A quote request often stalls over information the company already has. The application lists one unit count, the portfolio spreadsheet shows another, and nobody has explained whether the revenue figure includes rent collected for owners.
Sorting that out before submission saves another round of emails. It also helps the insurer quote the business you actually run. The aim is a clear account of the company, supported by records that agree with one another.
This checklist concerns insurance for the property management company. Policies covering clients’ buildings or an HOA’s common property may require a separate submission.
Table of Contents
Quick Answer: What Do You Need for a Property Management Insurance Quote?
For a property management insurance quote, prepare company and ownership details, a current portfolio summary, service descriptions, management agreements, revenue, payroll and claims records. Depending on the coverage, the insurer may also need client-fund controls, cybersecurity information, vehicle details and office values. Use the carrier’s application and clarify its definitions before entering figures. Sending an application does not start coverage.
Get the Correct Application First
Ask which forms the insurer needs before building a submission around last year’s application. An E&O carrier may request a property management supplement; a cyber or crime quote may require different details.
Travelers’ E&O forms page includes a Real Estate Services New Business Application and a Real Estate Professional Other Services Supplement. The supplement includes a property management section. Use these as examples; your insurer may require different forms.
Read the requested reporting period. Last year’s revenue, this year’s estimate and the current portfolio belong in different fields when the application asks for them separately. If a term is unclear, resolve it before signing.
Identify the Company and Its Owners
Use the legal entity name, then list any trading names. Add the business address, operating locations, years in business and states where services are performed. Explain the principals’ experience if the company itself is new.
Related entities need attention. Does a principal also own properties the company manages? Does another LLC employ maintenance staff or hold vehicles? Do not assume common ownership makes every entity part of the proposed insurance.
Make the Portfolio Numbers Agree
Prepare one dated portfolio schedule that everyone uses. It can be brief, provided the totals reconcile and the important differences are visible.
Portfolio item | Information to prepare |
|---|---|
Property categories | Residential, commercial and other uses |
Number of properties and units | Totals by category, with mixed-use locations explained |
Locations | States and any concentration in particular areas |
Occupancy | Vacant units or properties and relevant changes |
Ownership interests | Properties owned by principals or related businesses |
Management income | Fees by category when the application requests them |
If the schedule has 275 units and the application has 240, explain whether the difference reflects new contracts, a different reporting date or an error. Sending both without comment leaves the underwriter to guess.
Include material changes expected during the proposed term. A recently signed contract can matter even if the company has not yet collected its first fee.
Describe the Work in Ordinary Language
“Full-service management” is convenient marketing language. It does not tell the insurer what staff do.
Describe leasing, applicant screening, rent collection, owner reporting, inspections and repair coordination. If employees perform maintenance, say what kind. Explain renovation oversight, sales or other services that go beyond routine management.
Eviction coordination also needs a clear description. Distinguish administrative work from legal services performed by outside counsel. The same care applies to accounting and construction responsibilities.
Provide a representative management agreement and relevant variations. Highlight unusual obligations, indemnity provisions or insurance requirements for review. The agreement describes what the company promises; the policy’s covered-services wording describes what the insurer agrees to insure. StarNet’s GL and professional liability comparison helps explain that difference.
Keep Revenue, Payroll and Client Funds Separate
Management fees and rent collected for owners are not interchangeable numbers. Follow the application’s definition of revenue and identify pass-through funds when needed. Separate actual figures from projections.
For payroll, prepare amounts by state and employee duties. A title such as “assistant manager” does not explain whether the person works at a desk, shows units or repairs fixtures. Include owner information where requested and ask how the applicable rules treat it.
Client-money questions need balances as well as activity. Annual rent collected describes the flow through an account; the maximum balance describes a different exposure. Prepare peak amounts held, the largest individual transfer and an explanation of whose funds are involved.
Explain How Payments Are Authorized
For a crime review, identify who can create a payee, approve a transfer and reconcile the account. Explain whether those tasks belong to separate people or, in a small office, what oversight is used when they do not.
Describe verification of changed bank instructions. The insurer needs the actual process, including exceptions and outside bookkeepers’ access. A written rule requiring a callback is only useful as an application answer if staff follow it.
Add Systems, Vehicles and Office Values
Cyber questions should reach the person who administers the systems. Confirm where multifactor authentication is enabled, who has administrator access, how former staff are removed and when backups were last tested. Identify the portal, payment and IT providers on which the company relies.
Avoid sending tenant identification documents or bank credentials to illustrate the exposure. A description of the records and approximate quantities is normally a better starting point; ask what supporting material is needed and use an appropriate secure channel.
For auto, list company vehicles and describe employee driving and rentals. For the office, gather equipment and property values rather than using an old limit without checking it. General liability coverage should also reflect offsite work and the operations described elsewhere in the submission.
Bring Claims Records and Existing Policies
Request insurer-issued loss runs early when they are required. Include open and closed matters for the requested period, and answer questions about known circumstances accurately. A complaint may need disclosure even if no lawsuit has been filed, so check it alongside the prior-claims information discussed in StarNet’s insurance shopping checklist.
Give a concise explanation of what happened, its current status and relevant changes made afterward. Do not omit an unresolved matter because the company believes the allegation is unfounded.
Provide current declarations and relevant endorsements, especially retroactive dates, covered services, limits and retentions. Certificates alone do not show the full policy terms. Use StarNet’s quote comparison checklist to organize questions about differences between the current coverage and the proposed replacement.
Property Management Insurance Submission Checklist
Before sending the application, check that the requested records are ready:
Legal entity names, ownership details and operating states.
A dated portfolio schedule with matching property and unit totals.
Service descriptions and representative management agreements.
Revenue, payroll and client-fund figures, clearly separated.
Payment controls and relevant cyber, vehicle and office information.
Requested loss runs, claims explanations and current policy documents.
Assign one person to resolve discrepancies and identify missing answers. Keep a dated copy of the submission and report changes while the quote is pending. Before binding, confirm the effective date, final terms, payments and outstanding conditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all insurers request the same documents?
No. Start with the carrier’s current forms and ask which supporting records it needs for the coverages requested.
Can a new company get a quote without loss runs?
Explain that the company is new and provide the requested experience and prior-business information. The insurer decides what records are appropriate.
Should I include all rent collected as revenue?
Use the application’s definition. Identify client rent separately when it is pass-through money rather than the company’s earned income.
Does submitting the application start coverage?
No. Confirm that coverage has been bound, the effective date and any remaining conditions with the agency.
Contact StarNet Insurance Group
You do not have to wait until every field is complete to ask which records are needed. StarNet Insurance Group can help you organize the quote request and clarify questions before submission.
Contact StarNet Insurance Group to request a property management insurance quote and review the documents your business should prepare.
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