A growing trend in condominiums, cooperatives, and community associations is a requirement in the governing documents for unit owners and/or tenants to maintain their own personal homeowner’s insurance. This is a great idea, and if your building does not require insurance for the residents, then now is the time to get that process started.
There are a lot of benefits to everyone in the building carrying their own insurance. The first one is that $*!# happens, and when it happens, you want to be prepared as best you can.
Whether it is big or small, the last thing you need during a claim as a unit owner is to also have a conflict with your neighbor. 99% of the time, they didn’t intentionally flood your unit below them, and they are just as upset about the damage as you are. Without insurance, you can point fingers and yell at each other all you want, and nothing will get accomplished. With insurance, you will receive assistance from your brokers and the adjusters of the claim to help explain who is responsible for what. Oftentimes, some of the damages end up falling back on the association’s master policy. Avoiding unnecessary conflict with your neighbors within your building is crucial.
The next benefit to everyone carrying their own insurance is the most obvious one. Having insurance will help your unit to be repaired after the claim occurs so that you are not left with a huge expense that you cannot afford. You cannot predict exactly when a claim is going to occur, and the insurance policy can’t prevent a disaster, but it can help provide peace of mind.
At Mackoul Risk Solutions, we offer Building Guard, a specialized Homeowner Insurance Monitoring service. For an additional fee, we ensure that everyone in the association has the required insurance coverage and that they maintain compliance throughout the year.
How Building Guard works:
- Initial Monitoring Phase
- The board and/or property manager will notify residents that they have hired Mackoul Risk Solutions to manage and monitor proof of insurance through Building Guard.
- Mackoul will upload each resident’s details into our tracking platform via spreadsheet. An email address must be provided to register residents in the program, after which each owner will receive a request to submit proof of insurance.
- If a unit owner fails to respond to the first request, up to five additional requests will be sent.
- Owners who provide proof of insurance but do not meet the association’s requirements will receive a notice explaining their non-compliance and instructions to update their policy.
- A detailed compliance report will be provided to the board or property manager 30 days after program initiation.
Ongoing Monitoring & Monthly Maintenance
For one full year from the contract start date, we continue to monitor each resident’s renewal status.
- 30 days before renewal, each resident will receive a request to provide updated proof of coverage that meets the association’s requirements.
- If proof is not supplied, up to eight additional requests will be sent.
- The board or property manager will receive regular reports detailing which residents are compliant and which are not throughout the contract period.
