All Forum Posts by: Matt Kistner

Renee F. - most insurance companies will make you insure at their estimated replacement cost, but not all. If you have 1-4family properties I can insure anywhere from your purchase price up to the replacement cost. It can save you a bunch in premiums. Let me know if you want to look into it further.

I work as an insurance agent with a focus on real estate. I think there are a couple things to clarify here: first, builders risk coverage is a form of "property coverage" ie. it covers the structure itself while under construction, Therefore, it really doesn't matter in the eyes of a commercial insurer if it's owned via an LLC or a Corp as long as you have a strong balance sheet and have experience in this space or have selected a strong GC. The reason some agents couldn't get it for you in the LLC's name is because the are working with personal lines products. Any commercial agent could get this for you. Whatever agent you work with should also be talking to you about securing an appropriate liability policy and counseling you on contractual risk transfer with the GC and their subs. I will hold my comments about Erie as I have never represented them directly but I will say that you get what you pay for and the cheapest isn't always the best

I respectfully disagree with the last post regarding umbrella limit selection. You absolutely can be sued for and judgement awarded for more than your current net worth. No judge or jury knows your net worth. Liability limit selections are tricky. I have been in the insurance field for 17 years and this is a difficult topic area because there is no clear cut answer. You have to look at your exposure and try and identify the worst case scenario. Someone that has a single family dwelling doesn't need to carry as much as someone with a 200 unit apartment complex (ie. a massive fire in that complex could result in many injuries or deaths where in a dwelling your exposure (# of people exposed) is limited). Many people have a higher risk tolerance than others and go with the lower limits. But in short I just wanted to make it clear that you can be sued for more than your net worth & could be paying off that judgement for a lifetime with future earnings as well - it doesn't just disappear. There is a further discussion to be had about protection from establishing LLC's but then there is a counter discussion on piercing the corporate veils and getting to personal assets. My 2 cents - no offense to anyone.

I am an insurance agent in the state of ohio. I would need to speak with you to learn a little more; is this subsidized housing? Roof age? Is it at least 100 amp service, who is managing it, pet policy, balconies? HW smoke detectors etc, etc but I would say with a very tentative blanket statement $5,000 seems pretty in line assuming all above checks out acceptable.