HOA Liability Insurance

Started by PaulG12 • 4 replies • 1535 views

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PaulG12 (South Carolina)
Posts: 12

Posted:

All you Board Members of HOA's that DO have liability insurance for the BOD/Officers out there....who do you use? We have Nationwide, but I'm feeling like there is better (and by better, I mean the same coverage for cheaper) out there. Nationwide seems to be a bit full of themselves lately and I would have no heartburn leaving them.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

I think we use Community Association Underwriters (I've been off the board for nearly two years and don't remember), but the more important question is getting more bang for your buck. You may get 10 replies with the majority listing State Farm, for example, but that really doesn't mean anything until you look at the details (and remember, every community is different). Perhaps you can consult an independent insurance broker who can help you sift through bids from other companies.

To make things interesting as far as bids go, you may want to think about what you like and don't like about Nationwide and tell your agent. If he/she wants to keep the business, the threat of you going elsewhere may be enough for the agent to see what can be done.

You already know this, but it's worth repeating - you get what you pay for. Money is important, but the quality of the coverage and the service is more important in the long run. I'd also be looking for a company which has local contacts - that way, he or she can come out to your community to look around and give you some ideas on the coverage you need, as well as tips on how the association can reduce its risk.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

There are not a lot of insurance companies that offer HOA insurance. If they do, it's usually in a "package deal". In our case, that was to include a HOA vehicle. We did not have one of those. However, that did allow IF a board member did have a car accident during HOA business, the insurance would comp them the difference between their insurance payout. (Basically their deductible).

We had to make a deal with our insurance company to split up our payments. We could not afford to pay the amount in full or in a 6 months set up. We instead paid a bit over $2K a month for 10 months. Which considering we only collected $5K a month, insurance was our biggest expense. We did have a pool and a clubhouse in addition.

I would also suggest making sure IF you do have clubhouse or structure, that the insurance is up dated to reflect the replacement costs. We only had 80% of it's cost covered. Meaning if it burned down or destroyed, we would have to cover the other 20% out of our pockets. A good 20K before we could rebuild.

Keep in mind the lower coverage replacement costs can save on insurance. However, it only pays off if you can afford to pay out that difference. Otherwise, it's best to keep the insurance at full.

Former HOA President

DaveA3 (Washington)
Posts: 6

Posted:

We use Liberty Mutual and the premiums don't seem unreasonable. But then again, I haven't done a lot of comparison shopping and our HOA is relatively small (9 properties).

DarleneN
Posts: 25

Posted:

We have State Farm and we'll keep it because last spring the three Board Members each took it upon themselves to do all kinds of research with other companies to see if we could save on the upcoming increase we were headed for. All of our research came back with a similar reply that they could not touch our St. Farm policy and would be much more expensive.

We each researched 3 separate insurance companies and ended up knowing we had a good deal and just kept it.

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