COVERAGES FOR
Affordable Housing Providers
Affordable Housing Providers
Who can join?
Housing associations, tax credit partnerships for affordable housing, nonprofit housing organizations, housing authorities converting their portfolio to non-governmental funding, or Synchrous members needing property manager’s coverage.
Primary Coverages Offered
Property
Protection against risks to property caused by the perils of fire, theft, or weather.
Liability
Protection for property owners resulting from negligent or inappropriate actions.
Tenant Discrimination
Protection for housing providers facing alleged discrimination to tenants and the ADA.
Why Pooling?
Affordable housing providers have choices in where insurance coverages are obtained. Pooling is an alternative to the commercial markets that provide stability, service and pricing.
Risk pools date back to the mid ’80s when commercial insurance companies decided they would no longer underwrite public agencies. The appetite for certain industries changes overnight in the commercial insurance environment. Habitational risks have experienced a high frequency of commercial insurance companies come and go over the last thirty years. Risk pools serve a vital function for their members in an ever-changing insurance environment.
Benefits of participating in the Synchrous pool:
Policyholder-Focused and Responsive
The Board of Directors consists of Executive Directors who understand how their decisions will affect members.
Cost Effective
Synchrous is not required to file with any of the state insurance departments and pay filing fees. Additionally, the reinsurance purchasing is group-based, which reduces the costs of coverage. Another benefit is the wide footprint of our pool’s risk: 432,000 square miles. Synchrous has no profit load and no commissions paid. All this controls the costs of providing specific coverage for policy purchasers.
Long Term Rate Stability
Pooling spreads the cost of risk among the members, thus stabilizing costs. The public agency risk pool has significant financial redundancies (surplus) that can be used to absorb fluctuations in market pressures or adverse claims experience.
Risk Control, Training, Claims Administration
Synchrous offers a wide array of services and aggressive claims resolution. This includes online training, in person staff training, attorney helpline and pool provided speakers on specific subjects such as Fair Housing. The claims philosophy at Synchrous is to pay claims that are justified and fight those claims that are not.
Tailored Coverage
Synchrous utilizes a manuscripted coverage agreement, which simply means that the Board of Directors controls what is and what is not covered. This provides unparalleled flexibility to quickly adapt to changing conditions. Any coverage adjustments can be done internally and does not need to be validated by state insurance officials. The coverages are designed to encompass day to day operational risks encountered by Members, not an off the rack insurance product that covers exposures not present in PHA operations.
Non-Assessable
In the event of the dissolution of the pool, the pool cannot assess members for future liabilities. Many pools that experience bad claims assess their members for the shortfall of funds needed to pay the claims. These assessments can sometimes be decades after the claims have occurred and many times assessments are levied against former members that no longer participate in the pool.
Subsidiaries
The Synchrous subsidiaries Housing Authorities Risk Retention Pool (HARRP), Affordable Housing Risk Pool, LLC (AHRP) and ORWACA Agency Insurance Services, LLC. are designed to bring all the needed insurance products under one roof, be it through self-insured pooling or on the open, traditional insurance marketplace.
Are there additional services available to affordable housing providers?
Absolutely. The Synchrous Attorney Helpline is available to address any legal questions you may have. And our risk control services further ease the complexities facing members of the affordable housing community. Synchrous is more than competitive coverage. It’s also three decades of experience in tailoring the most comprehensive resources for this market. Don’t see something you need? Let us know. We are always here to help.
What makes these services valuable?
- Peer-led governance
- Stable rates
- 125% replacement cost coverage
- No association fees
What makes these services different?
- $2,000,000 standard limit
- $150,000 tenant discrimination
- Property manager coverage
Supplemental Coverage options include, but are not limited to:
- Service providers in housing authority buildings
- Directors and officers insurance for independent nonprofit Boards related to housing
- Professional liability; Errors and omissions (E&O)
- Flood and earthquake for any building
- Difference in conditions (DIC)
- Employment practices liability
- Builder’s risk
- Bonding / surety
- Bid and performance
- Miscellaneous bonds
- Fundraising or special event policies
- Lead-based paint professional liability
- Tenant discrimination
- Boiler and machinery
- Mechanical breakdown
- Underground storage tank liability
- Other pollution-related coverage
Contact us to discuss supplemental coverages options for your existing or new policy:
