What the carrier considers at renewal

Boards are more afraid of the renewal than of their loss. A Washington condo board saw its premium

rise 40% with no claims in 10 years. Now they have a water loss in 12 units and they're hesitant to

file because of what it might do next year. Then they find out the water deductible had quietly gone

up to $10,000 a unit. The board is watching the wrong thing. What matters is what the carrier

actually remembers about you at renewal? So this is a great question to be able to break down into

two parts. The first question would be, what does the insurance carrier look at in order to base a

premium at renewal time? The carrier looks at several different items when deciding what premium

is going to be on a policy. They look at the specific area where the property is located.

They look at the age of the building and the equipment within the building.

They look at weather patterns, and they also look at claim losses, most importantly, loss

runs in determining a premium.

In regards to the deductible, the deductible is always shown on the declarations page of

the policy.

So do this.

Pull your current declarations page and find the water deductible, just that one number.

Most boards don't know it until the day they need it.

For the board, a manager who raises renewal exposure before it hits is doing risk management.

A manager who explains it afterwards is delivering bad news.

Same facts, completely different standing.

If you own the building, for an owner, it's not the assessment that goes up.

It's the debt service coverage your lender's watching.

Same conversation, different audience.

If you own your home or house, your loss history follows the house through your CLUE report.

Same decision, file on purpose, not by reflex.