Blog

By Kimberly Lilley, CIRMS, CMCA

This article first appeared in The Communicator Magazine, Spring 2025.

Most of us have been impacted by the insurance crisis in California, and if we haven’t been impacted yet, we will be. California has billions of dollars of property that needs insurance, and as losses piled up between 2017 and 2022, carriers in CA tightened their underwriting criteria, limited the amount of property they would insure, or left the state entirely in order to stay solvent. This constriction in the insurance marketplace left many without affordable or adequate insurance, and too often, no insurance options at all.

In this vacuum, carriers are being creative in finding ways to write insurance in CA, while reducing their risk enough for it to be reasonable for them to do so. One way of managing risk is to spread it out over multiple carriers, so each only takes a small part of the risk, ensuring that none of them hold the lion’s share of the losses if one should occur.

By Terri Guest, CIRMS, CMCA

It is no secret that the insurance industry, especially for common interest developments in California, is in crisis. After several years of wildfires and other natural disasters, carriers are not only charging higher premiums, but also revising eligibility requirements and giving greater scrutiny to insurance applications.

In previous years, questions regarding infrastructure items, such as electrical wiring, plumbing, and HVAC, have been answered by the board with homeowner responsibility, effectively calling out "not it!" to insurance underwriters. This answer is no longer accepted.

With respect to condominiums and townhomes, while electrical wiring, plumbing, and HVAC that serve a single unit are generally the maintenance responsibility of each individual owner, it is almost always included in the insurance responsibility for the association. While less common, the same can be true for roofs and exterior siding. Unit owners maintain, repair, and repla...

By Terri Guest, CIRMS, CMCA

As a Community Insurance and Risk Management Specialist (CIRMS), I enjoy attending the annual Community Association Law Seminar hosted by CAI National.  This year, I was joined by CAI BayCen President-Elect, Charlotte Allen, CIRMS, CAI BayCen Director, Melissa Ward, Esq., CCAL, and several California CAI Chapters members.

The event was held in New Orleans, providing a beautiful backdrop for education targeted to attorneys and insurance professionals.  The event kicked off with CCAL President David Graf, Esq. providing a welcome and reminding everyone that mental health is something we all need to talk about.  His open and honest introduction segued perfectly to our keynote speaker, Briana Scurry, who shared her personal struggle with mental health since being a part of the Gold Medal US Women’s National Soccer Team.  From there, concurrent sessions covered topics ranging from ADU’s, conducting business through WhatsApp, bullying, ethics and attorney wellne...

By: Amy Davis

On a Thursday morning, I received the call that no daughter ever wants to receive. It was from my mom and her car was surrounded by fire. At the same time that I was taking my mom’s call, my dad and stepmom were sending me videos of several fires on the opposite side of town from where my mom was located. This was Paradise, California, November 8th, 2018.

November 11, 2018, I flew to Chico to be with family and friends and to help them with their insurance claims. Almost immediately, the question arose, “Can we just cut our losses and move?” The answer was an easy “yes.” Fortunately for survivors of the Camp Fire and future wildfire victims, California has passed several laws aimed at protecting persons whose interests are covered under insurance policies following a declared disaster.

Insureds whose homes are a total loss can now use a greater amount of their policies’ coverages to purchase an existing home or rebuild elsewhere. Prior to 2018, our California insurance...