• As unit owners in the Hickory Woods condominium association, every resident is an owner of the common and limited common areas including the clubhouse facilities.
• There is an insurance coverage presumption that you would not sue yourself, which is clearly true if you are the only owner and the only person on the policy.
• If you injure yourself in your home, will your homeowner’s insurance pay for your medical costs?
  • Answer: Typically, NO. The insurance coverage will not pay. The coverage expects owners to have medical insurance. So similarly, if owners injure themselves while doing something in the condo common area, would you expect the liability insurance to pay your medical bills? Answer: NO, the coverage expects owners to have medical insurance.
  • The liability insurance is for people other than the owners, who might not have medical insurance, and who could possibly sue the HOA to pay for their medical costs.
  • To minimize HW liability, only contractors with their own proper insurance coverage are hired. The Property manager checks this before hiring them.
  • Guests and any other non-owners (random person passing through) might be a potential risk.

HW Condominium liability insurance policy:

• Our policy explicitly excludes two things:
  1) Bodily Injury coverage for Unit Owners, and
  2) Any Bodily Injury that is due to an athletic activity, whether it is for an owner or any other person
• It does not exclude coverage for bodily injury to Non-owners, who are doing anything other than an athletic activity.
  *  A neighborhood child or anyone else who is a non-owner is covered, if they are doing something other than an athletic activity. So, we do not have to worry about kids, or anyone else, passing through, but we must not let them use the athletic equipment.
• If we want our guests to use the athletic equipment, they must understand that we have no coverage for that. We are accomplishing that by having them sign the waiver.
• Guests do not have to sign a waiver for any other reasons, just for athletic activities, such as using the exercise rooms and the outdoor athletic facilities.

The HW Release of Liability document:

• The document was reviewed by lawyers through Harvard Management services.
• This release was written to avoid liability issues, where HW HOA does not have insurance coverage.
• The current insurance coverage is appropriate and typical for condominium associations. Understanding typical condominium coverage was investigated as part of the board’s determination what insurance coverage to acquire.
• Athletic equipment, specifically the exercise equipment, is maintained through a service contract arranged by the HOA. This includes twice a year regular maintenance. If one feels any exercise equipment is not working right, then one should not use it. Please report any concerns to the Board and Evergreen/Harvard Management.
• Unit owner use of non-athletic clubhouse facilities, such as watching TV and other passive activities, are not covered because owners should be covered under their own individual medical coverage. Again, HOA liability insurance is for people other than the owners, who might not have medical insurance, and who could possibly sue the HOA to pay for their medical costs.
• If athletic activities are conducted in other common or limited common areas other than at the clubhouse, the same insurance exclusion of coverage applies.
• The current insurance policy for bodily injury during any non-athletic related occurrence, on any common or limited common area, will cover any person who is not an owner. If the injury occurs in areas that are not common or limited common areas, such as individual units, the HOA insurance coverage does not apply.
• For slips and falls that happen that are not part of athletic activities, if the person is not a unit owner, the HW HOA policy covers the injury. For owners who slip and fall in their own house, the homeowner’s insurance would not pay for medical costs. The homeowner’s coverage presumes that owners have medical insurance. Similarly, if owners slip and fall in common or limited common areas, owners need their own insurance. We are trying to avoid unit owners thinking the HOA or our insurance will cover bodily injuries.

Related HW HOA issues:

• The newly formed Clubhouse Committee will be helping to maintain the clubhouse furnishings, including any repair to clubhouse furniture.
• There is also a service contract that covers maintenance of the elevator. Again, if anyone has a concern that the elevator is not working properly, please report the issue to the board and Evergreen/Harvard Management.
• For the management of property in common or limited common areas, we should all be trying to make our property safe. We are all owners of the common areas. If you see an issue, report it to the property manager.