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TL;DR

  • Start an HOA or condo master policy bid about 120 days before expiration, and give every bidder one identical submission package.
  • Select the broker before the markets, or assign each broker its own carriers. Several brokers approaching the same carriers get each other blocked.
  • Make every bidder answer the same coverage grid, and score lender, state, and governing-document compliance before price.

Board playbook / bidding the master policy

HOA Insurance RFP

How to bid an HOA or condo master policy without getting your own submission blocked.

The timeline, the package underwriters need, the market-assignment rule most bids break, and a comparison grid that makes proposals actually comparable.

Have your package reviewed first

Why most HOA insurance bids go wrong

A board decides to bid the master policy, invites three or four brokers, and asks each for a quote. Each broker takes a slightly different description of the association to the same short list of community-association carriers. The carrier works the first submission it receives and declines the rest as duplicates. The board gets one real quote and two or three declines, and reads it as a hard market.

The second failure is comparison. One proposal is on agreed amount with a flat deductible, another is on 90 percent coinsurance with a percentage wind deductible, a third drops ordinance or law coverage. The premiums are not comparable, and the cheapest one often fails the lender or the declaration. A bid has to control both problems: who goes to which market, and what every proposal has to answer.

The five-step HOA insurance RFP process

  1. 01

    Start 120 days before expiration

    Underwriters want a complete submission 60 to 90 days before the policy expires, and coastal, high-rise, or older frame programs need longer. Starting at 120 days leaves time to gather documents, select a broker, and still go to market on time.

  2. 02

    Build one submission package

    Assemble a statement of values, five years of currently valued loss runs, the current declarations and policy forms, the insurance article of the declaration or CC&Rs, the latest reserve study and any appraisal or inspection reports. Every bidder works from the same package.

  3. 03

    Select the broker before the markets

    Run the RFP on qualifications first: community-association specialization, market access, service, and compensation. Then let the selected broker take the program to market, or assign each competing broker a separate list of markets.

  4. 04

    Require a uniform response format

    Ask every bidder to answer the same coverage grid: valuation basis, limits, every deductible, coinsurance or agreed amount, ordinance or law, equipment breakdown, liability, umbrella, D&O, fidelity or crime, carrier rating, and admitted or surplus lines status.

  5. 05

    Score compliance before price

    Check each proposal against the lender warrantability standard, the state statute, and the governing documents first. A cheaper bid that fails one of the three is not a cheaper bid; it is a different and smaller program.

What goes in the submission package

Underwriters price what they can see. A thin submission gets a conservative quote or a decline, and a complete one is the single thing a board controls that most changes the result. Send every bidder the same package.

The coverage grid every bidder must complete

Put this in the RFP and require it as the first page of every response. Proposals that skip a row are incomplete, not cheaper.

  1. Property valuation basis (replacement cost, agreed amount, or coinsurance percentage)
  2. Blanket or scheduled limits, and the total insured value used
  3. Every deductible: all other perils, wind or hail, named storm, and earthquake or flood if carried
  4. Ordinance or law coverage A, B, and C limits
  5. Equipment breakdown limit
  6. General liability and umbrella or excess limits
  7. D&O limit, and whether it covers non-monetary claims and the management company
  8. Fidelity or crime limit, and whether it covers the management company handling association funds
  9. Carrier financial rating, and whether each policy is admitted or surplus lines
  10. Broker commission or fee, disclosed in writing

Definitions for each row: agreed amount vs. coinsurance, blanket vs. scheduled limits, ordinance or law, and admitted vs. surplus lines.

How to score HOA insurance proposals

Score in this order. First, does the program meet the lender warrantability standard? Second, does it meet the state statute? Third, does it meet the declaration or CC&Rs? Only proposals that pass all three are compared on premium, deductible exposure, carrier rating, and service.

Ask each finalist to walk the board through how a claim would be reported and who handles it. For a management company bidding several associations at once, ask how certificates and lender questionnaires are turned around, since that is the service failure owners notice first.

Choosing among brokers is its own decision. See how to choose an HOA insurance broker for the questions that separate a community-association specialist from a generalist.

Have the package reviewed before it goes out

The free HOA Master Policy Review reads the current program against the lender, the state, and the governing documents before the bid starts, so the RFP asks for the program the association actually needs. It is free, it comes back within one business day, and it does not require the association to use HOA Insurer as a bidder.

Common questions

HOA insurance RFP: what boards and managers ask

Is there a template for an HOA or condo insurance RFP?

Yes. A usable HOA insurance RFP has five parts: a timeline that starts about 120 days before expiration, one shared submission package (statement of values, five years of loss runs, current policies, the insurance article of the governing documents, and reserve and inspection reports), a broker-selection stage run on qualifications, a uniform coverage grid every bidder must complete, and scoring that checks lender, state, and governing-document compliance before price. HOA Insurer publishes the full template on this page and will review the package before it goes out at no cost.

Should an HOA send its insurance out to bid with several brokers at once?

Only with assigned markets. Most commercial carriers accept a submission on a given risk from one broker and block the others, so several brokers approaching the same carriers usually means the first submission to arrive is the only one underwriters see, whether or not it is the best one. Either select one broker first and let that broker market the program, or give each competing broker its own written list of carriers.

How far in advance should a condo association bid its master policy?

Start about 120 days before the expiration date. Underwriters generally want a complete submission 60 to 90 days out, and coastal, high-rise, and older buildings often need longer because the carrier will ask for inspections, appraisals, or reserve-study detail before quoting.

How should a board compare HOA insurance proposals?

Require every bidder to fill in the same coverage grid, then check each proposal against the lender warrantability standard, the state statute, and the declaration or CC&Rs before comparing premium. Differences in valuation basis, deductibles, ordinance or law limits, and fidelity coverage often explain a price gap entirely.

Do we have to change brokers to run an RFP?

No. Many boards run an RFP to confirm the current program is right. A well-run bid that ends with the incumbent, on a program the board now understands, is a good outcome.