Shopping for insurance is like shopping for clothes: if a product is advertised as one size fits all, it’s probably too good to be true. You want your insurance, and your clothes, to provide adequate coverage for a decent price. When looking for HOA insurance, it’s important to consider what assets and risks you need covered with policies that fit your association.
One area your board of directors may need to cover is HOA volunteers.
Insuring volunteers can seem tricky, but it’s far from impossible. The first step in making sure your association remains covered is to review your current policies. What types of insurance do you already have? Do you need to update existing policies? Reviewing the fine print of policies you already have will help identify any missing coverage, allowing you to focus on specific pain points.
When looking for insurance that includes volunteers, consider the following:
- General Liability Insurance usually does not include volunteers.
- Hired and Non-Auto Insurance is helpful only if the volunteers are driving for association business but does not cover other activities the volunteers do.
- Umbrella Insurance is a recommended additional policy that serves as a safety net to cover losses that may not be fully covered by other policies but should not be used as stand-alone protection for volunteers. It serves as supplementary coverage.
- Workers’ Compensation Insurance proves your best bet. However, not all types offer sufficient coverage.
To pinpoint your association’s ideal Workers’ Compensation policy, review the policies available to you. Companies like Blue Lime base their expertise in association insurance, allowing them to carry specialized policies that cover volunteers. Volunteers are not paid employees, so basic Workers’ Compensation may be inadequate. Here at Blue Lime, we can equip you with the right policy for your needs.
While opting for volunteers to help with landscaping or decorating can cut labor costs, skipping out on insurance can cost you more in the long run.
Even if your CC&Rs don’t require insurance for volunteers, you should be proactive in purchasing a policy anyway. Specialized Workers’ Compensation policies can cover losses and pay benefits to the volunteer’s family, ensuring both your association and volunteers are covered.
By following four simple steps, your association can equip itself with the right Workers’ Compensation policy:
- Find a carrier that has insurance to cover volunteers and confirm how they define volunteers.
- If required by you CC&RS, pass a resolution for the coverage.
- Review the options and purchase the policy that best fits your association.
- Appoint the volunteers to a committee to maintain an official record of who should be covered by the policy.
As you can see, it is as easy as it is important to insure your association volunteers. Shop for insurance with a mindset focused on style, size, and coverage—find the one that fits!
