Posts tagged "Condo Association"

Do I have to purchase Homeowners Insurance if I just purchased a condo in NJ? What are the pros and cons?

What does the Condo Association’s policy cover vs my own Homeowners policy?

Well, that’s a GREAT question. Read the bylaws, it varies wildly.

Some association policies only cover to the studs – you’re responsible for drywall/plaster, paint/wallpaper, carpeting, appliances, obviously your furniture & contents, etc. They don’t cover any LIABILITY inside your unit, either.

Also, they tend to have large deductibles – like $10,000 to $50,000 or even higher.

So, if you don’t have any coverage, and you have a $15,000 kitchen fire, there might not be ANY coverage under the master policy for you. Or they might pay $5,000 of it. I haven’t read your bylaws, or the master policy, so I have NO idea. You’ll have to do that.

Should my condo insurance cover more than just my stuff like appliances, cabinetry, countertops, flooring?

Your condo association purchases insurance on the building and premises. Broadly speaking there are two approaches condo bylaws take to insure the property.

One approach is the condo association agrees to cover only the exterior and common areas. You are responsible to insure the interior this can include walls, wall coverings, flooring, furnace, appliances, lighting, plumbing fixtures, kitchen and bath cabinets (basically everything inside your condo). In this scenario you are responsible not only for your personal property but also the entire interior of your condo. As an insurance agent I did not like this approach because it is very difficult to determine how much insurance you should have to be able to repair or replace everything in within the walls of your condo.

The other approach, which I always preferred, was more comprehensive where the association agrees to cover the entire unit as it was originally built. In this scenario you only insure your upgrades (i.e. bookcases, upgrades, finished basements. etc.) and your personal property.

You need to carefully review your condo bylaws or have a good insurance agent go over the bylaws with you. If you don’t insure the property that you are responsible for you could find yourself woefully under insured and perhaps unable to rebuild your condo.

In addition to insuring the part of the building you are responsible for you need to determine the replacement cost of your personal property within the condo.

Sorry for the long answer but it is a surprisingly complex question.

What is condo improvement insurance?

I just moved to a condo (as an owner). I have condo improvement insurance for up to $50,000. On the phone the guy was like oh yea, you can get new carpet, new windows etc. This seems too good to be true. What is this?
I was told that this covered special assessments and anything else including windows that were assessed. I am going to call the insurance company. If all this is to improve the place in case of a major fire or flood when in fact the condo company also covers it then I dont know if I need this. I dont have a huge issue with what they put in here if it burns down in a way. I giess if the insurance only costs a couple of bucks a month then maybe.

The insurance that covers your condominium building or strata also covers your unit in it’s original form. Any renovations and/or changes you make to your unit are your responsibility. So if your unit originally had carpet in the living room, hallway and all the bedrooms, and you decided to replace it all with custom hardwood, should there be a fire and the entire building burned down, the condo/strata associations policy would only be responsible to rebuild your unit with similar carpet that matched the original. The unit Improvement and Betterments (or similarlly named) portion of your unit owner’s policy would pay to have the hardwood floors, and all other changes you did to the unit, reinstalled. Windows form part of the building so unless you replaced the windows in your unit out of your own pocket, any damages to the windows would be covered under the condo association/strata policy.

My hot waterheater burst & water caused damage to the condo below. Should my liability insurance cover it?

I have additional insurance beyond what the condo association covers. I have liability insurance and have filed a claim but they are saying it will most likely be denied because I was not negligent becuase as far as I knew the water heater was in good shape. My insurance company says that the owner below me needs to file their own claim with their insurance but she is refusing to do so saying that the damage was not caused by her. Is this how it is supposed to work?

Odds are that the actual liable party here is going to be either the manufacturer of the water heater (depending on how old it is) or the condo association who may be responsible for maintaining it.

The lady below needs to report this to her insurance because I doubt any other party is going to step up and offer to pay without a long investigation. While she waits the water damage is only going to get worse.

Her company has a contract (policy) with her and under the terms of that contract they will pay her regardless of who caused the damage. Then her company will go after who ever they think is liable to seek reimbursement for the money paid and her deductible.

You are not liable just because the water heater was in your condo.

Know anything about condo insurance?

My wife and I have been condo owners for two years and have had homeowners insurance the whole time. Our expiration period is coming up soon and need to renew, but we’re not sure what coverage we have to have versus what our condo board already provides. Can anyone help?

Yes I could ask the board, but then how would you earn Answers! points?

Your condo association purchases insurance on the building and premises. Broadly speaking there are two approaches condo bylaws take to insure the property.

One approach is the condo association agrees to cover only the exterior and common areas. You are responsible to insure the interior this can include walls, wall coverings, flooring, furnace, appliances, lighting, plumbing fixtures, kitchen and bath cabinets (basically everything inside your condo). In this scenario you are responsible not only for your personal property but also the entire interior of your condo. As an insurance agent I did not like this approach because it is very difficult to determine how much insurance you should have to be able to repair or replace everything in within the walls of your condo.

The other approach, which I always preferred, was more comprehensive where the association agrees to cover the entire unit as it was originally built. In this scenario you only insure your upgrades (i.e. bookcases, upgrades, finished basements. etc.) and your personal property.

You need to carefully review your condo bylaws or have a good insurance agent go over the bylaws with you. If you don’t insure the property that you are responsible for you could find yourself woefully under insured and perhaps unable to rebuild your condo.

In addition to insuring the part of the building you are responsible for you need to determine the replacement cost of your personal property within the condo.

Sorry for the long answer but it is a surprisingly complex question.

Can you obtain the insurance policy on a condo association without going through the condo owner? (See detail)

I currently am selling my condo unit to another buyer. The owener of the building, who is a real jerk, refuses to provide to my lawyers a copy of the condo associations insurance policy to show the new buyers lawer. He has actualyl gone as far as to request $1,000 to release this document. I have also heard I am not the only one in this building who has been extorted in some way. Is this a normal charge in condo sales? Are there any other means to obtain the insurance information without going through the bulding owner?
I currently am selling my condo unit to another buyer. The owner of the building, who is a real jerk, refuses to provide to my lawyers a copy of the condo associations insurance policy (which you are required to show to the new buyer). He has actually gone as far as to request $1,000 to release this document and he has boasted that I am not the only one in this building who has been extorted during the selling process. Is this a normal charge that occurrs during condo sales? Are there any other means to obtain the insurance information without going through the bulding owner?

Is there a homeowners association? Are you paying for part of the premium on the insurance (probably part of your maintenance fee)? Do you know which agent the policy is with? If so I would call them up and say that you need proof of insurance on the building that you are in and ask them to fax you a certificate. While it’s not the same as a copy of the actual policy the certificate will show that the building’s covered and what the liability limits are if someone gets hurt in a common area and sues the association.

If you don’t know the agent you might have someone from your bank call the building owner and say that they need to get information to update their records and then ask who the agent is.

Hope this helps!

Should the condo association Master insurance cover the repairment?

If the damage was caused by the condo association property failing. Should the Master policy of the HOA cover the cost of the repair of my interior damage? Is it part of the liability of the insurance?
The detail is that the recent hurricane Ike damaged the roof of our building, what cause the water to pour into my neighbours unit upstair and further down to the ceiling of my condo.
Thanks a lot.

In my experience, they should. I live in South Florida. After the hurricanes of 2004 we had many of our roofs fail. Because of this, many owners experienced damage to their internal walls. Our master policy for the condo association covered paid the damages. I’m sorry, I don’t know if they are required to do so, but I’m pretty sure they contacted our Association attorney. My advice is move quick, you don’t want mold to become an issue. Also, the Association did not cover paint, so the owners were left with bare drywall. Best of luck, I know it’s tough recovering from a hurricane.

Personal Condo Insurance in Florida-what do I need?

Hi. We have purchased a condo in florida, north miami & now trying to figure out what type of coverage we will need for our condo. I think there is personal property & liability-is that the minimum required? Where should we start?

You probably know that your condo association purchases insurance on the building and premises. Broadly speaking there are two approaches that condo bylaws take to insure the property.

One approach is the condo association agrees to cover only the exterior and common areas. You are responsible to insure the interior this can include walls, wall coverings, flooring, furnace, appliances, lighting, plumbing fixtures, kitchen and bath cabinets (basically everything inside your condo). In this scenario you are responsible not only for your personal property but also the entire interior of your condo. As an insurance agent I did not like this approach because it is very difficult to determine how much insurance you should have to be able to repair or replace everything in within the walls of your condo.

The other approach, which I always preferred, was more comprehensive where the association agrees to cover the entire unit as it was originally built. In this scenario you only insure your upgrades (i.e. bookcases, upgrades, finished basements. etc.) and your personal property.

You need to carefully review your condo bylaws or have a good insurance agent go over the bylaws with you. If you don’t insure the property that you are responsible for you could find yourself woefully under insured and perhaps unable to rebuild your condo.

In addition to insuring the part of the building you are responsible for you need to determine the replacement cost of your personal property within the condo.

Sorry for the long answer but it is a surprisingly complex question.

possibly buying a condo, what’s the difference in home insurance and condo insurance?

i am possibly fixing to be buying a condo, but need to find out how much insurance is going to cost me every year. i noticed that there is "condo" insurance as well as home insurance. which one would be better or more appropriate. is condo insurance cheaper? what is the difference in the coverage ?

Your condo association purchases insurance on the building and premises. Broadly speaking there are two approaches condo bylaws take to insure the property.

One approach is the condo association agrees to cover only the exterior and common areas. You are responsible to insure the interior this can include walls, wall coverings, flooring, furnace, appliances, lighting, plumbing fixtures, kitchen and bath cabinets (basically everything inside your condo). In this scenario you are responsible not only for your personal property but also the entire interior of your condo. As an insurance agent I did not like this approach because it is very difficult to determine how much insurance you should have to be able to repair or replace everything in within the walls of your condo.

The other approach, which I always preferred, was more comprehensive where the association agrees to cover the entire unit as it was originally built. In this scenario you only insure your upgrades (i.e. bookcases, upgrades, finished basements. etc.) and your personal property.

You need to carefully review your condo bylaws or have a good insurance agent go over the bylaws with you. If you don’t insure the property that you are responsible for you could find yourself woefully under insured and perhaps unable to rebuild your condo.

In addition to insuring the part of the building you are responsible for you need to determine the replacement cost of your personal property within the condo.

Sorry for the long answer but it is a surprisingly complex question.

Can someone explain what Condo Insurance is?

Im waiting to close on a condo in NY. The realtor says i don;t need to get homeowners insurance because the building the condo is in, has its own policy that part of my maintenece fee goes to. someone suggested still getting condo insurance. can anyone please help me out with a description of what this is?

Your condo probably has property & liability insurance that protects the association if there a fire, water damage, or if someone falls in the hallway & sues them. However, their insurance probably does not protect YOU if someone steasl your stuff or someone is injured at a party in your place. Check with the condo association on this. They will know. You probably need to get your own condo policy, which is not expensive. Good Luck.