Community Associations D&O Insurance

Coverage with added value.

Directors And Officers

Easy, Flexible, and Comprehensive

 

This coverage is designed to protect not-for-profit community association board members from lawsuits that result from management-related actions or decisions made while they are serving.

Established in 2003, and one of our flagship products, Distinguished's Community Associations Directors and Officers Insurance is top-of-the-line and underwritten by a team renowned for their expertise and commitment to this line of business.

Easy and fast online submission.

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Legal Concierge

Hotel Liability Insurance

One-Stop Shop for all Association Needs

Express Hotel Umbrella

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What kind of Associations?

The Community Associations Directors and Officers Insurance Program was designed for:

  • Condominium Associations (COAs)
  • Homeowners Associations (HOAs)
  • Planned Unit Developments (PUDs)
  • Cooperatives (CO-OPs)
  • Property Owners Associations (POAs)
  • Commercial Condominiums
  • Mixed-Use Condominiums

 

Express Real Estate Umbrella

Up To 500 Units

Express Real Estate Umbrella

Well-Managed

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Up To 4 Employees

Legal Concierge Hotline.

Give your clients automatic access to a tremendously valuable benefit: Legal Concierge Hotline. Included with the coverage at no extra cost, insureds have access to on-demand legal advice via the Legal Concierge Hotline.

Easy Online Submission-Quote-Bind.

With our online portal, you can submit, quote and bind at your convenience. Everything you need is available at the click of a few buttons. And if you need to support, we're here for that too.

Industry-leading Expertise.

We've been serving community associations almost as long as they've been around. You'll be able to rely on our experience and expertise to build your specialization and win accounts in this market.

Superior Claims Service.

We hear from our brokers how important and valuable our dedicated claims management is for both them and their clients. When it counts, we'll be there.

Features

  • First-dollar defense
  • Defense outside the limit of liability
  • Defense for breach of third-party contract
  • Broad definition of insured - includes those performing property management services
  • One-step, easy online quoting and policy issuance application
  • Financials not necessary to bind
  • Low minimum premium
  • Highly competitive D&O rates for qualified segments
  • Legal Concierge Hotline provides insureds general advice from a nationally recognized and carrier-approved law firm
  • Homeowners Associations (HOAs)
  • Cooperatives (CO-OPs)
  • Property Owners Associations (POAs)
  • Commercial Condominiums
  • Condominium Associations (COAs)
  • Planned Unit Developments (PUDs)
  • Mixed-use Condominiums
INSUREDS INCLUDE PAST, PRESENT OR FUTURE:
  • Directors and officers
  • Committee members
  • Executives
  • Employees of the association
  • Property management professionals
  • Spousal and estate
  • Trustees
  • Volunteers
  • Builders and developers, as members of the board
  • Coverage limits of $1M to $5M ($2M in Florida). We offer increments of $1M
  • First-dollar defense
  • Defense for breach of a third-party contract
  • Defense for non-monetary damage allegations
  • No individual insured vs. individual insured exclusion
  • Punitive damages protection where permitted by law
  • A duty to defend the association and its members
  • A broad definition of claim 
  • Cyber Liability for digital breaches of data, including credit monitoring for affected parties
BROADLY DEFINED EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES LIABILITY, WHICH INCLUDES AUTOMATIC COVERAGE FOR:
  • Wrongful termination
  • Violation of employment laws
  • Discrimination
  • Wrongful discipline
  • Negligent evaluation
  • Failure to provide adequate workplace policies or procedures
  • Employment-related misrepresentation
  • Sexual harassment
  • Wrongful failure to employ or promote
  • Wrongful deprivation of career opportunity
  • Retaliation

The coverage information outlined here is a guideline only. Please refer to the actual policies for full terms, conditions, exclusions, and limitations. In the event of a conflict between this document and the actual policies, the policies will control.

  • Great American Insurance Group

The broad nature and fiduciary responsibility of a community association and its board members leaves an organization and each individual vulnerable to a host of liability lawsuits from residents and employees. Their responsibilities include everything from establishing an annual budget to collecting dues and fees, maintaining the common areas, and adopting and enforcing rules and regulations, etc. Claims can include residents alleging board members were asleep at the wheel while a fellow director embezzled association funds. Or homeowners may claim that the board funded unnecessary projects to the detriment of necessary maintenance, or that the board negligently failed to collect assessments, resulting in losses. In each situation, board members can be sued for failing to act in the association's best interest. 

D&O insurance provides protection for allegations of mismanagement, failure to perform, and other management liability issues that cause economic or financial injury. In discussing this much-needed coverage be sure to review the following salient points:

  • Who exactly is covered? Most policies cover all officers and directors, but some also cover employees, committee members, and volunteers. Be sure to review if any individuals are expressly not covered as well. For example, an association’s bylaws may allow non-owners to serve on their board or may not address the issue. Some policies exclude the actions of non-owners, and some board actions could be invalidated if prohibited people were sitting on and acting for the board. Also, check whether a policy covers officers and directors who served at the time of the alleged wrongdoing but who are no longer on the board.
  • When does coverage kick in? Most policies will pay for defense costs and any judgments or settlements (up to the policy limit) for covered losses. In some cases, the association may be required to pay for its own defense and then seek reimbursement after the case concludes. Also, it’s important to note whether the policy covers any settlements the insured enters into before a claim is filed.
  • What acts does the policy cover and exclude? Most policies will cover a breach of the fiduciary duty but not fraudulent acts or the acts of directors who knowingly violate their own governing documents or state law. Clarify this with the insured.
  • What are the dollar amounts in the policy? The insured should understand that D&O policies come with dollar limits. It’s important to discuss the policy limits available to determine how much coverage an association should purchase. For example, some policies offer defense coverage in addition to the policy limit while others don’t.

Make sure board members understand that even if they have protection for the community association under a General Liability policy for management-liability related claims, many policies may only cover the association as a whole. This means that individual board members would not be protected. In addition, the breadth and depth of coverage available with a stand-alone Directors & Officers policy that’s tailored to the industry is designed to better respond with the appropriate insurance, including providing all board members with individual coverage.

Cyber threats should also be stressed when discussing D&O coverage with the community association and its board members. Community associations keep valuable data on their computer systems, including homeowners or condo owners’ bank accounts and routing numbers, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers and email addresses. If cyber criminals get their hands on this data, the association can be liable for the attack and first-party expenditures that include notification costs, credit monitoring and other related expenses. It’s, therefore, important to include Cyber coverage as part of the association’s insurance program.

Point out the rise in employment practices lawsuits that affects all types of organizations, including non-profits. The #MeToo movement has opened up discussion about the prevalence of sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace and, in part, has been responsible for an increase in disputes. According to the EEOC’s Performance and Accountability Report, in 2018 employers paid more $505 million to resolve disputes affecting almost 68,000 victims of discrimination in the workplace with the commission, a rise of 4.35 percent from the $484 million reported last year. There is now a heightened awareness in organizations to foster a safe and secure work environment to mitigate potential lawsuits, and a re-focus for the need to carry Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) in the event of a claim. Coverage should be available to protect community associations against allegations made by employees – paid or volunteer.

The community associations insurance Distinguished offers covers all directors and officers insurance for condo associations. Condo directors and officers insurance protects the assets of their board members

The price of community associations directors and officers insurance will depend on the scope of the policy’s comprehensiveness and payout limits. 

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Resources

Community Associations Directors & Officers Insurance

Get not-for-profit volunteer board members the protection they need.

D&O FAQ

The most frequently asked questions about our D&O program.