Condo Insurance

The Basics Of Condo And Co-op Insurance

If you think insurance for your condominium is covered by your association fees, think again. Typically, your monthly condo fees are used to fund a building insurance policy. This generally provides coverage for perils outside of your unit like the building’s structure and covers liability if someone is hurt on the property outdoors.
But if your unit is robbed or damaged, building insurance will not provide coverage for your personal possessions. You also don’t have protection from personal liability if someone is injured inside your unit. To protect your belongings and yourself, you need to purchase a personal home insurance policy for condos (called an HO-6).

Insuring the Building

Condo and co-op owners should first review their association’s master insurance policy to find out what that policy covers, and what it doesn’t. In most cases, that building insurance policy should cover physical damage and liability for common areas such as the hallways, roof, basement, elevator, boiler and common walkways.
In some cases, the building association’s insurance policy also covers the standard fixtures in each unit. The condo owner might only be responsible for personal property inside the unit and for any additions or alterations made to the original structure. In other situations, the building policy covers only the bare walls.

Insuring The Condo And Your Belongings

Under the general terms of HO-6 condominium owner coverage, your policy should cover your personal property from the following perils:

• Fire or lightning
• Explosion
• Damage caused by aircraft
• Smoke
• Theft
• Windstorm or hail
• Riot or civil commotion
• Vandalism or malicious mischief
• Volcanic eruption

A basic condo/co-op policy should also provide liability protection for incidents such as someone tripping and falling while inside your unit.
If your co-op or condo building is damaged by an insured disaster or its members are sued, and the cost of that damage is not fully covered by the association’s policy, this type of coverage would pay for your share of an assessment charged to all unit owners.