VU Resources

Habitational Hot Mess

The habitational market struggles with a lack of capacity, increasing non-renewals, higher deductibles and restricted underwriting. How can the industry adapt to this hard market? This article covers current habitational risks in the multi-family market and offers tips for agents trying to place coverage.

Exterior view of modern apartment building offering luxury rental units in Silicon Valley; Livermore, East San Francisco bay area, California

Insurance Coverage Concerns for Geothermal Heat Pump Systems

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), geothermal energy technology “harnesses the Earth’s heat,” and at least three types of technology that take advantage of that natural resource. These include ground source heat pumps, direct use geothermal and deep geothermal systems. This article provides a brief overview of this technology and some of the property…

House, car, money icons under a red umbrella for insurance protection concept

Post-COVID World Requires Agents to Learn Leasehold Interest Coverage

During COVID, many if not most employees were assigned to work from home. Office-based operations discovered that remote employees may be just as efficient as they were in the office. Additionally, many businesses calculated how much they could save by lessening or totally eliminating their real estate spend. One result of COVID’s work-from-home (WFH) mandate,…

Seven Important Considerations Required to Properly Insure “Fixtures”

Agents learn early that there are two types of property, real property and personal property. Real property is generally defined as land and everything attached to the land such as by roots, by being embedded in the land, permanently resting on the land such as a building or property permanently attached to the building. Personal…

Red house in among white houses for real estate property industry

Coverage for Business Personal Property Off Premises

A surveyor’s equipment was stolen while on a job site. The adjuster denied the claim under the CP 00 10 Property Off-premises coverage, citing the exclusion for such property while on a premises you “own, lease or operate,” and claiming the insured was “operating” on the premises. Is this a correct interpretation?

Insuring Commercial Tenant Lease Requirements

A prospect’s lease requires that the tenant (him) be responsible for only the heating and air conditioning system (HVAC) under a provision that the tenant “maintain, repair and replace” the system. So I need to be certain that my insured’s policy has coverage for the HVAC system. Would the tenant’s improvements and betterments coverage in…

Cloud computing technology concept background, white cloud connect with network cable, 3d rendering.

When Are Improvements & Betterments “Acquired”?

An I&B claim was denied because the owner of the leased area had not made any betterments or improvements at his own expense since the lease began…all of the improvements were made just prior to assuming the lease. His policy covers I&Bs “acquired” by the tenant. What does “acquired” mean?

Is Equipment Building or Personal Property?

Building coverage includes personal property owned by you that is used to maintain or service the building or structure or premises, including: appliances used for refrigerating, ventilating, cooking, dishwashing or laundering. Does this apply to any laundry equipment (e.g., a public laundromat) or only if it is actually used to “service the building” (e.g., a…

That Depends on What the Meaning of the Word “Are” Is

As every self-respecting Insurance Geek knows, one word in an insurance policy (in fact, even a punctuation mark…but that’s another story) can make all the difference in coverage or lack thereof. So, with apologies to Bill Clinton for the title of this article, let’s take a look at an actual claim that boiled down to a…

Woman and man two hands assembling one bulb shape puzzle of two jigsaw pieces, isolated on white.

Tenant Improvements & Betterments…OWNER Beware!

If you insure the tenant of a building and they install improvements and betterments, you certainly want to make sure they’re adequately insured, particularly if the lease makes the tenant responsible for damages. However, if you insure the building owner, they must be just as vigilant in updating their coverage. Here’s why….