We are a non-profit community service group which owns and operates out of a 150 year old building. It has issues but has all bells and whistles for safety and is up to codes and all that jazz. Our insurance just dropped us for a seemingly bogus reason, which I understand happens a lot with old buildings which may seem to insurers like too high a risk for them to insure. Their reason was a bad roof, which was repaired about a decade ago and is still in great shape in appearance and function.
I am in a leadership roll there and have zero experience with insurance companies. Where do we go from here? There are members who have said getting new insurance on this old, old building will probably result in premiums way beyond our ability to afford. Is that the case? Does one just shop around and call insurance companies?
If the average insurance company wants an arm and a leg, or, if they wont even insure us, where do we go from there? Are there resources for non-profits in this situation? Do we simply have to renovate the building massively to be able to get insurance at that point? Because that is also out of our ability to afford.
TIA for any advice!
Insurance just dropped us. Where to go from here? We’re a non-profit operating out of a very old building.
byu/tbrewo inInsurance
Posted by tbrewo
4 Comments
I mean, you can probably be insured, you need to contact a local broker who has multiple companies. I insure some buildings like yours and you can get a super basic policy that just covers wind hail and fire with a roof. That’s in bad condition. Premium will probably be high, but it can be done
age of building is not a bogus reason, it is a underwriting reason and valid. Have you gotten quotes from other carriers yet because just because one carrier change there appetite doesn’t mean they all did.
you need to reach out to a independent insurance agent and obtain quotes since they have the appointment/contract with the insurance company. The insurance company won’t work directly with you, they will often tell you go to an agent. Since your a non-profit there are several carriers that target non-profits for insurance. Philadelphia Insurance, Great American and USLI are common carriers in the non-profit industry that write alot of business. I know they tend to be niche and pride themselves on writing alot of non-profits. So find an agent who is appointed by any of them to get a quote. Can also go to the companies website and do locate and insurance agent.
[https://insurancefornonprofits.org/](https://insurancefornonprofits.org/) has a master policy they sell that you can get one. Master policies can be cost effective since your not actually getting a policy from the insurance company directly but the program administrator has a 1 big massive policy and they will make there own rates and put non-profits under there master policy. Always some pros and cons to this route but it can be cost effective.
I am happy to chat. I do commercial insurance for a living. I won’t be selling you anything-this is a give back to the NP world.
A note to all: the insurance market is a real mess right now. Make your old property something that does NOT catch the underwriter’s eye in a bad way.
It looks like you are in California, right? The market there is very hard (thank your insurance commissioner) and insurers are tightening their requirements significantly. If the roof was repaired a decade ago, no replaced, that could easily be a good reason for commercial insurers to be hesitant.
You should absolutely go the independent agent route for quotes, and be prepared for an increased rate.