Condominium Corporation Insurance
Condo insurance is one of the most unique types of property insurance available—you can think of it as a hybrid between home insurance and renter’s insurance. In order to understand the unique benefits of condo insurance, you must first understand condominium corporation insurance.
And to understand condo corporation insurance, we need to understand condo corporations—so let’s dive right in!
What Is a Condo Corporation?
A condo corporation is a legal entity that runs the condo building. As the owner of a condo, you are a member of the condo corporation—you’re a stakeholder in the corporation and can influence the decisions it makes. Condo corporations are represented by an elected Board of Directors.
What Is Condo Corporation Insurance?
Condo corporation insurance is a type of insurance purchased by the condo corporation in order to cover the main structure of the condo. This allows the burden of insurance premiums to be split among condo owners. A condo corporation’s insurance typically covers:
- The building: This includes physical damage to the building, common areas, elevators, parking garages, pools, stairwells, rooftop patios, and more.
- Unit fixtures: This covers each unit in the condo, including electrical, plumbing, flooring, and cabinetry. It doesn’t cover personal belongings or physical improvements made by unit owners.
- Liability: This can cover condominium corporations for costs and penalties if they’re found legally responsible for property damage or injury. Liability coverage for the Board of Directors itself is typically also included.
The costs of this insurance are typically paid off through condo fees, which condo owners pay to the condo corporation each month.
Why Should I Purchase Condo Insurance?
You’re already paying premiums in the form of condo fees, and your condo corporation’s insurance policy covers physical damage to your unit. Purchasing condo coverage for your own unit might seem excessive.
It’s not. Personal condo coverage provides you with protections that condo corporation insurance doesn’t. It’s also typically much less expensive than homeowner’s insurance, as the building is already covered by the condo corporation’s insurance.
Here are some of the reasons to purchase your own personal condo insurance:
- It covers personal property: It’s not unusual to have tens of thousands of dollars worth of personal property in your condo unit—appliances, computers, clothes, money, furniture, and more all add up. This property isn’t covered by your corporation’s insurance.
- It covers improvements to your unit: Have you decided to upgrade your floors? Repaint your walls? Install new cabinets? These upgrades aren’t covered by your corporation’s policy.
- It gives you liability insurance: Accidents happen—and if you damage someone’s property or hurt someone in an accident, liability coverage can give you financial protection. These policies often offer liability coverage of a million dollars or more—it’s important to keep yourself protected.
- You get loss assessment coverage: Often, when a condominium building suffers serious damage, the corporation will still need to pay some costs (like the deductible) out of pocket. These costs are borne by the condo unit owners—the costs they must pay are known as loss assessment. With loss assessment coverage, your policy may cover you for some or all of the loss assessment fee.
Conclusion
To understand your coverage, it’s important to review both your condo corporation insurance policy and your personal condo coverage. Don’t have personal condo insurance? You should talk to an insurance broker today—Nation North Insurance can help. Give us a call!