HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - May 13, 2016
Published: Fri, 05/13/16
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The Sure-Fire Way to Get Your HOA’s Insurance Claim Denied
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In this week’s tip, we use a recent court ruling to offer some simple advice on what not to do when you have a potential insurance claim.
In Longleaf In Vinings Homeowners Association Inc. v. QBE Insurance Corp., the court held that an HOA’s notice of a potential claim to its insurer nine months after it suffered damage in a hailstorm was too long—and it had no good reason for its delay, according to the appellate court.
It all began in May 2012, when a Smyrna, Ga., HOA suffered damage in a hailstorm. The court doesn’t give any more information on the HOA or the type or extent of the damage. The association notified its insurer of the potential claim in February 2013, notes the court. The insurer refused to provide coverage because of the delayed notice, which triggered a lawsuit by the association for bad faith and failure to defend.
In finding that the HOA breached its duty to provide timely notice to the insurer, the court noted that Longleaf didn’t notify QBE of the damage caused by the hailstorm until nine months after the storm. And without a reasonable explanation for that lengthy delay, the HOA “clearly violated the ‘prompt notice’ requirement’” in its policy, the court stated.
The HOA’s president submitted an affidavit—though the court doesn’t specify what it said—to support the HOA’s position. The court rejected the affidavit because the HOA’s president wasn’t president at the time of the loss and thus had no actual knowledge of why the HOA didn’t file a prompt notice.
There’s no hard-and-fast rule for the kind of delay that will give your insurer adequate reason to deny your claim. But nine months is outside pretty much any boundary.
“Nine months isn’t a diligent or prudent amount of time for an association to have made a claim with their insurer,” contends Ben Solomon, an attorney and founder of the Association Law Group in Miami, who advises more than 500 associations and represents developers through his second law firm, Solomon & Furshman LLP. “It’s outside the customary response time. You’re supposed to make it as soon as possible or as soon as it’s known. Insurers will look to deny claims anyway, so to be in express breach by not having timely made the claim is strongly inadvisable. HOAs need to diligently make an insurance claim.”
Find out what time frame is reasonable and why the language you use to report your potential claim can make or break coverage in our new article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1368.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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What You Need to Know to Effectively Regulate Parking in Your HOA
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Late Notice Wipes Out Insurer's Duty to Cover HOA's Hail Damage
An HOA's notice of a potential claim to its insurer nine months after it suffered damage in a hailstorm was too long--and it had no good reason for its delay, according to an appellate court. Here we explain the case and offer tips on how to know when to provide notice of a potential claim to your insurer.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Late-Notice-Wipes-Out-Insurers-Duty-Cover-HOAs-Hail-Damage.cfm
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HOA Don't Preach: Madonna's Condo Bans Unsupervised Kids
'Material Girl' Madonna is reportedly suing her New York City condo association for the right to leave her minor kids behind when she's not in town. According to TMZ, the condo passed a rule prohibiting children from living in a unit without their parents.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/HOA-Dont-Preach-Madonnas-Condo-Bans-Unsupervised-Kids.cfm
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What You Need to Know to Effectively Regulate Parking in Your HOA
One owner runs a small roofing business and parks her oversized commercial truck--complete with the company's name and phone number stenciled on the doors and ladders attached to the sides--in her driveway. Another owner has a beautiful 26-foot boat parked in front of his house. Then there's the owner who has so many guests that others complain there's never anywhere for their guests to park.
What a pain parking issues can be!
Perhaps it's time to ease the pain for everybody in your community by regulating parking in a sensible way. We can show you how. Join us for a must-attend webinar on May 26!
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/products/regulate-parking-in-your-hoa-a.cfm
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Eroding HOA Rules: Agency Promises to Help Buyers Beat Pet Bans
A new company has been launched to help owners and renters determine if they qualify for an exemption from an apartment or condo's pet prohibitions.
Here we explain the service, but more importantly we talk about whether you should be worried that your pet restrictions are eroding to the point of meaninglessness.
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Eroding-HOA-Rules-Agency-Promises-Help-Buyers-Beat-Pet-Bans.cfm
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Door-to-Door Salespeople and Political Canvassers: Why They're Different at HOAs
In this age of Clinton, Cruz, Kasich, Sanders, and Trump (we put those in alpha order so as not to appear to favor any of them; that's sort of the lesson of this tip), how should your HOA handle door-to-door activities--from salespeople to political canvassers?
Click here to read full article: http://www.hoaleader.com/public/Door-to-Door-Salespeople-Political-Canvassers-Why-Theyre-Different-at-HOAs.cfm
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