The holidays are filled with everything that’s “merry and bright” as the saying goes, but there’s always trouble around the corner in the form of holiday package theft. Whether you have a locked room near your complex’s office to hold the packages or allow mail carriers to leave them in the lobbies of buildings, you run the risk of being liable for stolen and damaged packages, some of which hold expensive contents.
This is not a “merry” situation. So, what should you do to avoid these situations? Here are some tips to keep the holidays less stressful.
Keep Packages Secure
Putting packages in a locked room and checking IDs to ensure that they go to the right people is one way to prevent package theft. It’s a bit labor intensive, since you’ll need to have an employee storing the packages, keeping an eye on them, and making sure that the person picking them up matches what’s on the label, but this method works well.
Instruct Your Tenants to Watch Their Surroundings
Theft happens when no one is paying attention. By warning your residents that their packages might end up getting stolen and providing them with ways to avoid this, you’re mitigating some of the risk that your apartment complex or HOA faces. Tell them to watch for strangers, talk to their neighbors, and accept packages for them if they’ll be at work or out of town when they arrive. By encouraging this, your tenants will have fewer stolen packages.
Is Your Company Liable for Lost Packages?
Although you may believe that your HOA or apartment complex business isn’t liable for lost packages, there are some situations where it might be. For example, if you allow tenants to have packages placed at their doors, you aren’t liable for anything if they go missing. However, if these packages are delivered to common areas, like building lobbies or a special room that attaches to your offices, you may be, because your company is in charge of those locations. If an expensive package, like one holding a gaming system, television, jewelry, or computer, goes missing and you’re found liable, you could have to face a lawsuit.
Have Liability Insurance in Place
What happens when your HOA or property management company is found liable for a missing package? You could end up having to pay legal fees and settlement costs out of pocket in order to make your tenant happy. With that said, there’s an insurance option: liability insurance. A general liability insurance policy may cover all of those costs, preventing your company from having to cover them. There are also umbrella liability policies that can come in handy as well, depending on the amount of packages lost and what their contents are worth.
Have Questions? Contact Charlotte Insurance
Want to learn more about general liability insurance or umbrella liability insurance for apartment complexes and homeowner associations? Contact Charlotte Insurance. Our agents can explore and explain all available options and put together the insurance coverage plan your building needs.