I don’t need to tell you that the world is a very different place today than it was just a year or two ago. In the blink of an eye the financial meltdown has shattered our long held beliefs about real estate, money and investing. For 50+ years the experts encouraged us to “buy and hold” investments (stocks, bonds, real estate etc.) and to just sit back and watch the assets grow exponentially through compounded earnings. Well, you and I both know what happened next. Nest eggs were cut down to next to nothing and people are now left to “hold and hope” that their properties and accounts will someday recover.
So, what does the financial crisis have to do with condo association insurance? A couple years ago insurance carriers were in a buying frenzy, grabbing up other insurance companies and calling it growth. However, in today’s business climate financial companies no longer want to buy out other financial companies. So now, the only way for these companies can grow is by writing new policies. Cash flush insurers that are motivated to grow are aggressively pricing their policies in an effort to expand market share. Even so, not all companies are in the mood to be aggressive. Captive carriers like Farmers and Allstate are raising prices in order to maintain their profit levels. Knowing their agents have only one product to sell, they are hoping customers are lazy and renew without shopping for alternatives. On the contrary, companies represented by independent agents are pricing themselves aggressively because: 1) they expect to get shopped on a regular basis 2) they must be competitively priced because independents have no loyalty to any one company and will move business elsewhere if need be. The difference in pricing between the captives and an independent agency like ours can be as much as 53%. It’s no wonder that hundreds of condo associations have called on us for help this year.
In the current marketplace, holding on to “insurance antiques” can waste thousands of dollars from a condo association budget as well as supplying inadequate coverage. We’ve quoted hundreds of policies in 2009 and have found savings ranging from 10-53% off the current renewal offers our prospects are receiving. The largest gaps in premiums are coming from current Farmers and Allstate customers who save on average about 22% when they switch to another A-rated carrier. The reason for the savings is that a couple of large first-rate companies have decided they want to gain market share in the condo association niche and are cutting prices so to that the decision to switch to them is a no-brainer.
On the other hand, if you are the one bringing the savings to their attention they are going to be a very happy.
As independent agents that specialize in association insurance we update values annually for every client, and then shop it to multiple carriers. We also provide a comparison of current coverage to the next best alternative available, assuring you and the client that they get the right coverage at the best possible price. All it takes is filling out our quick quote form, and fax/email it back along with the insurance clause of the CC&Rs and the current dec pages and one 5 minute phone call (310) 945-3000
