Approximately 5 million Americans live in condominium units across the US. These are usually owner-occupied units versus living in a condominium as a renter.
While living in a condo is much like living in a single-unit home, it’s not exactly the same. In condo living, you’ll share walls with other dwellers, and you will likely share some common spaces in the building.
For this reason, getting insurance for your Bonita Springs condo is slightly different from getting homeowners insurance for a single-dwelling home.
You might wonder how condo insurance is different. What does condo insurance cover?
What Is Condo Insurance?
Condo insurance is special insurance covering your specific condo unit. Sometimes insurers will call this insurance HO-6 insurance or even “walls-in” insurance.
The condo insurance covers the elements of your specific unit. This will include liability coverage for anything that might happen in your specific condo unit.
It also provides coverage for your belongings. This can include anything from furniture, and appliances, to personal belongings.
The condo insurance will cover and protect you as a condo owner against losses or repairs needed in your unit.
Why Do You Need Condo Insurance?
If your condo is part of a bigger building that also has insurance, you might wonder if you need condo insurance? Yes, your condo association should have coverage for the exterior of the building as well as common areas (more on this later), but you absolutely need coverage for the interior of your specific unit.
Your condo insurance coverage helps to protect you in the event of hurricane, theft, vandalism, fire damage, water damage, and more.
Condo policies help to protect you as an owner from events that could happen inside your unit walls. Condo Association master policies will not protect your specific unit or belongings.
What Does Condo Insurance Cover?
How does condo insurance work? Condo insurance is a form of homeowners insurance and provides coverage in many of the same ways.
This coverage will protect against all the potential perils that could happen to your condo unit. While it’s similar to a homeowners policy, it’s not exactly the same.
A condo policy will cover you walls-in, a term used by insurers. Walls-in means you’d be covered for events happening inside the walls of your specific unit.
A homeowners policy, on the other hand, insures the entire structure or building. This means that it covers the inside of your home, its exterior, and any other structures that are part of the property.
Dwelling Coverage
Dwelling coverage is the first part of your condo coverage. This coverage is usually determined by a cost per square foot of what it would take to rebuild your unit in the event of a claim.
If there’s a fire inside your unit, repairs would be covered through the dwelling coverage. If you experience a break-in and vandalism to your walls and appliances, dwelling coverage would allow damages to be repaired.
Often dwelling coverage does not include floods, though. If you live on the ground floor or in an area prone to flooding, you need to discuss flood-specific coverage with your insurance agent.
Personal Property Coverage
Your condo coverage should also include personal property coverage.
As the name suggests, this coverage protects you as the owner and your personal property. If there’s a fire and your personal property like furniture, clothing, or electronics are destroyed, the personal property coverage protects you.
Loss of Use Coverage
Imagine a fire in your building, and you’re forced to vacate your unit while repairs get assessed and completed.
Where will you go, and how will you pay for a place to live? Loss of use coverage provides compensation up to a set limit, so you can live in a hotel or rental property while displaced from your unit.
Personal Liability Coverage
Personal liability coverage is also an important component of condo coverage. Let’s say you have friends over for dinner. While inside your condo unit, a friend slips in the kitchen and is injured.
Suddenly, your friend doesn’t feel so friendly and decides to sue you for damages. Your personal liability coverage would cover your legal fees and the claim results once it’s settled.
Medical Payments Coverage
Medical payment coverage is also an important component of liability coverage.
This condo coverage would pay for any medical care needed due to an accident or injury inside your unit.
When your friend fell in your kitchen and broke their arm, their medical care could also be covered by your insurance.
Add-On Coverage Worth Considering
As you consider your condo coverage, several add-ons to your condo policy are worth considering. As already mentioned, you might consider adding flood insurance depending on the condo’s proximity to water.
You might also want to consider special assessment coverage. If your condo association makes a special assessment, for example, to put a new roof on the building, this coverage can help you with the out-of-pocket expense. .
What Does Condo Association (COA) Policies Cover?
Since your condo insurance offers coverage for your specific unit, there also needs to be coverage for the building in which your condo unit exists.
This insurance, commonly referred to as the master policy, is covered by the condo association or the owner of the building.
This policy usually covers the building, the common areas, and the land that the building sits on. There are other very important coverages that all Associations should consider including but not limited to: Directors & Officers coverage, Cyber, General Liability, Crime, Flood, Workers Comp, Pollution, and Umbrella. You can learn more about Condo Association coverages and request your quote here.
Understanding Bonita Springs Condo Insurance Coverage
What does condo insurance cover? It covers your unique Bonita Springs condo unit. Your Association should review their master policies annually and share the coverages with you as the owner. It’s important to understand what is covered by the Association and what is your responsibility to ensure that you have the comprehensive coverage that’s required for condo living.
To get more information on condo unit coverage or to get a quote, contact us today.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER
Views expressed here do not constitute legal advice. The information contained herein is for general guidance of matter only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Discussion of insurance policy language is descriptive only. Every policy has different policy language. Coverage afforded under any insurance policy issued is subject to individual policy terms and conditions. Please refer to your policy for the actual language.
