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How to Get Out of the Surplus/Excess Insurance Market
By Terri Guest, CIRMS, CMCA
This article first appeared in The Communicator, Spring 2021. To read more, click here.
In "Zoom Rooms" at the recent Legal Forum, a story was told about how a homeowners association had its insurance cancelled due to a claim. This association could no longer find coverage in preferred markets (admitted carriers, such as Farmers and Travelers) and was forced to get its insurance from a surplus lines carrier. Not only was this coverage three times the price, the added insult was that the claim was a result of an out of control car speeding down a street adjacent to the association and crashing into the association building – something impossible for the HOA to control.
The question then came up – what now? Once you have entered what we call the "surplus and excess" market – the carriers that folks go to when they can’t get coverage elsewhere – are you stuck? What can an association do, especially...