Program Spotlight

Propel Insurance

This past summer, Zurich was excited to announce a new addition to our insurance programs offerings: MHC Pro, a robust program for manufactured housing community owners. MHC Pro includes communities with mobile homes as well as RVs. The Program Administrator is Propel Insurance, which has managed this property and casualty program for 15 years. This makes Propel a perfect fit with Zurich’s commitment to work with PAs who are leaders in specialty insurance segments, fully equipped to provide top-level underwriting, policy servicing and administration.

Based in Tacoma, Washington, Propel was founded in 1923 and has over 400 employees. The MHC Pro program they manage covers property and casualty insurance for community owner/managers, as well as liability coverage stemming from their operations. Property coverage is also available for the buildings owned by community owners. Currently, the program insures more than 3,000 manufactured housing communities.

MHC Pro is tailored specifically to the needs of community owners and managers. Available coverages include Property, General Liability, Auto Liability and Physical Damage, Crime, and Limited Inland Marine coverages. Property and General Liability coverages are enhanced with Zurich’s endorsements, as well as several industry-specific endorsements focused on the customers of this segment.

In terms of property, manufactured housing communities often have a clubhouse, laundry facilities and maintenance buildings on the premises. Amenities in these communities vary greatly and can include everything from swimming pools and playgrounds to retail stores and restaurants.

While the business model for manufactured housing communities has not changed much during its history, the nature of business ownership has, moving from “mom and pop” trailer parks of the past to growing ownership of larger and national portfolio communities by real estate investment trusts (REITS) and Wall Street investors.

According to a report from Allied Market Research, the global market for the manufactured housing industry was valued at $27.18 billion in 2019 and is expected to rise to $38.84 billion by 2027. Manufactured home communities accounted for more than two-thirds of that global market share in 2019, and the report indicated the segment will continue to dominate the market for the next several years.1 In the U.S. alone, there are as many as 37,500 manufactured housing communities.