ARTICLE: Importance of Committee Liability Insurance.
If you are a member on a building’s management committee this article about the importance of Committee Liability insurance is one of the most important articles for you.
As a member of the committee you are an elected official of the property owners. You have an appropriate ‘Duty of Care’ to those owners you represent to act always in the best interests of the property owners. You also have a duty to manage, administrate and maintain your Cyprus apartment building or resort in accordance with the Regulations.
By joining the management committee of your building, you take on a responsibility, and with this responsibility comes some risk. This applies to both the individual committee member, and the management committee as a whole. If you fail to meet your ‘Duty of Care’ you can be found negligent which can leave you open to civil and/or criminal liability.
I have previously mentioned many good reasons to join your building’s management committee in my Communal property articles and in The Ultimate Committee Handbook.
If you have read either of these you will know that while there is increased liability by taking one of these committee positions, in my opinion, the benefits from being in direct control of your significant financial investment far outweigh its risks. Plus you can reduce this risk by taking out a dedicated committee liability insurance coverage.
However, the vast majority of building public liability policies do not cover any additional coverage for legal expenses or compensation awards against the committee for any claim by a PROPERTY OWNER or public authority.
As I deal with many apartment buildings and resorts through my communal management company, and in my role as the founder of www.CyprusCommunalGuide.com I have extensive contacts within the property industry and one of these contacts works for a major insurance provider. After explaining the problem, we worked together to design a new insurance product specifically to cover this extra committee liability. This new committee liability insurance product was accepted by the underwriters. After seeing this new product in the market many other insurance companies have added this as a option to their policys. However, few advertise it or include it by default in the standard policy.
I recommend to always ask for additional coverage for the committee liability when taking out your buildings insurance policy. Make sure that they fully understand that this is not general or public liability. It needs to specifically cover the committee for any civil/criminal claims against the committee by a property owner or government/regulatory body.
Looking for more?
If you are a member of your management committee, (or are looking to set one up) you will know that while the communal property regulations are comprehensive, they are sometimes a little difficult to understand and even once understood its not always easy to apply these generic regulations to your individual building with its specific challenges.
To help with this problem my most recent book the Ultimate Committee handbook gives you detailed and step by step instructions on every aspect of being on your committee and running your building. It explains the communal property law in simple terms including real world examples and instructions on how to best apply these regulations.
To get more information on this book, and view a book preview you can click the below link.
Unlock the true potential of your apartment building or resort with The Ultimate Committee Handbook.
Russell Flick
The Cyprus Communal Guide
Helping you unlock your buildings true potential.
