Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: insurance

[Stuart Joseph (stuart]

Leah,
I would suggest getting the insurance. $1800.00 is a small price to pay, 
whatever the time frame, to protect yourselves and your project.

Think of the dangers that are inherent in your situation, especially 
during construction and the accidents that could happen with power 
tools, construction debris, etc.

If you got sued by someone that got hurt, not only could you lose your 
property and money if they won, but also consider the legal fees that 
you would have to pay.

Because other folks have taken a chance and not bought the insurance 
shouldn't affect your decision. I know in our area, we had a flood 
across the river in NH, and a number of folks didn't have flood 
insurance, their houses floated away, and now they have to figure out 
how they are going to rebuild.

There is an old joke about a farmer who gets arrested in the city for 
littering and is fined $2.00, but his lawyer tells him he can win the 
case. there are a number of things that happen and it escalates until 
the farmer is on death row. Through it all, the farmer keeps saying "pay 
the $2.00," and the lawyer keeps telling him they can win the case on 
appeal.  In this case, with inflation, pay the $1800.00! <grin>

Leah wrote:
> We are a 13 unit cohousing development that is expected to be completed in 
> August. (by the way, we still have one unit available!) We have carried 
> liability insurance from the time of construction until this week, at which 
> time it runs out. At some point, we will be able to start our HOA insurance but 
> we are thinking that won't be until construction is over in less than 2 months. 
> The contractor has insurance but the insurance we had before would cover 
> anything that was not considered the fault of the contractor and was blamed on 
> us as the developers, including legal costs. For us to renew this it would be 
> $1800 regardless of the fact that it is for such a short time. They would not 
> reimburse us for using it for only part of the year. The insurance agent says 
> most people don't get this kind of insurance and just take a chance that no one 
> will get hurt. What have others done?
>   Leah Schindler
>   Bear Creek Village 
>   Ashland, Oregon
>
>        
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--
Stuart Joseph, 802-463-1954
Project Director
Caer Coburn, a traditional village based upon cohousing  and intentional 
communities in
Rockingham, Vermont, USA
http://www.caercoburn.org
Mail to:
36 Front St.
Bellows Falls, VT 05101 USA