Featured Stories
Retail property and casualty agents are adapting to the new realities of “For Rent” signs on shop windows and foreclosure notices on home lawns. Agents who never or seldom handled vacant property are now learning the ropes and are looking for answers to some basic, as well as not so basic, questions.
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Since vacant homes can be a magnet for break-ins or vandalism, it’s a good idea for homeowners to try to protect their investments by engaging someone to occupy or regularly visit the premises.
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Not long ago, a shopping block in the tony New York suburb of New Rochelle was awash in stylish restaurants and small, attractive retail stores. These days, almost a third of more than a dozen storefronts sit dark and empty, apparent victims of the job losses and other concerns that continue to weigh on the broader economy.
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Case Studies
Insuring a single vacant property can have its challenges, but suppose a vacant parcel is part of a complex holding that includes occupied and foreclosed properties? Then suppose a client has many such holdings scattered across the country and needs coverage for the entire portfolio of disparate holdings?
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Lloyd's of London has long been an important market for excess and surplus (E&S) business, but sometimes the client is on the West coast, the insurer is in London and completion time to purchase property is tight. For a broker like Burns & Wilcox, which has Lloyd's underwriting and binding authority for vacant property policies, the five-hour or more time difference between agent and market is no barrier to good service.
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With the high rate of mortgage failures and foreclosures, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has been on overdrive protecting bank depositors by selling off distressed assets. These assets need to be properly insured, yet in the crush of deal making, insurance often is the last thing on anyone’s mind.
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Vacant Property News on P&C
Agents can boost commissions as economic woes leave properties empty
Lack of maintenance, crime and pollution can prompt claims at mothballed facilities
Part of the fallout of the financial crisis and recession is a drop in business, which can leave warehouses, factories and office buildings vacant, creating new risks, a property insurance expert warns.