Hello, I’m Ted Corless. I’m a lawyer with the Corless Barfield Trial Group. My office has prepared a series of podcasts, video casts, and blogs associated with common insurance disputes as well as situations where individuals had been injured as a result of the negligence of others. 

Today’s video is on what to do if your condominium association has been damaged by hurricanes or tropical storms.

As a board of directors of an association, you have what is referred to legally as a fiduciary duty to protect the interests of the individual unit owners. 

In the context of a property that has been damaged by tropical storm Hermine for example, you have an obligation to fully investigate that claim. If you had a claim or you have damage that you need to report to an insurance company, here’s a list of things that you should do immediately. 

Copy of Insurance Policy

First of all, ask for a copy of your insurance policy that would have been in place at the time of the loss. That may seem like a very simple thing, but it’s important that you understand not only what the coverage is, but what kind of deductibles the condo association may be facing. 

Notify All Owners

Second of all, it’s important that you immediately notify all owners, especially those owners who are not living full time on the property, that there’s been a loss at the property. 

Inspect Property

And third, it’s important that you inspect all of those properties either yourself or in conjunction with the insurance company. That can be very difficult because not all unit owners living on the property, it can be very difficult to get into those individual units. But it’s imperative that you do that. Otherwise you may face a major water problem later and a very angry and litigious unit owner.

 If you are a member of a board of directors for a condo association, and you have questions about a claim associated with storm activity, I would encourage you to go to our website at www.CorlessBarfield.com or give us a call.