If you've bought a condo, your lender will require insurance to protect its investment. You may need more coverage to protect your belongings, your liability and any fees charged to you for shared areas of the building.
You need two policies
- Your own policy
- Covers your belongings, improvements to your unit and additional living expenses after a fire, theft or other covered disaster, plus liability protection.
- The association's master policy
- Covers the common areas you share with your neighbors, like the roof, elevators and walkways, for both liability and physical damage.
To insure your condo properly, you need to know which parts of your unit the association covers. You'll find it in your association's bylaws. We're glad to review them with you.
Sometimes the association insures each unit as it was originally built, including standard fixtures, and you're responsible only for changes like a remodeled kitchen or bath, including changes made by previous owners. In other cases, the association covers only the bare walls, floor and ceiling, and you insure cabinets, built-in appliances, plumbing, wiring and fixtures.
Coverage to ask us about
- Loss assessment
- Reimburses your share of an assessment charged to all owners after a covered loss, such as a fire in the lobby.
- Water backup
- Covers damage from backed-up sewers or drains. It isn't always included, so we'll check.
- Umbrella liability
- More liability protection and broader coverage than a standard condo policy.
- Flood or earthquake
- Separate policies. Flood insurance is available through FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program and private companies, and we can place both.
- Scheduled valuables
- Standard policies limit theft of jewelry, often to $1,000 to $2,000, so fine jewelry, furs and collectibles may need their own coverage.
