USI Overview Who is USI? How are you unique? What exactly is risk management? Community Association Insurance Program Overview What is the Community Association Insurance Program? What benefits do you offer my community association? What coverages do you offer? What forms are available online? Certificate of Insurance Request Form Unit Owners Information How do I report a new claim? How long will it take to process my claim? What should I do if I need a Certificate of Insurance? What kind of insurance do residents of community asscdir need? Managers Information How do I report a new claim? How long will it take to process my claim? What should I do after a loss? If an employee damages his own vehicle while on community association business, will our association insurance pay for damages? Is it okay to serve liquor at a community association party? General Information What does the master policy cover? What does my community association master policy cover? What does the master policy not cover? What types of property insurance are available? Who should pay the deductible? USI Overview Who is USI? USI is a full service risk management and insurance firm. Our professional insurance advisors provide leading-edge insurance products, technologies, and risk management systems that are designed to control client costs and protect client assets. USI partner firms deliver fully integrated services, programs, and consulting for insurance and insurance-related financial services. This makes us a single resource—you no longer need to work with multiple providers to obtain the full range of services you need to protect and grow your assets. How are you unique? Our focus on risk management helps community asscdir develop ways to significantly reduce traditional insurance costs. Our experienced staff knows the community association industry inside and out, so we can create insurance and risk management packages tailored to your particular needs. What exactly is risk management? Risk management is the systematic identification, evaluation, and control of loss exposures that can affect community asscdir. Effective risk management can make community asscdir safer, reduce costs, and decrease the number of claims. Community Association Insurance Program Overview What is the Community Association Insurance Program? The Community Association Insurance Program provides comprehensive insurance and employee benefits packages for community asscdir. We help community managers develop ways to significantly reduce traditional insurance costs. The program services include 24-hour claim service, regularly scheduled claims reports, certificate management reports, coverage checklists, and monthly publications on insurance issues and industry information. In addition, the professionals in the Community Association Division act as indispensable advisors, providing timely advice on current insurance trends, and present educational and risk management seminars that address issues that impact the operational costs of community asscdir. What benefits do you offer my community association? More time to focus on your core business. Insurance and financial services plans linked to each other in design, structure, and administration. The value of a professional business consultant who is part of your team. A locally-based, knowledgeable, and accessible staff backed by resources of partners nationwide. Complete coordination of your program’s financial structure to assure efficient, competitive, and consolidated cost management. A single resource that provides support for your community association’s changing needs: a full spectrum of insurance, risk management, benefits consulting, and financial services. What coverages do you offer? The Community Association Insurance Program offers the following coverages: Property Insurance Coverage Comprehensive General Liability Coverage Director’s And Officer’s (D&O) Liability Coverage Workers Compensation Coverage Fidelity Bond (Employee Dishonesty) Coverage Comprehensive Equipment Coverage Umbrella Liability Coverage Personal Insurance Protection Health Pension Plans Voluntary Benefits Unit Owners Information How do I report a new claim? All claims related to the association must be reported to your community, building, or property manager promptly. How long will it take to process my claim? All claims are generally processed within 24 hours after the claim has been reported to our service center. What should I do if I need a Certificate of Insurance? Should your mortgagee require a certificate of insurance, you have two options. 1) Complete this Request for Certificate of Insurance Form online. 2) Print this Request for Certificate of Insurance Form, complete it, and fax it to Linda Leonard at 703-739-0394. This form has been formatted as a "portable document format" (pdf) file. You will need Adobe Acrobat Version 3 or above. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, please take a few moments to download it from http://www.adobe.com/.  If your request has not been processed within 48 hours, please contact our Certificate Department at condocerts.dc@usi.biz. Any other method of following-up will significantly delay your request. What kind of insurance do residents of community asscdir need? Residents must be aware of the type of insurance coverage in effect through their community association. Regardless of the kind of policy a community association has, owners and tenants should purchase a personal policy to fully protect their interests. Resident owners should consider an individual homeowners policy (HO–6). This policy can provide coverage for personal property, unit improvements, betterments, additions and alterations, additional living expenses, and personal liability. Non-resident owners may not need coverage for personal property or additional living expenses; however, they do have all of the other insurable exposures of a resident owner. Additionally, non-resident owners can be insured for loss of rental income. Renters should purchase an HO–4 policy to provide coverage for personal property, additional living expenses, and personal liability. Coverage can be arranged under some HO–6 policies to pay for damages to a unit over the personal policy deductible, usually $250 or $500, up to the master policy deductible. Unit owners should check with their HO–6 policy agent or the company to determine if the deductible difference is covered. Whether the master insurance policy is written on a bare wall, single entity, or all in basis, personal property such as clothing and furniture within individual units will not be covered. Also, the master policy does not provide coverage for personal liability or additional living expenses. If you are interested in obtaining information or a quote on personal homeowners insurance, please call 1-800-552-9919 and ask for the Personal Lines Sales Department. Managers Information How do I report a new claim? All claims must be reported by the community or on-site manager or a designated board member acting on behalf of the association. If your community association is insured with Travelers, you have two options: Contact our Service Center Claim Action Line, which is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The phone number is 1-800-238-6225. Use our online Service Center web site at http://servicecenter.travelers.com. All other community asscdir should download one of the following forms, complete it, and fax it to Kathy Crandall at 703-205-8732. General Liability Telephone Reporting C-22786.pdf Property Telephone Reporting C-22789.pdf These forms have been formatted as "portable document format" (pdf) files. You will need Adobe Acrobat Version 3 or above. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, please take a few moments to download it from http://www.adobe.com/.  If you have any questions, please contact Kathy Crandall (1-800-792-9800 or fax 610-537-2243 or Kathleen.Crandall@usi.biz). For workers compensation claims, immediately report the claim to the appropriate carrier, using the links on our Web Resources page. How long will it take to process my claim? An adjuster will contact you within 24 hours after your claim has been reported. What should I do after a loss? Do not make any promises on behalf of the insurance company. Inform the unit owner of the deductible amount and suggest the claim be reported to his insurer. Call police if it appears a crime has been committed. Offer first aid or call an ambulance if someone is injured. Determine what caused the injury. If possible, have the injured explain and show what happened. Obtain information on witnesses. Take photographs of the area or item that caused injury. Assure the injured that someone will be in touch with him regarding the accident. If an employee damages his own vehicle while on community association business, will our association insurance pay for damages? It is generally understood that if an association employee is negligent in the performance of his job duties, the association can be held vicariously liable for the negligent act. For example, if an association on-site manager used his personal vehicle to travel to an association meeting, and in the course of the ride, runs a red light and injures a pedestrian, who will pay for any subsequent claims? Should the pedestrian file a lawsuit, he might also include the association as a defendant, because the accident happened while the manager was on association business. Subject to the policy limits, "non-owned auto liability" coverage will indemnify and defend the association against the pedestrian’s claim. Non-owned auto liability coverage will not necessarily provide the employee with any liability coverage for bodily injury or property damage claims. Nor is physical damage for the employee’s car part of the coverage. The employee would need to look at his personal insurance company for liability protection and repair costs for the vehicle, even if the accident occurred while on association business. It is possible to procure an endorsement that lists employees as insureds and that will then "insure the employee for liability coverage while he is using any covered auto not owned, hired, or borrowed by the named insured on the name insured’s business or personal affairs." Such coverage would apply in excess of whatever personal liability insurance the employee might have. Is it okay to serve liquor at a community association party? Generally, community asscdir are protected by host liquor liability insurance coverage. Subject to the terms of the policy, this coverage will indemnify and defend the association against third party liability claims arising out of the serving of alcoholic beverages. However, this coverage will not protect the association if the alcoholic beverages are sold. If alcoholic beverages are to be sold by the association either directly or indirectly, which we strongly discourage from an insurance risk management standpoint, liquor liability insurance coverage will need to be purchased. General Information What does the master policy cover? The master policy is designed to protect owners against liability claims arising out of membership in the association. For instance, if somebody slips and falls in a common area, the master policy will indemnify and defend all owners against a liability claim for bodily injury that might result. If anybody slips and falls or otherwise sustains bodily injury within an individual unit, the master policy will not apply. Should a resident inadvertently leave the water running in his kitchen sink, allowing water to overflow, the master policy will not protect him against the claim from the resident in the unit below for damage to his personal property or the expensive wallpaper he installed. What does my community association master policy cover? To find out what your particular community association master policy covers, please contact our Service Center at 1-888-661-3938. What does the master policy not cover? The Master Policy does not provide coverage for losses to unit owners' personal property, personal liability, or additional living expenses. If anybody slips and falls or otherwise sustains bodily injury within an individual unit, the master policy will not apply. Should a resident inadvertently leave the water running in his kitchen sink, allowing water to overflow, the master policy will not protect him against the claim from the resident in the unit below for damage to his personal property or the expensive wallpaper he installed. A community association must provide insurance coverage against typical hazards and perils that might affect an individual owner of a residence, but this coverage does not usually extend to personal property or personal liability. What types of property insurance are available? Community association property insurance is written under at least three concepts: bare walls, single entity, and all in. It is up to the board of directors of a community association, with the assistance of a qualified insurance advisor, to purchase insurance that conforms and complies with all recorded association documents and statutory insurance requirements. The most limited form of master policy insurance is called bare walls coverage. This means that general and limited common areas are covered-up to the bare perimeter walls, floors, and ceilings of individual units. What is not covered are all items within the interior of these walls, which include fixtures, appliances, interior partitions, wall coverings, floor coverings, cabinetry, and in multi-story units, even the floors, stairs, and ceilings between the lowest floor and highest ceiling. The most common type of master property insurance purchased by community asscdir is single entity coverage, which like bare walls coverage insures the general and limited common elements. However, this coverage also extends within individual units to fixtures, appliances, walls, floor coverings, and cabinetry, but only for like, kind, and quality to that conveyed by the developer to the original owner. In other words, building coverage under the master policy in this type of policy is limited to the original plans and specifications. Any individual unit improvements made subsequent to the original conveyance, such as building a wall to divide a room, or upgrading carpeting or other floor coverings, wall treatments, appliances, cabinetry, etc., are not covered by the master policy. These improvements are the responsibility of the unit owner to insure. A less common type of coverage is called all in because it not only provides for general and limited common areas and individual units, it also covers additions, alterations, improvements, and betterments made at the unit owner's expense. Who should pay the deductible? It is important for the community association to determine who is responsible for paying the deductible. For instance, if a fire starts in a unit, who pays: the association or the property owner? The question of who pays the deductible can be answered in at least five ways: The property owner who suffers the damage incurs the cost of the master policy deductible. If a negligent party causes the damage, the negligent party incurs the deductible cost. If the association must pay the deductible, it may be paid out of the operating account or an operating reserve account if the association has one set up. The association will make a special assessment for all master policy deductible claims on an annual basis. The owner of the unit from which the cause of loss originates pays the deductible. If the cause of loss originates from the common elements, the association pays the deductible. It is important to note that responsibility for the master policy deductible might be dictated by the association's bylaws or state statute in some cases.