Insurance renewals
Waiting for the renewal date is the single most common mistake boards make with their master policy.
Start the renewal process months before your master policy's expiration date, not weeks. Gather at least five years of loss history, current valuation, and details on capital improvements before you contact a broker, and work through one broker rather than several at once. Insurers see duplicate submissions for the same risk, and that saturation tends to produce worse pricing, not better.
Start earlier than feels necessary
A board that waits until the policy is about to lapse has already lost leverage: there is no time to compare quotes, fix gaps an underwriter flags, or budget for a premium increase before it hits. Community Associations Institute guidance is direct on this point.
"Don't wait until the policy's expiration date to start shopping around."
Source: The art of insurance bidding: Practical strategies help navigate a hard market, Community Associations Institute
Starting early gives the board time to pull together the paperwork underwriters actually want, plan the assessment or budget line around whatever the new premium turns out to be, and make a considered decision instead of a rushed one. See insurance appraisals for the periodic valuation work that should already be feeding into this file.
Give your broker real data, not a folder of guesses
Underwriters price a risk on the information in front of them. A thin submission, one page, no history, gets a thin quote back. CAI recommends handing the broker specific underwriting data and keeping several years of records on hand.
"provide essential data to brokers on valuation, capital improvements, occupancy, amenities, loss history, and any other supplemental information when seeking insurance"
Source: The art of insurance bidding: Practical strategies help navigate a hard market, Community Associations Institute
Keeping good records is critical because it lets underwriters prepare accurate quotes, and the same guidance recommends at least five years on file. If your association doesn't have that history organized, that's the first task, not the broker call.
One broker, not three
It feels safer to have multiple brokers shopping the same renewal, more eyes, more quotes. In practice, insurers can see when the same risk is submitted by several brokers at once, and that duplication tends to work against the association rather than for it. Work through a single broker at renewal, and see working with brokers for how to choose and evaluate that relationship.
How much advance notice an insurer must give before declining to renew varies by state. Florida, for example, requires at least 45 days' written notice before nonrenewing a commercial property or casualty policy, and that notice must state the reason.
"shall give the first-named insured at least 45 days' advance written notice of nonrenewal or of the renewal premium."
Source: Florida Statutes §627.4133, The Florida Senate
Do not assume your state matches Florida's number. Check your own state's insurance code and your current policy's cancellation and nonrenewal provisions, and start the shopping process well ahead of whatever that notice period turns out to be. See nonrenewal.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
The board's master policy renews in 90 days and nobody has contacted a broker yet. What should happen next?
Three board members each reach out to a different broker to shop the same renewal. What is the likely result?
The broker asks for five years of loss history before quoting the renewal. Why does this matter?
Sources
- The art of insurance bidding: Practical strategies help navigate a hard market, Community Associations Institute
- Florida Statutes §627.4133 (notice of cancellation, nonrenewal), The Florida Senate
- Insurance coverage: Communities report significant challenges with rising premiums, Community Associations Institute
Insurance
Next, learn what your broker actually owes you, and what an agent does not, in working with brokers.
Nonrenewal and cancellation notice periods are set by state law and vary; the 45-day figure above is Florida's, not a national standard. Whether your market is easy or hard to shop this year also varies by state and by your loss history, so check your own state's insurance code and your current policy's cancellation terms.