What Is a Planned Unit Development?
A Planned Unit Development is a residential community made up of single-family homes that are governed by a homeowners association. Each homeowner owns their home and the land beneath it, while the association is responsible for maintaining and insuring shared areas such as entryways, clubhouses, pools, gyms, playgrounds, private roads, and signage.
It is important to distinguish PUDs from other types of community associations. Unlike condominiums or co-ops, where ownership is typically limited to the interior of each unit, PUD homeowners have full ownership of their property but also share responsibility for association-managed amenities.
This distinction directly affects how PUD insurance policies are structured. The right program should work in tandem with homeowners’ policies to ensure that residents, the board, and the community as a whole are adequately protected.
What Is PUD Insurance?
PUD insurance is designed to protect the association from liability claims and provides property coverage for the common property and shared spaces the association is responsible for. It does not provide liability coverage for the individual homeowners or the homeowner’s property. Instead, it works alongside the individual policies carried by homeowners to make sure there are no gaps between what residents cover themselves and what the association must insure.
This is different than a condominium association where the condo owners are responsible for insuring their interior units and personal belongings and the condo association insurance covers the exterior and shared areas such as hallways, lobbies, of the building.
Typically, a PUD insurance program helps insure:
- Common property, such as pools, clubhouses, gyms, playgrounds, and private roads
- Entry features like signage, gates, and fencing
- Association-owned structures, including offices or storage buildings
- Outdoor landscaping and amenities such as trees, shrubs, or green spaces
- Liability exposures tied to slips, falls, pool accidents, or other incidents in common areas
- Board decisions and governance through Directors & Officers coverage
Distinguished’s Community Associations Insurance Program is designed to perfectly address these needs for PUDs, HOAs, and other types of associations. The program includes access to Property, General Liability, Crime, Umbrella, and Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance, with flexible options and specialized coverage designed to help brokers protect their association clients.
What Coverages Does Distinguished Offer for PUDs?
Distinguished offers PUDs essential coverage options, including our Community Associations Package Policy (Property and General Liability coverage), Crime insurance, D&O, and Umbrella.
Plus, Distinguished offers all these policies through CappApp, our multi-product application and prequalifier available through the Broker Connect portal. With CappApp, you can pre-qualify the account for multiple coverages and submit for all eligible products.
Here is a closer look at some of the details of the coverages we offer:
Package
General Liability insurance
This covers bodily injury and property damage claims in common areas, such as slip-and-fall accidents or pool injuries.
It includes:
- Automatic additional insureds (managers, lessors, and contractual agreements)
- Defense for third-party breach of contract
- Legal liability coverage
- Damage to premises rented to the association
- A broad definition of bodily injury that includes mental injury, mental anguish, humiliation, or shock
Property insurance
This covers physical damage to association-owned buildings and structures, written on a Special Form basis.
It includes:
- Extended replacement cost up to 125% of building value
- Ordinance or law coverage (Coverage A at full limit; B & C up to 25% of building limit, max $1M each)
- Pollutant clean-up
- Water backup of sewers or drains
- Debris removal
- Wind damage to landscaping
- Loss of maintenance fees as actual loss sustained
- Loss data preparation coverage
- A broad definition of building and business personal property
Crime insurance
Crime insurance protects association funds against dishonest acts and financial fraud.
It includes:
- First and third-party coverages
- Fraudulent impersonation or social engineering
- Forgery or alteration
- Computer fraud and funds transfer fraud
Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance
D&O insurance protects board members, volunteers, and managers from claims tied to governance, fiduciary duty, or negligence.
It includes:
- Defense costs outside limits
- No individual insured vs. individual insured exclusion
- Punitive damages protection, where permitted by law
- Defense for non-monetary damage allegations
- Coverage for developers servicing in the capacity of a board member for new associations
Umbrella insurance
Extends liability protection beyond underlying policy limits and can be added alongside the package or standalone placements.
It includes:
- Limits available up to $10 million through the Express Community Associations Umbrella
- Coverage provided by an AM Best “A – “rated carrier
- Coverage includes follow form for our D&O insurance
In addition, brokers can conveniently add insurance coverages based on the needs of the PUD, including:
- Flood insurance: Available through Distinguished’s partnership with Wright Flood for a seamless quoting process.
- Cyber Liability insurance: Provides monoline cyber liability coverage against data breaches, cyberattacks, and financial losses stemming from digital exposures.
This structure ensures every association gets the coverages they need, whether that’s GL and property through our Package Policy, Crime Insurance, Umbrella insurance, D&O insurance, or some combination of all of these.
What Are the Benefits of Partnering With Distinguished?
Working with Distinguished gives brokers access to more than just coverage. Our Community Associations Program is designed to make placement efficient and competitive, with advantages such as:
- Expertise: Brokers benefit from Distinguished’s team of specialists, who bring deep expertise in Community Associations insurance and understand the unique challenges these clients face.
- Ability to write brand-new communities: This allows brokers to secure accounts at any time in a community’s lifecycle.
- Convenient online submissions: Applications can be submitted quickly and conveniently through the Broker Connect portal.
- Fast turnaround: Brokers receive quotes within 24–48 hours.
- Financial strength: Policies are backed by “A” rated carriers.
- Responsive claims support: Dedicated claims professionals provide timely and expert service when a loss occurs.
How to Get Started
Placing coverage with Distinguished is simple and designed to save brokers time.
Once you’ve registered with Distinguished, you can submit your applications directly through the Broker Connect portal using CappApp. Our CappApp application streamlines the submission process by letting you pre-qualify accounts, and seamlessly submit eligible Package, D&O, Crime, and Umbrella coverages at the same time.
After submission, most quotes are returned within 24 to 48 hours, so you can quickly present options to your clients.
If you have any questions or concerns about our PUD or Community Associations Program, please reach out to our team at [email protected].
FAQs
Is the Community Associations Package available nationwide?
No, our Community Associations Package insurance is only available in the following states:
- Arizona
- Maryland
- Nevada
- South Carolina
- California*
- Massachusetts
- Ohio
- Utah
- Colorado*
- North Carolina
- Oregon
- Virginia
- Connecticut
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
- Washington
*HOAs/PUDs (single-family home associations) only
What types of associations qualify for the program?
Our program is designed for a variety of community associations, including HOAs, PUDs, COAs, co-ops, office condos, and master associations.
Can I place D&O, Crime, or Umbrella coverage on a monoline basis?
Yes. Distinguished offers D&O, Umbrella, and Crime insurance as standalone policies.
Is cyber liability available?
Yes. Standalone Cyber liability coverage can be added to protect associations from risks such as data breaches, wire transfer fraud, and ransomware attacks.
