Sometimes you think you’ve covered, then you find there’s a big hole in your asset protection.  Not only is it embarrassing, it can be very expensive.

Sadly, most people’s assets are exposed.  But not in the way you think.  And you may be one of them if you think simply setting up an LLC has you covered.  If only it were that easy!

We’ve spent quite a bit of time over the years talking about using entities and off-shore strategies to protect your valuables. But there’s also been a glaring hole in our coverage of the topic of asset protection: insurance.

Wait!  Come back!  This is actually a VERY interesting and IMPORTANT topic.  It’s something long overdue to be discussed. And unless you’re among the very small group of sophisticated investors familiar with it, you’re very likely to learn some thing you didn’t know…important things that can save you a LOT of money.

So, to insure your assets aren’t shining naked for financial predators to abuse, we go on the road to talk with one of the top lawyers on the subject.

Under the cover of The Real Estate Guys™ Cone of Silence in San Jose, California:

• Your mostly covered host, Robert Helms
• His over-exposed co-host, Russell Gray
• Special guest, insurance attorney Randy Hess

When it comes to insurance, most real estate investors think of property insurance and umbrella liability.  Both are important, but they’re really just the tip of the iceberg.

But because insurance is one of those products you pay for, but hope you never use, no one is standing in line excited to shop for it.

So right out of the gate, you may be wondering why we’re interviewing an attorney to learn about insurance.  After all, wouldn’t it make more sense to talk with an insurance broker?

But consider that insurance is really a contract between the insurer and the insured.  The contract contains promises.  You promise to pay the premium and the insurer promises to pay all legitimate claims.  Sounds simple, right?

Think about this:  When you enter into any other contract, isn’t it smart to have an attorney review the document to make SURE you know what you’re getting into?  And in the case of insurance, most of what your insurance agent says doesn’t matter.  It’s the policy (the contract) that dictates the parties’ (that’s you and the insurer) responsibilities.

And who writes this contract?  You got it…the insurance companies’ lawyers.  And even though it’s regulated by state insurance commissioners and all kinds of consumer protection laws, who do you think the policies are most likely to favor?  Right again…the insurance companies.

And one final point to illustrate that when you’re dealing with insurance, you’re out-gunned…like most consumer protection laws, they’re primarily designed to protect non-business people.  When you enter the realm of business (like real estate investing) the law considers you to be sophisticated enough to look out for yourself, so it does less to protect you.

So we think it’s REALLY important to have a good insurance attorney on your team of advisors.

But this is LOT more than simply making sure you understand your policy.  This is about MAKING SURE you get paid when you make a claim.

It starts with getting the right kind of insurances.  Once again, it sounds simple, but nothing having to do with insurance is simple.  In fact, to talk insurance, you have to go the cupboard and open up a can of alphabet soup.  Though far from comprehensive, here’s a list of  some of the kinds of polices EVERY real estate investor should be aware of:

CGL – Commercial General Liability insurance.  This is like your personal umbrella liability policy, except it covers your BUSINESS activities.  Running a rental property business, even as the property owner, is a COMMERCIAL enterprise.  Your PERSONAL insurance most often does NOT cover it.  So if you think your LLC and your umbrella policy have you covered, think again.

D&O – Directors and Officers insurance.  If you have an entity (like an LLC or corporation) that is holding and managing your properties (even if you’re operating through a professional property manager), there are living, breathing humans (probably you) making all the decisions, signing the documents, etc.  D&O insurance protects the INDIVIDUALS for the things they do while acting in their official capacities as Directors and/or Officers of the entity.  Once again, your PERSONAL coverages probably don’t cover your business activities.  But when your entity gets sued, you’ll almost certainly be named in your individual life (it’s how the predator goes after your personal assets) so you need this kind of coverage to protect you.

E&O – Errors and Omissions insurance.  This is a MUST HAVE if you’re syndicating.  It covers mistakes you make when providing professional services (like money management).

All of the above are in ADDITION to your personal insurance and the insurance you have on the property (fire, theft, damage, loss of rents, etc).

Wow.  That can be intimidating.  But it gets worse…

Each one of these policies can be laced with exclusions.  These are legal clauses which give the insurer the right to DENY your claim.

Now, insurance companies are NOT supposed to deny claims in order to increase their operating profits. Just like people shouldn’t judge you by how you dress.  Good luck with that.

But the law says if you have a legitimate claim, the insurance company has an obligation under the law to make a “good faith” effort to pay the claim.  Some companies are good about this.  Others…not so much.

When an insurance company refuses to pay a legitimate claim, just like when any other counter-party in a contract fails to perform their obligations, you need to sue them (or at least threaten to), which means you need a lawyer.  Someone like Randy Hess.

But even good insurance companies can write policies which exclude things you think you’re covered for.  And if you don’t read the contract, don’t understand what you read, or rely upon your agent’s representations and not the policy itself, you can end up with big holes in your coverage.  These holes can allow the insurance company to deny a claim…legitimately.

So we think it’s REALLY smart to have your coverage counsel (insurance attorney) review your policy BEFORE you buy it, to make sure it really protects you.

Now, if you’re thinking, “Oh, I don’t need all that.  I’ll just hide behind my entity and no predator can get through.”

That’s naive and here’s why…

When the predator sues you, you still have to defend.  That means you need to hire a lawyer to respond to the complaint and handle the litigation.  And even if you end up in mediation or arbitration, there are still SUBSTANTIAL costs.  In other words, you can win, but still lose.

But one of the aforementioned insurance policies will pay all your defense costs.  Do you know which one?  Do you know how much they’ll pay?  Do you know whether the defense costs come out of the total policy limits or are they in addition to whatever gets paid out to the plaintiffs?  Because if you have a $1 million policy and get sued for $1 million, but then spend $500,000 on defense (yes, it can cost that much), then there’s only $500,000 available to pay the plaintiffs if you lose.  Guess where that extra $500,000 comes from?  That’s right.  From you.

And if you can’t afford to defend, then you automatically lose, even if you’re not wrong.

Yes, it’s a jacked up system, but that’s the way it works.  So if you’re investing in U.S. property, even if you’re a foreigner, you’ll be dealing with the U.S. system.  It’s the same system that accounts for the vast majority of the world’s lawsuits and feeds the overwhelming majority of the world’s lawyers.

When you look at this way, insurance and your insurance attorney are a bargain.  You just can’t afford to be ignorant about how to buy polices that will really do their job when called upon.

That’s why we interviewed Randy Hess and why we strongly recommend you listen to this episode with a notebook.  It could be one of the most valuable broadcasts you ever listen to.

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