Posts tagged "Paint"

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.

Will Condo Board take care of Insurance?

I am subletting my condo and would like to find out if there is a possible fire. I do have a condo owner’s insurance, but it seems to cover only personal belongings. What happens if there is a fire and the condo is damaged? Will the condo board take care of the damages and rebuild?

When you own a condo usually the association has a policy that covers the building itself (outer walls, roof, framing, plumbing, electrical) and the owner is responsible for (and hopefully has their own policy covering) the rest (paint, cabinets, fixtures, etc.) Your condo’s bylaws will spell out what the association is responsible to insure, but state laws (which have often changed to move more of the responsibility from the association to the unitowner) and different insurers can make that broader or more narrow.

Your own individual condo unitowners policy should cover the parts of the building that you are responsible to insure (building coverage, or additions and alterations) and your contents (plus other coverages like Personal Liability). Most unitowner policies have very small limits for building coverage (usually under $10000), so you have to increase that coverage to reflect your own rebuilding costs. (Personally, I carry $50,000 because in my community I’d have to even rebuild my staircase!)

Because you’re going to be renting out your unit you need to:

1. First check if there are any restrictions in your bylaws about renting out the policy.
2. Check with the insurance company for the association to see what the deductible is. If the total amount of your loss is less than the association’s policy deductible it obviously won’t pay, even if it is a covered loss.
3. Check with the company that has your individual policy to see if they will endorse the policy to allow you to rent it out, and if they will cover the association’s policy’s deductible (subject to your own) if there is a fire, etc. (they usually will) .
4. Adjust your own policy to reflect your new needs. For example, if you’re moving out all of y our furniture you don’t need as much contents (personal property coverage).
5. Increase your liability coverage to at least $300,000. As the owner you can be sued over the actions/negligence of the tenant.

So, the bottom line is that generally the association will rebuild for a fire, but unless it is a major fire it’s likely going to fall onto your shoulders, so make sure you are properly covered. There are so many variables you need to do your homework first.

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.