Q: I would like to see if you can help my community. Last year our community was paying close to $5,700 a month for insurance. Then in March 2025, two days before our policy was to renew, our agent informed us that our electrical panels all needed to be replaced in our community.
This involves 62 homes, and our insurance agent said they would not renew our policy until the panels were upgraded. We were able to get coverage through another company for one year to allow our homeowners time to complete the necessary work on their electrical panels at the expense of $13,067 a month. Needless to say, those costs wiped out our finances. We had to borrow $75,000 from our management company to get us through this hard time.
Now that all our panels are upgraded, we are able to get our insurance cost back down to $3,000 a month.
I would like to know who I can talk with about the insurance companies hitting us with high fees and if that was even legal.
I don’t feel like our management company really worked in our favor. Myself and the other four board members seem to be the ones doing all the work.
A: I have been wanting the state Legislature to form an insurance task force to discuss the insurance issues facing associations as well as other property types. The task force would be composed of community and property managers, homeowners, associations, insurance companies, etc.
Unfortunately, this is a national issue that is not really being addressed.
If you truly believe that your current insurance company has acted illegally, you can contact the State Insurance Division.
Q: We have a townhouse that completely lost power recently. We requested the city remove the gold band to inspect the damage found behind a nine-unit panel along a shared wall. We then hired a licensed residential technician who said the entire panel needed to be replaced, as the parts are obsolete. It was built in 1972.
We have been contacting the HOA to review this shared panel damage and assist with the next steps. We were ghosted all week until I reported the emergency to the HOA management company.
By this point all our food was tossed and the house in unlivable condition. We received a call later that day from a representative of our HOA advising they will send an electrician a few days later to review damages. They confirmed that they want to redo the panel and wiring into all nine units, and set up a temporary generator, with pricing around $92,000.
The issue now is that the HOA is reaching out to their attorney and trying to combat any liability in repairs, and we don’t know where to start.
Are we doing everything in our power to expedite repairs to this emergency? Is there anything more we can do to proceed with finding a resolution?
A: You will need to check your governing documents as to who is responsible to make the repairs. If this panel is shared by nine units, your governing documents could state that it’s the HOA’s responsibility to make repairs or that there is a procedure where the HOA will make the repairs and then bill each unit owner their share. Most likely, the CCRs addresse this maintenance issue.
Check with your insurance company if you have a separate policy, and if not, contact the association’s insurance company, you may be able to file a claim. You may need an attorney to assist you especially since the association is seeking advice.
Barbara Holland, CPM, CMCA, AMS, is an author, educator and expert witness on real estate issues pertaining to management and brokerage. Questions may be sent to holland744o@gmail.com.
