Condo Media - July 2013 - 40

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Rogers & Gray
Specialists in Insurance for Real Estate and Property Management
by Pamela Schweppe

uppose you are building a fullservice luxury high-rise condominium community adjacent to
a high-end shopping mall. At a
cost of $120 million — one of the most
expensive buildings in the MetroWest
Boston area — it requires comprehensive, specialized insurance coverage. But
where do you turn to find the coverage
you need?
That was the situation confronting
Michael Hoda, an employee of Boston’s
The Barkan Companies who serves as
general manager of Nouvelle Natick.
The 215-unit condominium association in Natick, Mass., serves as the focal
point of a mixed-use lifestyle and retail
destination. The building was still under
construction and uninsured when Hoda
came on board, so he quickly set about
sourcing an insurance provider.
The vendor that was most highly recommended to him by his colleagues was
Rogers & Gray. Founded in 1906, Rogers & Gray is headquartered in South
Dennis, Mass., but serves condominium
associations throughout Boston, Cape
Cod, the South Shore, and southeastern
Massachusetts through its network of
satellite offices in Falmouth, Hyannis,
Kingston, Norwell, Orleans, Sandwich,
and Wareham. Real estate and property
management are an important segment
of their business, and the staff of 115
currently handles the insurance needs of
more than 650 condominium and real
estate properties.
“I interviewed them in 2008 and
didn’t interview any other agents at
that point in time,” says Hoda. “Obviously, they were the highest rated, and
there was no need to go any further
with the process. We signed up with
them immediately.”

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Serving the Special Needs of
Condominium Associations

Because of its connection to the Natick
Mall, Nouvelle Natick faced insurance
needs that required expertise to negotiate. According to Hoda, the building’s
public access created a unique challenge.
“You are entering a new realm where
the legislature has not identified every
law that will affect both structures,” he
explains, “so it affects your level of liability. It’s uncharted territory.”
Using its experience and expertise in
condominium insurance, Rogers & Gray
made a survey of the site and was able to
quantify the commercial exposure and
set the coverage accordingly. “You have
to be well versed in condominium law
to be able to do that,” says Hoda.
To Rogers & Gray, it’s all in a day’s
work. They recognize that, to most
people, their home is their most valuable asset, and Rogers & Gray representatives are highly trained to customize coverage to fit each unique situation
while maximizing any discounts and
savings available.
One of the unique services they
provide condominium associations is
the ability to read and interpret the
bylaws of each one and tailor the insurance coverage accordingly. “The bylaws
of each association are unique,” says
Michael Robinson, principal and executive vice president of Rogers & Gray.
“When we come in, we do an audit of
the association’s insurance program to
identify risks, review losses, and make
sure their coverage is in compliance
with the bylaws.”
Among those who appreciate Rogers & Gray’s attention to association
bylaws is Craig J. McGowan, president
of Mercantile Property Management

of Bourne, Mass., a firm that manages
condominiums throughout the southeastern part of the state. McGowan
first became familiar with the firm more
than 15 years ago, when Mercantile
began managing a property insured
through Rogers & Gray. Today, Rogers
& Gray handles insurance for many of
the properties managed by Mercantile.
“Proper coverage isn’t always a simple
thing with condominiums, because each
condominium has its own set of bylaws,
and each attorney might have put different language in with regard to what
type of insurance is required on behalf
of the association,” McGowan says.
As an example, he cites the case of
a property Mercantile began managing last year. The board had begun
wondering why the association carried
flood insurance, since it was located in
an area that was unlikely to flood. Rogers & Gray’s investigation included reviewing the bylaws, where they discovered that the documents required flood
insurance coverage. Armed with that
knowledge, the board debated amending the documents but ultimately
decided against it because of issues that
might be raised with banks holding
mortgages on the individual units.

Offering Comprehensive
Service

Of course, Rogers & Gray offers
wide-ranging types of insurance to its
condominium clients, from property, liability, and disaster insurance, including
flood insurance, to umbrella coverage.
The firm also handles a specialized
insurance of particular value to associations: Directors and Officers coverage,
designed to protect those who expose
themselves to liability simply by making

Condo Media - July 2013

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