How does an HOA board change insurance agents with a broker of record letter?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 8, 2026

How an HOA board changes insurance agents mid-policy with a broker of record letter: the vote, sample letter, carrier wait period, commissions and handoff.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

To change agents without shopping the coverage, the board votes, an officer signs a broker of record letter naming the new agent, and that agent files it with each carrier. Some carriers call it an agent of record letter or use their own form or an ACORD 36. The letter buys no new insurance. It tells the carrier who services the policy. Expect a wait of about 5 to 10 business days at many carriers, and expect the outgoing agent to call you during it. If the new agent does not represent your carrier, the letter will not work and the change has to happen at renewal. Rules vary by state, carrier and governing documents. This is general education, not legal or insurance advice.

Make sure a letter is the right tool

A letter fits one situation: you are keeping the policies and firing the agent. Unreturned calls, late certificates for lenders and a renewal that shows up two weeks before expiration are good reasons. A premium increase alone is a weak one, because the carrier sets the price and a new agent inherits the same policy. Do not sign one to get a quote. Chubb's published guidelines say a broker of record letter should not be used to obtain a renewal quotation, and that an agent who wants one should get a letter simply authorizing it to approach the insurer. Idaho's insurance department warned in 2009 that some producers had represented these letters as necessary just to get a rate quote. Chubb's form prints the warning plainly: "By signing this letter you are changing your insurance broker." The letter also fails in two common cases. Chubb says it cannot be filed if the new broker does not represent the insurer on the policy, and that broker letters do not apply on special program contracts. Ask whether any of your policies sit in a program. If either case applies, the new agent writes replacement coverage effective on the renewal date and the old policy expires. A carrier may also give a proposal to only one agent per account, a practice the trade press calls market blocking. If a candidate says your carrier is blocked, ask the carrier what it needs from the association to release it.

Questions for the new agent before the vote

Our guide on choosing an agent and reading a renewal quote covers experience and references. A mid-term switch adds five questions, and the answers belong in writing: - Are you appointed with every carrier on this list of policies? - Will you service these policies from the effective date, including open claims, even if you earn nothing until renewal? - Will you charge the association a fee? If so, how much, and does our state allow it? - Who issues certificates to lenders, and how fast? - Will the carrier move the policy as it stands or rewrite it? The commission question is real. Independent Insurance Agents of Texas says an agent who takes over mid-term typically services the policy without commission until renewal. Chubb's guidelines give the former broker the full annual commission, though they note not all insurers agree. Encova cancels and rewrites a commercial policy on the change date, prorates commission between the agencies and honors one change per policy term. A new agent working unpaid for eight months may not rush your certificate. Confirm the license too, through the Texas Department of Insurance lookup, Florida's licensee search or your own state's insurance department.

List every policy before you draft anything

A small association may hold five policies with several carriers: package, directors and officers, crime, umbrella and flood. Chubb's guidelines call for the specific insurer and policy numbers, so plan on one letter per carrier. Build a one-page sheet with carrier, policy number, coverage, expiration date and who bills the premium, the carrier or the agency. NFIP flood policies follow their own rule. The October 2025 Flood Insurance Manual requires the policyholder's signature on the General Change Endorsement Form or a similar document to change the agent of record, and treats the change as an endorsement with no premium. Tell the new agent to handle that one separately.

The vote and the motion

Take the vote at a noticed open meeting and put the reason in the packet. Florida section 720.303(2)(a) makes a gathering of a board quorum on association business a meeting open to members and bars voting by email. Colorado section 38-33.3-308(2)(a) opens board meetings to members. Texas Property Code section 209.0051(h) allows some votes outside a meeting, with a summary in the next meeting's minutes, and an agent change is not on its list of matters reserved for open meetings. Hold it in the open anyway, since owners pay for this insurance. Any director with a personal tie to either agent should disclose it and stay out of the vote. A motion the secretary can record: "Motion to appoint [agency] as the association's agent of record for the policies listed on the attached schedule, effective [date], and to authorize the president to sign a letter to each carrier. Only the president may sign any later letter changing or rescinding this appointment, and only on a further vote of the board."

A letter to copy

Put it on association letterhead, one per carrier: "[Date]. To: [carrier name and address]. Re: Policy [number], [coverage], [policy period]. Effective [date], [association's legal name] appoints [agency name and address] as its agent/broker of record for the policy above, replacing any prior appointment. [Agency] may obtain policy copies, schedules and claims history for this policy. This letter does not change the coverage. It stays in effect until an officer of the association cancels it in writing. [Name], [title], [signature], [date]. Accepted: [new agent's name, signature, date]." Fill in every blank before anyone signs. Idaho's warning also covered key details added to a letter after the insured signed it. Keep a copy, and never backdate one, which Chubb's guidelines forbid. Maryland's required items make a good checklist in any state: policyholder and insurer names and addresses, policy number, new producer's name and address, date, the policyholder's signature and the new producer's signature of acceptance. Your carrier may require its own form, so have the new agent ask first.

The wait, and the call from the old agent

Few statutes force the carrier's hand. Maryland's section 27-911 makes an authorized insurer honor a change request within 30 working days. Independent Insurance Agents of Texas says no regulations cover these letters, and our search of Florida's insurance chapters 626 and 627 and Colorado's title 10 found no similar process. So the carrier's own procedure usually governs. Encova gives 10 business days to rescind and notifies both agencies. The Texas association suggests a 5 to 10 business day wait. Chubb warns that not all companies automatically accept a letter and that many wait for the previous broker to confirm. The outgoing agent will likely hear from the carrier and call the director it knows best, perhaps with a rescinding letter ready to sign. Hear them out, because they may finally fix the problem. Then take it back to the board. A rescission signed by one friendly director leaves two agents who both think they hold the account. Send the outgoing agent a short note the day you file: "The board has appointed a new agent of record effective [date]. Please send the association copies of the current policies, applications, the certificate holder list and a list of open claims."

The handoff once the carrier confirms

Get the carrier's confirmation in writing, then work this list: - Check that the mailing address on every policy is the association's own. Texas Insurance Code section 551.054 sends a nonrenewal notice to the first-named insured at the address on the policy, and Colorado section 38-33.3-313(8) has it mailed to the association. A notice sent to the wrong desk costs you weeks. - Ask where premiums go now. Keep paying installments as billed until someone confirms a change in writing. - Order loss runs from the carrier. Florida section 627.444 requires a five-year loss run within 15 calendar days of a written request, with one free each year. - Give the new agent every open claim with the adjuster's name and number. - Have the new agent reissue certificates to lenders and the manager, if you have one. - Save the old agent's contact. Chubb puts premium adjustments before the effective date on the old broker and later ones on the new broker, so an audit may need both.

A sample timeline and common mistakes

For a package policy expiring July 1: December, build the policy sheet and interview two agents. January meeting, vote. By February 1, letters filed. Mid-February, the wait ends and confirmations arrive. March 1, the new agent sends the renewal submission with fresh loss runs, the date our renewal guide recommends anyway. If you find yourself inside 60 days of expiration, finish the renewal with the current agent unless the service has actually endangered coverage. Our guide on responding to a nonrenewal notice covers that emergency. The mistakes repeat. A director signs a letter for a quote and fires the agent by accident. The letter goes to the package carrier and nobody remembers the crime policy. Or the board tells no one, and a closing stalls because a lender's certificate request went to the old agency.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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