We spoke with our friends at Habitat Magazine about our Homeowner’s Insurance Monitoring program.
By Bill Morris, Habitat Magazine
Fire ravaged a six-story condominium in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood in 2019, causing the roof to collapse. When the flames were doused, it came to light that a significant number of the unit-owners had little or no homeowner’s insurance.
“Boards need to stop taking a laissez-faire attitude toward homeowner’s insurance,” Theresa Racht, the condominium’s attorney, said at the time. “It’s very clear how under-insured people are. There is no law requiring that people have insurance, but the governing documents should require it. Boards need to get more aggressive in this area.”
To help boards police this gray area, the insurance brokerage Mackoul Risk Solutions has launched a program called Homeowner’s Insurance Monitoring. If the governing documents require residents to carry a certain level of homeowner’s insurance, co-op shareholders and condo unit-owners must register with the monitoring program and prove that they carry the requisite insurance, by either producing a certificate of insurance or a declaration page from the policy that specifies coverage limits and the date the policy expires.
Residents who supply proof of insurance but don’t have adequate coverage will receive up to eight follow-up notices that they are not in compliance. The board or property manager will receive notices of who has not registered and who has registered but failed to carry adequate insurance.
Some boards have the power to levy fines for noncompliance.
Click here for more information on our Homeowner’s Insurance Monitoring program.
