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Condo Association Insurance

It’s Time to Find Affordable Insurance Solutions




    The right insurance coverage can help you maintain the value of your condo community

    As a condo association board member, you have been given the power to make a wide range of decisions for your community, from implementing ways to increase safety and security, to hiring vendors to maintain common areas and building exteriors, to designating where residents should place garbage cans on trash pick-up day. Regardless of whether an issue is of critical importance or just a minor concern, you are always obligated to make choices that you believe will have a positive impact on the shared property in your complex as well as protect the value of your individual condo unit owner’s investment.

    It probably won’t come as a surprise that the condo insurance specialists at Anderson, Bagley & Mayo (ABM) believe that one of the most important things you can do to safeguard the future of your condo community is to make sure that you have the optimal insurance coverages. With the right master condo insurance policy in place, your condo association board can ensure that:

    • Your property’s common areas, exterior elements such as the roof and walkways, and amenities, like a community room, can be repaired or restored to their original condition after being damaged or destroyed by fire, a severe storm or other hazard
    • Condo owners are protected from liability for accidents or personal injuries that occur in common areas, like a slip and fall in an icy parking lot

    As a board member, you have a fiduciary responsibility to your association members to not take any shortcuts when deciding on the right insurance coverage. Your members have put their confidence in you to find a highly knowledgeable insurance professional who can provide a customized and cost-effective insurance solution that looks out for the best interest of all condo unit owners.

    The ABM team not only has a wealth of experience insuring condo communities like yours throughout North Central Massachusetts, but we also work with thousands of individual unit owners to meet their condo insurance needs as well. Whether you are making decisions for a small three-unit townhouse-style condo property, a mid-sized school-to-condo conversion, or a large condominium complex with hundreds of units, the condo insurance specialists at ABM can expertly guide you, your board, and your association members through the often-complex insurance decision-making process.

    Know what your master condo insurance policy covers

    Whether you’re a new board member or you’ve served on your association’s board for years, you probably have ongoing questions about what the master condo insurance policy covers. Which is very understandable considering it’s not the most straightforward of coverage documents. That’s why, when the ABM team partners with your condo association, we will always kick off the relationship by thoroughly reviewing your association’s master insurance policy with you and your board. Then, we can clearly detail out for you which of the following three condo association coverage options your policy is based on:

    Bare walls coverage

    If you are a condo association with a “Bare Walls” coverage option, this means that the master policy covers common areas including outer doors, windows, balconies, driveways, garages, elevators, clubhouses, swimming pools, boat slips, and other aspects of your condominium complex that are not considered the sole property of a tenant. However, this coverage stops outside the “bare walls” of individual units. Items within the interior walls of the unit, such as fixtures, cabinets, inside partitions and floor coverings, are not covered and are left up to the responsibility of each individual condo owner to insure.

    Single entity coverage

    Similar to the “Bare Walls” coverage option, a “Single Entity” master condo policy covers common areas. In addition, this type of policy protects each individual unit and its fixtures, cabinets, floors, and other interior structural components. How can you be certain an item will be covered? Well, we like to think about it this way – if you turned your building upside down and shook it, what stays put and what falls out. The things that hang on are the items that a single entity master condo policy covers, and everything that drops out is a gap in coverage that is likely the responsibility of each individual unit owner to insure. There is one significant exception; this policy only covers the original components that a condo unit was built with and will not cover improvements made by the owner after they purchased the unit. For example, if an owner upgrades their flooring from the original laminate covering to hardwoods, then a single entity policy will only pay for the replacement value of the original laminate floor covering.

    All-in or all walls coverage

    As its name conveys, this type of policy is the most comprehensive of the three condo association insurance options. “All Walls” covers everything that “Bare Walls” and “Single Entity” master condo insurance policies provide, plus adds coverage for betterments made to the unit by an owner. That means a condo owner who upgrades from tile counter tops to granite, from standard builder’s grade cabinets to custom ones, or from carpeting to hardwood floors, can be confident that these improvements will be covered by the master condo insurance policy in the event of a named peril.

    Choosing the right coverage for your association

    Your condo association might have declarations, bylaws and/or other documents that specify the type of insurance policy that is required, as well as deductibles and coverage limits. However, if these governing documents only obligate your association to have the minimal bare walls or single entity coverage, this may not be nearly enough protection to preserve your community’s interests and value in the event of a loss. At ABM, we believe that the more inclusive your policy is, the less stressed and worried you will be as both a board member and a unit owner. Contact our local team of condo association insurance specialists to assist you in understanding the ins-and-outs of the coverage you have now, any gaps in your insurance protection, and what the best coverage really is for your distinct property and owners.

    Your condo owners have put their trust in you, let ABM help you protect their investment

    As the largest, independent, and privately-owned insurance agency in North Central Massachusetts, representing many of the highest-rated insurance carriers, our team is uniquely qualified – and committed – to finding you the best, and most cost-effective, condo association insurance solutions. Through ABM, you can secure the proper master condo association insurance policy that will not only protect your condominium community from property perils like fire, wind, hail, theft and vandalism, but that will also cover your association for a variety of liability risks that can result from having a swimming pool, fitness center, playground, parking lot, or other common and shared areas.

    We’ve been serving the insurance needs of condo associations like yours for more than 100 years. As a result, we have a comprehensive strategy for helping boards make sure that the property they are responsible for is properly covered for virtually any potential loss or unexpected event. There are several additional types of coverage options that we ask most, if not all, of our condo associations clients to consider, including:

    • Directors and Officers is essential protection for people like you – the directors and officers of the condo association – in case you are sued because of the decisions you make, or your performance, as a board member
    • Crime and Fidelity provides coverage for the theft of association funds or for other financial misconduct by an association board member
    • Equipment breakdown/boiler and machinery covers damage and loss of income caused by a breakdown of covered equipment, such as steam boilers or other mechanical systems
    • Sewer and Drain Backup provides reimbursement for damage related to a sewer or drain backup, up to a specified limit
    • Workers’ Compensation protects employees who work on the premises from the costs of work-related illnesses or injuries
    • Hurricane or Flood is critical coverage for condo complexes located in areas that are susceptible to these events
    • Business Income and Extra Expense provides coverage for loss of income due to damage to your buildings caused by a covered event, loss of income due to damage to or breakdown of revenue-producing amenities in your community, such as a fitness center or laundry room, and additional expenses incurred above your normal operating costs because of a covered event
    • Excess Liability/Umbrella helps pay the legal defense costs or judgments for high value lawsuits which exceed the underlying limits of your General Liability or Directors and Officers coverage

    ABM will not only work with you to determine what the right protection package for your association is, but we will also provide you, your board, and your unit owners with a level of service that consistently exceeds your expectations. For example, we offer risk control services to help you reduce the chances that your association will ever suffer a loss. We also help you get repair and construction projects off to a great start by making sure all contractors carry sufficient workers’ compensation insurance and have updated certificates of insurance that name your association as an additional insured. Finally, our team will always be here to provide continuing education about your association’s master policy coverage, expert guidance on adapting your protection as your community and needs change in the future, and, most important, personalized support should you ever experience a loss.

    It’s your life, let ABM protect it with the right coverage at the right price