In the final blog in our C.O.P.E. (Construction, Occupancy, Protection, Exposure) Underwriting Series, we will discuss Exposure considerations for underwriting commercial real estate risks.

 Three important Exposure considerations are…

• Surrounding Properties – Any evaluation must include the exposures presented by surrounding operations. Consider the impact created by the occupancy, construction and distance between the covered risk and neighboring properties. The proximity to another risk, especially one that is very close with no fire divisions cannot be ignored.
• Geographic Location – the geographic location of a risk is another major consideration in evaluating and underwriting an account. Legal and social issues that may increase the hazard of an account are important items to consider.  It is also important to evaluate where the property is located and if it is in an area with severe weather tendencies such as tornadoes, floods and earthquakes that could cause large losses.
• Loss History – Loss history is important in identifying exposures.  You should send over no less than three years of verified loss information, but considering property losses occur irregularly, it is helpful if you send additional years of loss history to offer a better view of the risk. The loss history for a property should include details on the types of loss, dates of occurrences, cause of loss, complete details of the extent of the losses, the amounts paid and the deductibles that applied. Also, it is helpful to provide any type of reactive measures the property managers took to prevent additional occurrences from happening in the future.

 This will conclude our Four-part C.O.P.E. series on considerations for commercial real estate risks.  We hope these blogs were useful!

In case you missed them, below are links to other three parts to our C.O.P.E. series where we discussed Construction, Occupancy and Protection considerations for commercial real estate risks.

Part I – Construction Considerations for Underwriting Commercial Real Estate Risks

Part II – Occupancy Considerations for Underwriting Commercial Real Estate Risks

Part III – Exposure Considerations for Underwriting Commercial Real Estate Risks

Keep up to date with what’s new at New Empire Group, Ltd. by visiting our website, www.NewEmpireGroup.com or find us on Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter!

Check out the great Insurance Programs for Condominium Insurance, Cooperative Insurance, Apartment Insurance and Property Manager’s Insurance that New Empire Group, Ltd. offers!