Insurance for several commercial properties

Start with every address, ownership entity, occupancy, construction, roof age, value, lender, and current tenant. A building bought last month can have a different limit and deductible from a building held for years.

I would rather work from a plain spreadsheet that has missing cells marked than a polished schedule carrying an old tenant or an old roof date.

A scheduled limit assigns a value to a particular location. A blanket limit may apply across locations when the policy allows it. The wording, valuation, coinsurance, and margin conditions decide how that limit works after a loss.

Insure below the coinsured value and a partial loss may not be paid in full because the shortfall comes out of the settlement in proportion. The schedule needs realistic values before you decide which limit structure fits.

A portfolio may contain buildings owned by separate companies, a family trust, or an operating business. Named insured wording, additional insured wording, mortgagees, and loss payees need to match the ownership records.

The same manager can handle several buildings while each owner carries a different obligation. Send the entity list with the property list so the policy doesn’t blend them together by accident.

Loss of rents depends on the rent roll, leases, vacancy, and the time needed to repair each property. Business income for an operating location depends on sales, payroll, continuing expenses, and the likely interruption.

Business income is commonly written for 12 months unless a longer period is bought. A shared boiler or a custom permit can keep several suites closed longer than a simple roof repair.

Carriers review each building’s roof, wiring, plumbing, heating, and protection systems. Many carriers want an inspection or add a surcharge once a flat roof passes roughly 20 years, and some won’t write it.

That doesn’t mean every location gets the same answer. It means the oldest building deserves attention before the rest of the schedule is sent out.

Tell us when you buy, sell, renovate, refinance, change a tenant, leave a suite empty, or change the use. Vacancy can reduce coverage after 30 or 60 days on many property forms, and a renovation can change the available policy.

Keep inspection reports, lease schedules, invoices, and updated values in one place. An account is easier to service when the records aren’t scattered among several property managers.

Review building limits, deductibles, liability limits, loss of rents, ordinance or law, outdoor property, equipment breakdown, flood, and umbrella requirements together. A change at one location can affect the portfolio terms.

I prefer a written location-by-location comparison. It shows where the policy is doing the work and where you still need a separate limit or endorsement.