Last year at this time, we talked about New Year’s Resolutions for your communities. So how did that go? What? You don’t remember what the resolutions were? Here’s a refresher:

1. Take Inventory – Take photos and have a list of all the “little things” the association owns but are not necessarily listed in the reserve study. Clubhouse kitchen supplies and art on clubhouse walls were two examples.

2. Have a policy for who pays the deductible – Remember, it is in the best interest for both the association and the homeowner!

3. Collect “additional insured” endorsements – We were talking about the actual endorsement page, not just a mention on the certificate of insurance.

So how did you do? How about a few more for the New Year?

1. Double check your Fidelity Bond Limit – Your limit should be, at minimum, three times the monthly assessments plus whatever is in reserves. However, the governing documents may require something even higher. Don’t forget that you also have monthly deposits to reserves, so account for those when doing the calculation. If you need help figuring out what the correct number should be, let me know. I am here to help (even if I’m not the agent on the account).

2. Check the status of the association with the Secretary of State – This is an easy one! Just visit https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/ and type in the legal name of the association. If it shows “active” you are good to go! If it shows anything else, you could have trouble. Associations that are not active (for example “suspended” or “forfeited”) could have difficulty in filing insurance claims or even getting insurance coverage, not to mention lose their name entirely.

3. Make taking inventory and updating additional insured documents an annual occurrence – these things can change each year. Make sure you keep everything up to date. Updated certificates should be mailed to you by the carrier each year, but it never hurts to be proactive.

Terri Guest, CIRMS, CMCA is the Northern California Sales & Marketing Representative for Berg Insurance Agency and can be reached at Terri@berginsurance.com. Have an insurance question? Ask Terri and your question may be the subject of next month’s edition of Coverage Corner! If your question is picked, you will win a gift card!