Retention Ponds insurance

Lisa,

I'm not from Wisconsin but I'll share my experience with you.

When we took over the Board from the developer they had a general liability only policy already in place. We shopped around to several insurance companies and talked with agents who represent HOA's (I just called a few nearby obviously managed communities by virtue of their gates and asked their managers who handles their insurance and there is also a CAI affiliated website I think that I looked up a few on so you should consult CAI as well).

I asked about our pond and whether or not we need separate insurance for that and the agents said there is no separate policy or coverage for it. We instead talked about the community overall, it's size, it's assessments, it's general exposure to liability and of course our budget.

We settled on general liability of $1,000,000 for the association and a separate umbrella policy of $1,000,000 to cover any excess liability not covered by that. The agents said that is the most common amount of coverage they see for communities our size (we are very small).

We also added specific dollar amounts of replacement coverage for a few specific common area items in the event they are damaged by someone (but not the pond as it is part of the grounds).

We also got employee dishonesty coverage for the max amount our bank account should rise to. You didn't mention it but be sure to get a good D&O policy.

I was on a previous board that had a beautiful drainage pond with choi and lights and fountains. It was on a public thoroughfare. Our HOA liability policy at that time was $1,000,000 total. No special coverage for that pond.

Hope that helps. Again, not from Wisconsin.

Thank you!