Posts tagged "Personal Property"

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.

Types of Home Insurance Coverage

Home insurance covers private homes against damage or destruction. While new homeowners might initially be put off by this extra monthly expense and question its worth, there is no doubt that homeowners’ insurance is a valuable and necessary part of home ownership. Because mortgage lenders always require the purchase of home insurance as a condition of providing a home loan, it’s easy for new homeowners to have an insurance policy without really understanding its provisions; however, given its importance in the event of damage to the home, it’s well worth taking a few minutes to learn the basics of homeowner coverage. It should be noted that this information focuses on insurance coverage in the United States.

There are seven standard home insurance packages; these are designated HO-1, HO-2, HO-3, HO-4, HO-5, HO-6, and HO-8. Of these, the most commonly purchased policy is HO-3. It covers the home, structure, and contents in the case of damage or destruction. Equally important, it usually offers liability coverage for visitors who are injured or have an accident while on the property. The specifics of HO-3 policies vary widely and will be spelled out in very specific detail in the individual policy. This type of coverage is often called ‘all-risk’ insurance.

After HO-3, the most commonly purchased forms of home insurance are HO-4, which covers renters, and HO-6, designed for condominium owners. In each case, the policy is written to cover the areas not covered by blanket policies written for the apartment or condo complex. In the case of condo coverage, the part of the building owned by the insured and the property housed therein are insured. For renter’s coverage, the insured’s personal property is covered against theft or damage. In both cases, the policy also typically offers liability coverage, sometimes extending as far as 150 feet away from the covered unit. The specifics of HO-4 and HO-6 coverage vary widely depending on the specific policy and the existing policy in place for the complex as a whole.

The remaining policy options are essentially variations on the three more common forms, with the exception of HO-8, which allows owners of older homes that would have a higher replacement cost than the market value, to insure them at the more affordable market value rate.

In addition to the standard policy packages listed above, homeowners in some areas might qualify for supplemental insurance, such as flood or hurricane insurance. These add-ons are called riders and add to the monthly cost of the insurance, but they can be worthwhile investments in high-risk areas.

One important task every homeowner should complete is a home inventory. This list of furnishings and belongings is essential when filling out claims for theft or loss due to fire or other destruction. A photo or video log of major furnishings is also helpful, and recording product serial numbers whenever possible is also important.

Getting a good home insurance policy should be at the top of every homeowners priority list.

Martin Lukac
http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/types-of-home-insurance-coverage-138996.html

What does a homeowners insurance adjuster do?

Any help would be appreciated. Over the weekend, i had a pipe/hose break and flooded my kitchen overnight. I know we need to make a claim with homeowners insurance. They said they will send out an adjuster to survey damage. What do I tell this adjuster? Do I need to make a list of stuff damaged? Will he help me get the most money i need? Any one with any experience please help Thanks.

I am an insurance adjuster and I will tell you that different companies handle claims a little different. Most of the time the adjuster will come out and assess your damage and will either write up an estimate his/herself or request that you have someone write an estimate and submit to them. The main thing you need to tell the adjuster is what happened (if you know) and when it happened. Other than that, if you had any personal property damaged you may want to go ahead and start making a list of any items that had water damage just to help speed up the claims process. Property claims are a very simple process and I usually have mine handled within 24 hours of my inspection. Hope I helped answer your 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.

Does home insurance cover when you rent out the house and the tenant causes a house fire?

Does home insurance cover when I rent out the house and the tenant causes a house fire (assuming the house completely burnt down)? If not, do I need to buy landlord’s insurance or ask the tenant to buy renter’s insurance? Where can i compare home insures? Thanks

Try this site

http://best-home-insurance-comparator-usa.blogspot.com/

"homeowners insurance" covers the owners dwelling [house/garage] and contents [owners personal property on the premises]. "Owner" [landlord if he is the owner] takes out this policy and is responsible for the premiums. If building is leased or rented out, it does NOT cover tenants personal property, such as furniture, electronics, etc, or even tools borrowed from a neighbor.

"Renters insurance" covers the tenants personal property only. They take out this policy and pay the premiums.

Home owners policies cover every circumstance EXCEPT what is listed in writing, or "exemptions". These are normally: floods [obtain this through FEMA], home businesses losses [such as a fire in a residential garage being used as auto repair business], or anything else that is listed in writing. If your house up in Alaska gets stampeded by purple elephants, and it is NOT listed as an exclusion, it WILL be covered.

Home Insurance?

I plan to turn my first single home into a rental property. Do I need to report the insurance that I will not live in that house?

You definitely need to notify your insurance company. The property will no longer be owner occupied & they can deny a claim. You will need to get a DP3/landlord policy. Your rates WILL NOT go down because the risk is higher. No one will take care of you home the way you do. Tenants increase the risk.

Also, you would Never be liable for the personal property of a tenant (except if you were completely negligent). However, as a landlord I would require your tenants to carry a renters policy simply for the Liability portion of the policy. Liability is the coverage that protects you from you tenants or your negligence. Like, if you were at your property one day to do some yard work & left the hose out on the sidewalk & the postman trips over it. He would probably sue you. Liability covers that. I would suggest no less than $300,000 per occurance. It’s usually pretty inexpensive (around $40.00 a year) to bump it up from $100,000.00 to $300,000.00.

FYI: The insurance company probably would not deny the claim but after the claim was closed they would most definitely set you up for non-renewal. That looks very bad when shopping for a new company. One of the questions will be: Have you ever been non-renewed & why?

Hope this helps

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.

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