I just got off the phone with our insurer and they are having a heck
of a time trying to get an underwriter for us. It looks like they're
going to get it done -- but I can't believe it'd even be an issue.
We're really just renting office space and then allowing people to
come in and work.
(Some of) The underwriters are saying they need to know what each and
every member's company does as there's risk associated with it --
(like one of us might be testing fire retardant pajamas in the
facility).
Anywhoo -- anyone else run into trouble?
Anyone have any guidance on how they got their places insured to meet
the landlord requirements?
Any leads on coworking friendly insurers?
Because we run our space as a Citizen Agency space that shares their office with others, we just make sure that everyone knows they are responsible for their own insurance.
But it would be a different story, if Citizen Space was a business.
T
···
On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 1:46 PM, Kelly Brown [email protected] wrote:
I just got off the phone with our insurer and they are having a heck
of a time trying to get an underwriter for us. It looks like they’re
going to get it done – but I can’t believe it’d even be an issue.
We’re really just renting office space and then allowing people to
come in and work.
(Some of) The underwriters are saying they need to know what each and
every member’s company does as there’s risk associated with it –
(like one of us might be testing fire retardant pajamas in the
facility).
Anywhoo – anyone else run into trouble?
Anyone have any guidance on how they got their places insured to meet
We were required by our landlord to carry a couple million dollar policy. It
wasn't a problem to get through a local broker. We explained that we were an
office service and most folks would be doing office-type jobs. We never
mentioned our fire retardant pajama tester, but it only took a few days to
finalize. Plus, it was pretty darn cheap.
A broker should be able to figure it out. We ultimately ended up with The
Hartford I believe.
Our lesson very early on in the process was to forget about explaining the
rational behind coworking. If you tell them it's something new, folks seem
to get worried. If you describe coworking using a long understood business
vocabulary, things moved along smoothly.
I just got off the phone with our insurer and they are having a heck
of a time trying to get an underwriter for us. It looks like they're
going to get it done -- but I can't believe it'd even be an issue.
We're really just renting office space and then allowing people to
come in and work.
(Some of) The underwriters are saying they need to know what each and
every member's company does as there's risk associated with it --
(like one of us might be testing fire retardant pajamas in the
facility).
Anywhoo -- anyone else run into trouble?
Anyone have any guidance on how they got their places insured to meet
the landlord requirements?
Any leads on coworking friendly insurers?
We had requirements from our landlord as well. And we got a great deal from The Hartford. Explain that it’s shared workspace, that tends to move things along smoothly.
I second this comment. We have the hartford at redtap (redtap.com)
and we told them it was a retail/cafe, and the owners were the
business partners, and the co-workers were really just retail walk in
customers, so there's no 'splaining to do. If you've got a huge
space, then maybe they look at things a bit differently. The key is,
remember, your name or your business is on the lease presumably, so
therefore you need to carry the insurance to cover yourself, your
business, and the assets therein. In SF, we have lots of petty crime
like burglaries, theft, and vandalism. For the more expensive items,
like $3K laptop/computers, you want to make sure these are itemized or
included in the coverage you get. Remember, the $500 deductible is
great for keeping the costs down, but not great for covering petty
theft and vandalism that may occur. For example, a broken window will
cost you $100, and that is just an out of pocket expense, a loss. You
can't use your insurance for stuff like that.
···
On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 2:31 PM, Derek Young <[email protected]> wrote:
We were required by our landlord to carry a couple million dollar policy. It
wasn't a problem to get through a local broker. We explained that we were an
office service and most folks would be doing office-type jobs. We never
mentioned our fire retardant pajama tester, but it only took a few days to
finalize. Plus, it was pretty darn cheap.
A broker should be able to figure it out. We ultimately ended up with The
Hartford I believe.
Our lesson very early on in the process was to forget about explaining the
rational behind coworking. If you tell them it's something new, folks seem
to get worried. If you describe coworking using a long understood business
vocabulary, things moved along smoothly.
I just got off the phone with our insurer and they are having a heck
of a time trying to get an underwriter for us. It looks like they're
going to get it done -- but I can't believe it'd even be an issue.
We're really just renting office space and then allowing people to
come in and work.
(Some of) The underwriters are saying they need to know what each and
every member's company does as there's risk associated with it --
(like one of us might be testing fire retardant pajamas in the
facility).
Anywhoo -- anyone else run into trouble?
Anyone have any guidance on how they got their places insured to meet
the landlord requirements?
Any leads on coworking friendly insurers?
We were required by our landlord to have a policy which covers both
buildings and the lot. We have a friend who is an insurance agent with
Farmer's and hooked up with a good deal. We recommend to each of our
tenants that they obtain their own insurance also.
We had requirements from our landlord as well. And we got a great deal from
The Hartford. Explain that it's shared workspace, that tends to move things
along smoothly.
-Alex
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Alex Hillman
im always developing something
digital: a....@weknowhtml.com
visual:www.dangerouslyawesome.com
local:www.indyhall.org
On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 5:31 PM, Derek Young <[email protected]> wrote:
> We were required by our landlord to carry a couple million dollar policy.
> It
> wasn't a problem to get through a local broker. We explained that we were
> an
> office service and most folks would be doing office-type jobs. We never
> mentioned our fire retardant pajama tester, but it only took a few days to
> finalize. Plus, it was pretty darn cheap.
> A broker should be able to figure it out. We ultimately ended up with The
> Hartford I believe.
> Our lesson very early on in the process was to forget about explaining the
> rational behind coworking. If you tell them it's something new, folks seem
> to get worried. If you describe coworking using a long understood business
> vocabulary, things moved along smoothly.
> > I just got off the phone with our insurer and they are having a heck
> > of a time trying to get an underwriter for us. It looks like they're
> > going to get it done -- but I can't believe it'd even be an issue.
> > We're really just renting office space and then allowing people to
> > come in and work.
> > (Some of) The underwriters are saying they need to know what each and
> > every member's company does as there's risk associated with it --
> > (like one of us might be testing fire retardant pajamas in the
> > facility).
> > Anywhoo -- anyone else run into trouble?
> > Anyone have any guidance on how they got their places insured to meet
> > the landlord requirements?
> > Any leads on coworking friendly insurers?
> > Kelly Brown
> > Office Space Coworking
> >www.officespacecoworking.com
Trying to find insurance for a coworking space in South Philly…and any guidance would be much appreciated! (Alex, I saw the Hartford mention…and I have a call in to them…waiting for an answer…)
THANKS!
Marina
···
On Wednesday, September 10, 2008 5:37:45 PM UTC-4, Alex Hillman wrote:
We had requirements from our landlord as well. And we got a great deal from The Hartford. Explain that it’s shared workspace, that tends to move things along smoothly.