Insurance Matters

What you should know about Condominium Insurance...

Most unit-owners believe when they purchase their condominium that the monthly association dues they pay toward a master insurance policy protects everything they own. In reality the master policy may or may not cover the individual condominium unit, may only cover general liability for public areas, and is unlikely to provide any coverage for the unit owner's personal belongings, or even the improvements of the unit. Consider the following steps in getting insurance on your Condo!

1. Ask your realtor or property manager for a copy of the condominium association's bylaws. These are the guidelines everyone must go by that lives there and will include what portion of the buildings, grounds, and exposures which are covered by the master insurance policy.
2.  Your objective is to find out how much of your individual unit is covered by the master policy and what you are responsible for insuring.
3. Contact your agent and discuss what you are responsible for insuring. Decide on an amount of coverage to cover the unit itself, improvements, and how much personal belongings coverage you need.
4. Request replacement cost coverage so you aren't limited to settling for actual cash value. As prices on most goods rise over time you could end up not receiving enough to buy new items to replace the ones lost in the claim. 

Consider your personal liability. You might be more susceptible to lawsuits since your neighbors and their visitors will be in closer proximity than in a single family home on its own lot. Ask your agent to quote higher limits of personal liability for your policy and purchase the highest you can afford.

·         Liability covereage is relatively inexpensive. Think about your washer overflowing and damaging the unity below you, or a fire that starts in your unity and damages the surrounding units. Not only are you responsible for the fire damage, but the water damaged caused by putting the fire, medical expenses that may arise from injury like smoke inhalation, the cost of emergency housing and more.