Condominium

As a condo owner, you’ll need a Condo Insurance policy to protect the interior of your condominium unit and the personal belongings inside. Condo Insurance also includes personal liability coverage, which covers you in the event you’re found legally responsible for property damage or bodily injury, like if guests injure themselves in your home.

Before deciding on Condo Insurance coverage, it’s a good idea to check what’s already covered by your condo association’s master policy, sometimes called an HOA policy. 

A master policy usually covers your building’s or association’s common areas, like a shared recreation room, patio, or gym. While master policies usually also provide at least some protection for the interior structure of your unit, they do not cover the personal property inside your unit.

Similar to Homeowners Insurance, Condo Insurance is financial protection for condo owners. A condo policy can help pay for repairs to your condo, like if you have a kitchen fire, and your personal property, like if someone breaks in and steals your TV. You can expect your Condo Insurance to cover the following:

• Dwelling coverage: This covers the structure of the condo unit itself and upgrades that you make, like built-in appliances and custom hardwood flooring. The amount of your dwelling coverage depends on what’s already covered by your condo association policy. If you have the most thorough type of master policy, called all-in coverage, you may not need to include dwelling coverage in your condo policy.
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• Personal property coverage: Personal property coverage covers your belongings, like your clothing, appliances, furniture, and electronics, if they’re damaged, stolen, or destroyed by a peril that’s covered by your policy.
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• Personal liability coverage: Personal liability coverage protects you in the event that you’re legally responsible for someone else’s injury or damage to their property, like if a friend slips and falls inside your condo or if you accidentally drop a window air conditioning unit on your neighbor’s porch. Lawsuits and hospital bills can add up, so you’ll want to make sure you have enough of a personal liability cushion for a worst-case-scenario accident.
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• If you want more personal liability coverage than what’s offered by your insurance company, you can get a personal Umbrella policy to increase your liability limits.
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• Loss of use coverage: Loss of use coverage covers additional living expenses if your home becomes unsafe to live in after a covered loss. If you’re forced to relocate while your condo unit is being repaired, for example, after a pipe bursts, loss of use coverage can pay for things like your hotel and relocation costs.
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• Loss assessment coverage: If the condo’s shared spaces or building exterior is damaged, and there were some remaining costs after the master policy paid out, loss assessment coverage can help pay for those remaining costs so you don’t have to pay out of pocket. For example, if your master policy contains $500,000 in coverage for the condo building and it’s damaged in a fire that amounts to $525,000, that remaining $25,000 will be charged to all the condo owners in the building, and if you have loss assessment coverage, it can help cover your share of it.

• The exterior structure of the condominium building.
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• The building’s common areas, such as exercise rooms, hallways, lobbies, swimming pools, and outdoor pavilions.
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• The land surrounding the condo building.

Your best bet is to work with an independent agent. A local agent in your area can compare Condo Insurance rates from multiple insurance carriers and help you choose the best policy for your needs. 

If you have Condo Insurance, you will be covered for damage to your possessions and the interior of your condo from major storms such as hurricanes, tornadoes and windstorms. 

Your Condominium Insurance will cover theft or burglary if your policy includes personal property coverage.