If

you live or work in a community association, you may be familiar with CISA Insurance. How many people actually know the history of CISA Insurance? Before the marketing team rebranded “CISA Insurance” a few years back, CISA was known as the Condominium Insurance Specialists of America, Incorporated. Where did CISA come from?

CISA was founded in 1973 by Robert W. McLallen, an innovator who paved the way for community association insurance. Bob, as his friends and family affectionately knew him, owned an insurance agency at a time when the Chicago area was beginning to see community associations flourish for the first time. Condominiums and HOA’s (homeowners associations) were relatively new to the area and Bob’s friend, who purchased a condominium unit, came to Bob for insurance coverage. Bob the accomplished salesman, knew he’d better do his research on this new niche market before selling his friend a policy. After reviewing the association’s declarations to determine the unit owner’s insurance responsibilities, Bob knew the standard tenant policy would not provide enough coverage for a condominium unit, and a homeowner’s policy offered too much coverage for a condominium unit.

Bob continued his research and realized that not only did a unit owner have few choices to properly insure a unit, but an association would likely find itself purchasing a BOP (business owner’s policy). A BOP policy certainly guaranteed there would be significant gaps in coverage in this community living marketplace. While the policies back then provided extreme gaps in coverage, they also created an opportunity for Bob, who was always an innovator and often a step ahead of the field. Bob continued to explore and read associations’

governing documents, fine tuning his thoughts on what the proper insurance coverage needed to be to meet the needs of community associations and their unit owners.

In 1974, CISA was incorporated because Bob had created and trademarked the first community association insurance policy in the United States with Chubb Insurance. Bob went on tour, attending board meeting after board meeting, educating everyone he would meet about this new product now available to protect the assets of both associations and unit owners!

Bob was the first to pilot an insurance program uniquely tailored to the growing market of community association living. Bob took everything to the next level, with groundbreaking aspects. He put his clients’ needs first. He made sure the policy coverage was not just ordinary coverage – it was extraordinary coverage.

The features of the CISA program created all those years ago by Bob McLallen are still in existence today. Some of those features remain unavailable through other markets. Many insurance companies have tried to emulate or replicate CISA’s business model. Bob earned not only the respect of his business partners, but that of his clients and employees.

Thanks to Bob McLallen’s innovation, foresight and good business judgement, he was able to establish a one- of- a-kind policy, and build an agency that sustains integrity, value and service. For the past two decades Bob’s son, Mark McLallen, has carried on the CISA tradition of providing a superior insurance policy with coverages that are unique to the market. Bob McLallen’s legacy of educating clients continues, with Mark requiring staff to be well educated and well informed on community associations, insurance and legislation in the state of Illinois.

The rest, as they say, is HISTORY.

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