicycles on U.S. Highway 1 in the town of Jupiter, Florida. Andrew was following his father as the two approached the driveway of the Villas on the Green Condominiums. While Andrew’s father passed the driveway without incident, as Andrew began […]
California Court Holds That Broker’s Duties to Its Clients Did Not Extend to Loss Payee Investor
In Travelers Property Casualty Company v. Superior Court, 215 Cal.App.4th 561 (2013), the California Court of Appeal held that an investor who obtained ownership of a condominium development and sustained a loss that was not covered by the insurance policy purchased by the original developer had no remedy at law against the developer’s insurance broker […]
Fear the Next Hurricane More Than Florida Supreme Court’s Ruling on Tiara
The Florida Supreme Court’s ruling on a beachfront condominium association’s lawsuit against its insurance agency generated the kind of initial reaction among insurers matched only when a weather announcer says that Florida is within the cone of probability. Read More……
Fourth DCA Rules Insurance Companies Not Required to Provide Coverage for all Portions of Condominium Property
Recently, the Fourth District Court of Appeal in the case of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. v. River Manor Condominium Association, Inc., ruled that an insurer is not required to provide an association with coverage for “all portions of the condominium property located outside the units” and “all portions of the condominium property for which the […]
The Insurance Puzzle: Making Sense of Premiums and Policies
Insurance sounds like a simple concept: you pay a premium to your insurer, and then when you file a claim, your insurer pays you. Simple. Insuring a condominium or association property shouldn’t be much different than insuring yourself—just on a bigger scale, right? Read More……
Understanding Flood Insurance: What Are Its Limits? And Can I Get It?
After the storm, after the surge, after the wind has died, after floodwaters recede, the finger-pointing inevitably begins. “We did not have flood insurance,” says Dr. Janie Simmons, an anthropologist and AIDS researcher who serves as board president of Shore View Condominiums at Rockaway Beach in Queens, one of the many New York City communities […]
Insurer cannot Subrogate against its own insured
Subrogation is an insurance company’s right to go after a person or entity responsible for a loss that the insurance company paid to its insured. For example, when an insured is involved in a car accident, the insurance company Read More……
The Insurance Puzzle – What Boards Must DO and Must AVOID
A key obligation of the association board is to protect the assets of the association. One of the primary elements of this responsibility is insurance, but many volunteer board members have limited experience with insurance. They’re only familiar with purchasing personal auto, home and life insurance. Most know the limits and the price, but few […]
Of Course You Don’t Need Workers’ Compensation Insurance – Or Do You?
We occasionally get questions about whether a homeowners association should obtain its own workers’ compensation insurance, and when we recommend “Yes,” the inevitable question is “Why; we don’t have any employees?” Read More……
Fidelity Insurance – Is Yours Adequate?
What would your association do if you discovered tomorrow that the association’s bank/investment accounts had been completely emptied by a board member and it was obvious that the association would not be getting the money back? Read More……
Insurance Fraud! We All Pay the Price
Last year in New Jersey, a former property manager in Freehold Township was accused of embezzling $75,000 from homeowner dues. In a separate case, a woman, her husband and mother were charged with theft from an Aberdeen condo association after misappropriating $995,000 of the association’s money from January 2005 through September 2006, and in Readington, […]
Mind the Gap: Understanding Your Insurance Responsibilities
Insurance is designed to be there for us when we need it most. Without knowing the full extent of our coverage, though, we may find ourselves with less protection than we thought. For condominium owners, it is imperative to understand exactly what liabilities and risks are covered by individual resident homeowner policies and what is […]
Understanding Legal Liability for Condominium Association and Unit Owners
Legal liability is liability imposed by the courts or by statute on any person or entity responsible for the financial injury or damage suffered by another person, group, or entity. Legal obligations, or legal liability, can arise from intentional acts, unintentional acts, or contracts. When the potentially liable parties are mutual beneficiaries and users/occupiers of […]
So You Have an Insurance Claim?
Do the words, “my ceiling’s collapsed” and “water is pouring in” strike fear into your heart? Does the thought of dialing the insurance claim hotline for yet another claim give you a sinking feeling? Well, fear not. Take it from a condo manager who has been through that Read more……..
HOA Insurance Glossary
Cost of replacing damaged or destroyed property with comparable new property, minus depreciation and obsolescence. For example, a 10-year-old sofa will not be replaced at current full value because of a decade of depreciation Read more…….