Posts tagged "Condo Association"

Condo Insurance – What should I consider when purchasing?

Looking to buy condo insurance in NYC, any tips, suggestions and best practices welcome.

Okay. To be honest, this is a question that the Condo-owners Association normally doesn’t understand themselves. The answer to your question, lies in the Condo. Assn. Documents. It’s in the "doc’s" under headings, like "Insurance Requirements" or some similar verbage. Now the "doc’s" can be some 300 or more pages, so a little investigation is necessary.

You should go to a large, well known property insurer for the state of New York. It may cost a couple of bucks more a year to do this, but believe me, It’s worth it if you have a claim….Ask the agent for a "Condo-Owners Policy". Now, I am assuming that you own the condo. If you are a renter, then the whole story changes, but…

The HO-6 Condo policy, will cover, pretty much, whatever the Condo Association policy doesn’t, as far as, your property. From, floor and wall coverings to the comforter on your bed, though these are separate parts of the HO-6 policy. The policy is broken down into 5 basic coverage sections.

A – Building Items (Kitchen cabinets, floor & wall coverings,sinks, Vanities, Etc..)

B – Other Structures ( Sheds, Fences, etc…)

C – Personal Property (From your best pair of shoes, to your toothbrush)

D – Additional Living Expense ( If your house is too damaged to live in)

E – Personal Liability ( Anything, legal, that you might be "legally liable" for. This coverage also includes "Medical Payments to Others" coverage, if someone slips and falls at your home, or the like.

The coverage you purchase, will normally be based on the "Coverage A Limit". So if it would only take $50,000 to rebuild the inside of your condo, you may only get $25,000 for "Personal Property" coverage. If you need more, it can be purchased.

Was that a long answer to a short question?

Go find a good local agent, and make him /her explain the coverages. If they can’t do it, you might just want to keep looking……You could already know more about it than them.

What liability should I consider when purchasing Condo Insurance?

When purchasing a condo insurance, how far should I go with liability protection? Can HOA or my neighbors as individuals sue me if it was my barbeque grill (lit cigarette, etc.)?

Yes, the condo association or an individual has a legal right to sue the negligent party that was responsible for a loss. In fact it would probably the insurance company that compensated your association that would ultimately be the plaintiff. That being said it would probably be hard to conclusively prove that it was your sole negligence that was the cause of the loss. Even if you were not at fault the defense costs could be significant. If I owned a condo I would purchase significant limits of liability insurance because the cost is relatively minor (i.e. $1,000,000 or more ).

But I would also be concerned how your insurance matches up with the condo bylaws. 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.

How much is homeowners insurance in IL for townhome that’s not covered by the common insurance?

I’m planning to purchase a townhome and the assessments does include common insurance. I’ve been told it doesn’t protect any misc assets I have in my home in case a disaster occurs. I want to factor this into my monthly expense estimates. I’m looking for a purchase price at $200,000. How much should estimate for homeowners insurance? Is it a monthly and annual payment?

Thanks

You need to call an insurance company for quotes, start with your auto insurance company & go from there. There are many questions, what does the master policy cover? You would need to read the condo bylaws to find out. Does that policy cover everything attached to the unit or only to the studs? Does it cover anything that you add to or alter in the unit? So, you would purchase a condo policy (HO6 form), you would need to find out from the condo association what you actually need to cover. That would be the dwelling limit you need. Then you need to tell the insurance company how much contents coverage you want (if you had to replace everything you own), then get at least $500,000 liability, $5,000 medical payments & get $50,000 (or the company maximum) loss assessment (this covers if you are assessed for damages to common property – simplified definition – you would need to speak to an agent to explain it to you). You would also need to tell the agent the deductible you want (property coverage).
Good luck in your purchase but no one here can give you a quote.
Homeowners insurance is always an annual policy.

Condo Insurance in Chicago

Chicago ranks third in the nation in terms of condos that are expected to be completed this year, with 8,533 more units to hit the market. A condominium or condo for short is a legal term describing a type of joint ownership of real property in which portions of the property are commonly owned and other portions are individually owned. The condominium consists of units in a multi-unit dwelling where each unit is individually owned and the common areas like hallways and recreational facilities are jointly owned by all the unit owners in the building. Condo insurance protects the owner from expenses that may be incurred because of this joint-ownership aspect, as well as other common things related to home ownership.

Condo insurance in Chicago is different than any other type of insurance, because you have both common and individual insurance needs. The condo association is responsible for insuring the exterior, while you have to cover your personal property and liability damage.

The responsibilities of your condo association are described in the master insurance policy. Usually covered are the outside of the building’s structure, including the roof and common areas such as pools and sidewalks. The master policy does not insure the inside of your unit or any of your personal belongings. And this is exactly why you need condo insurance in Chicago.

Chicago condo insurance covers your personal belongings, personal liability, additions, alterations, wall fixtures, floor and ceiling of your unit. Have in mind that all condo insurance policies are not alike, so you must have a good understanding of the matter.

Condo insurance provides two types of coverage-actual cash value and replacement cost. With the replacement cost coverage the contents of your condo are covered up to the amount that it would cost to replace your belongings with items of like kind and quality. Of course, this type is more expensive. With the actual cash value coverage, your house or property is covered for the depreciated amount, based on the actual value at the time of loss.

The important thing is to make the right choice between thee two types of coverage. The idea is to hit the correct balance because don’t want to be under-insured, but at the same time you don’t want to pay for insurance you don’t need. Consult with an insurance company, ask them for assistance with determining how much condo insurance you need. Check what parts of the interior are covered by your condo association’s insurance and what items are your responsibility. Liability coverage is always needed, because the master policy does not provide any liability coverage for your unit or your personal exposures.

The purpose of condo insurance is to cover the gap between your condo association’s master policy (which insures property owned by all unit owners) and your property and personal liability protection.

A condo insurance policy can include:
-Personal property coverage-furniture and personal possessions
-Optional property coverage-such as special coverage for important items
-Personal liability protection-in case you are sued for accidentally causing other people distress or damaging their property
-Additional living expenses-covering the expense if you have to move out of your condo while it is being repaired.
-Additions and Alterations-for changes you have made to the condo
-Loss assessment coverage-if commonly owned property is damaged
-Deductibles-applies to property losses only.

Dave Badge
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/condo-insurance-in-chicago-64532.html