Property and casualty insurance that lets you focus on real estate.
What we deliver
Key points of focus and delivery.
Our products and services allow our clients to focus on real estate while we deliver the transactional flexibility and low-cost pricing to allow them to do so.
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Insurance
We partner with the global insurance marketplace to deliver access to the broadest coverage at the lowest cost.
The end product is an insurance contract that does for the business what it would do for itself, and with limited volatility.
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Self-insured mechanisms
We provide captive and structured solutions to allow our clients to retain risk and obtain low-claims or no-claims bonuses based on performance.
These products are alternatives to traditional insurance and are extremely useful in challenging market conditions.
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Service
We act as your outsourced risk management team, providing consultation and guidance throughout the process. Our dedicated team coordinates with lenders, consultants and other stakeholders on your behalf.
Our claims team advocates on your behalf to ensure claims are settled and paid in a timely manner and your properties are occupied as soon as possible.
Our approach
Holistically managing property and liability risk.
Identifying, quantifying and adequately covering property and liability exposures is paramount to an effective risk management and insurance program, one that ensures claims are covered in the event of a loss. At Stern Risk Partners, placing the insurance program is one part of the work: we also help clients manage, mitigate and transfer their risks.
First-party property
The outcome we deliver in placing your first-party property insurance is the broadest protection at the most efficient cost, structured to perform when a loss occurs and to strengthen your risk profile over time. We pursue that through:
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Lowest sustainable cost
Competitively priced coverage that reduces total cost of risk.
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Claims that pay
Policy wording built so that covered losses are recovered promptly and in full, with no ambiguity when it counts.
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Global, financially stable insurers
Capacity assembled across a diversified global panel to stabilize pricing and protect continuity through market cycles. Each insurer is selected for financial strength and long-term sustainability, and those partnerships are strengthened by cultivating direct relationships between insurers and insureds.
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Data and analytics
Catastrophe modeling and exposure analysis that inform how the program is structured, priced and presented to insurers.
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Alternative risk structures
Captives, retentions and other vehicles deployed where they lower long-term cost or add capacity beyond traditional risk transfer.
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Proactive risk management
Loss control and risk mitigation that minimizes exposure, claims, property level deductibles and resident displacement.
Third-party liability
The outcome we deliver in managing your third-party liability is a program that reduces exposure before it becomes a claim and responds in full when one is made. Liability is shaped by contracts, site conditions and day-to-day operations long before a policy is placed, so our process starts there and works toward coverage:
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Identify all exposure to third-party liability.
Comprehensive gathering and review of all details pertaining to a portfolio of properties and organizational operations.
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Guide where and how to reduce and mitigate exposure.
- Contract reviews
- Site safety and loss control
- Claims best practices
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Address liability exposures with appropriate coverage.
- Balancing risk retention against risk transfer
- Utilizing captive solutions
- Creative insurance structures
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Drive results.
- Strategic approach to insurance markets
- Telling a story that goes beyond what is on paper
Professional lines
Covering the gaps general liability leaves open.
Real estate ownership and property management carry exposures that fall outside general liability: governance decisions, employment disputes, fidelity losses, fair housing claims and professional service failures. Professional lines coverage closes those gaps.
These exposures rarely arrive one at a time. A discrimination claim can carry an employment practices angle, a governance dispute can trigger both D&O and E&O, and a funds-handling issue can implicate crime and fiduciary coverage at once. Bundling the coverages into a single policy avoids gaps between them, simplifies administration and improves pricing leverage across the program.
Directors & Officers
Protects the individuals and the entity against claims arising from management decisions and governance duties.
- Wrongful act allegations against principals, officers and board members
- Disputes with investors, lenders, joint venture partners and regulators
- Defense costs for investigations and derivative actions
Employment Practices Liability
Addresses the employment claims that come with running a property management operation, from leasing staff to maintenance crews to regional managers.
- Wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment and retaliation
- Wage-and-hour allegations from on-site and maintenance staff
- Third-party extensions for tenant and vendor claims against staff
- Defense costs that can exceed limits on smaller accounts
Crime & Fidelity
Protects against the theft and dishonesty exposures inherent to handling tenant funds, security deposits and operating accounts.
- Employee dishonesty where cash handling is decentralized to the site
- Funds transfer fraud and social engineering schemes
- Third-party fidelity for theft by an outsourced manager
Tenant Discrimination & Fair Housing
Fills a gap general liability specifically excludes, and one where claim frequency is rising as testing organizations and advocacy groups actively pursue complaints.
- Fair Housing Act and state source-of-income allegations
- Screening criteria, accessibility and reasonable accommodation
- HUD and state agency proceedings alongside litigation
Errors & Omissions
Covers professional service failures in the actual work of managing, leasing and advising on property.
- Negligent property management allegations
- Brokerage and advisory activities performed for ownership
- Failure to perform and negligent advice, distinct from property damage
- Standard-of-care exposure for managers acting as agent
Premises pollution
Mold and pollution call for dedicated coverage.
Mold and pollution claims are no longer infrequent. They appear regularly in filed claims and lawsuits, and they are becoming more expensive to resolve. General liability policies typically do not respond to them, because a fungi and pollution exclusion is standard across most of the market. A dedicated pollution policy fills that gap.
We help owners understand where their exposures sit, where the current program may leave them uncovered and how to address those gaps before a claim occurs. For apartment owners in particular, premises pollution liability is a core part of a well-built risk transfer program.
Why it belongs in a habitational program
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Low relative cost
Priced well below traditional property and liability coverage, it is one of the best value lines an owner can add to a program.
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Flexible terms
One to three-year policy terms are available, with the ability to lock in both coverage and pricing over that period.
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Complements property coverage
Remediation costs following a pollution event are typically sublimited or excluded on a property policy. Pollution coverage addresses those costs directly.
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Completes the picture
Rounds out a holistic approach to an owner's risk management, retention and transfer program.
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Let’s talk about your risk.
Tell us what you are trying to solve, and our team will help identify the right structure.