Condo Insurance

Condo owners do not require conventional homeowner’s or renter’s insurance. A custom made home insurance policy for condo owners caters to their distinct needs. Companies providing condo insurance in addition to protecting your condo cover area surrounding the condominium complex/building and all common areas such as swimming pool, clubhouse and tennis courts. Condo insurance despite covering common areas does not provide coverage for breakage and damage to your property within your home’s boundaries such as damage to ceiling/walls etc, furniture, electrical appliances etc. You may choose to include or exclude a liability insurance component in your condo insurance policy. Go through your condo insurance policy very carefully, as there might be old structures such as balconies and hallways that you think are covered but in fact they are not.

It is a good idea to shop around before buying a condo insurance policy. This will help you decide what you can afford and what is suitable for your needs. The advent of Internet has made price comparisons of insurance policies easier than ever. A number of insurance companies are providing condo insurance quotes both online and offline. After getting several quotations compare premium of different policies. Premiums on condo insurance policies from different companies may vary considerably. Take inventory of your valuables in the same manner as you would for conventional homeowners insurance and then decide which one is right for you keeping in view al considerations. Revise your condo insurance policy every year after carefully analyzing inflationary effects on your belongings and changes/up gradations you have made to your condo. Condo insurance covers town houses and separate structures for all type of damages except for wear and tear and natural disasters such as floods, quakes and nuclear hazard. Condo owners can get additional coverage for improvements and up gradations subject to some limits. However this varies from company to company. Condo insurance may also provide cover for your valuables up to a certain limit. This cover can be used to pay for damages above the insurance limit or injuries resulted due to natural disasters and other uninsured expenses.

In case of a condo mortgage, the bank or mortgage lender will require condo insurance to protect its investment. You would have to pay higher premiums to cater your valuables, assets and liability insurance. Additional fees may be charged to cover shared areas of the condominium complex or building such as lobby, swimming pool and tennis courts etc. Thus in case of a mortgage you will require two separate policies to protect your investment. Your personal condo insurance policy provides coverage for your personal property, improvements and up gradations done and additional living expenses if your condo is damaged because of fire, theft or other disasters mentioned in your policy. You can also get liability protection up to a certain limit within your condo insurance policy. To insure your home fully and cost effectively you need to know which areas of the condominium complex are by the condo association and which are not. Usually the condo association is accountable for insuring individual units as they were originally constructed using the standard fixtures. Original owner(s) in this case could only make alterations and up gradations to unusual structure of the condo such as remodeling the kitchen or bathroom.

Sometimes these include not only alterations and up gradations made by you but also by previous owners. In other circumstances, the condo association is accountable for insuring bare walls, floor and ceiling. The owner must insure kitchen cabinets, built in appliances, plumbing, wiring and bathroom fixtures himself.