What is a Condo Insurance Policy? — Coverage, Prices, and More

Your condo unit is not just any other space—it’s your home. And it’s only natural to protect it along with your belongings and the unit improvements you’ve made. 

That said, you may have asked the question of “what is a condo insurance” and to what extent can it do to secure your condo home. Here are all the details you need to know from our expert team.

What Is Condo Insurance: A Closer Look

Condo insurance or condo dwelling coverage is comprehensive property insurance for your own unit’s contents and improvements.

It’s a type of home insurance bought by the unit owner to finance expenses due to injury or property damage, personal property getting stolen, or ruined by perils like fire or vandalism.

Purpose of a Condo Insurance Policy

First, you need to understand there are two types of condominium insurance which are:

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Commercial policies or association insurance cover only the exterior of the condominium building and common areas like the swimming pool or parking garage.

This policy is meant to protect the condo’s property, not yours. Most condo owners have to (yet often fail to) realize they need protection far more than what the condo corporation’s policy provides.

Example

Here’s an example to convince you. What happens when your storage locker gets burglarized or if your space suffers from water damage and a visitor slips on your kitchen floor?

This is where your personal condo insurance comes in: to cover what the condo association can’t. Unit owners need their own insurance to protect personal belongings and to cover any improvements you’ve made in your unit.

hands signing papers

Some are even extensive enough to cover damages caused by another person’s unit or when someone injures themselves while inside your condo.

Personal condo insurance is home insurance that shields you from immense financial distress due to untoward events. It allows you to transfer the risk of loss to your trusted insurer instead of bearing the expense on your own.

Condo Insurance Coverage: What It Covers

Insurance policies and coverages differ from one policy to another. 

You need to ask the right questions to get information as to what areas or instances aren’t covered by the condo association. This is how you will know the kind of liability coverage you still need.

handing out document

But essentially, your typical condo insurance should cover the following:

Personal Liability Insurance

Imagine you’re hosting a soiree in your unit. Then, a guest suddenly slips on your bathroom floor and a claim is filed against you.

This coverage will help you pay for necessary medical bills and related legal expenses.

This coverage may also include expenses for damaged property sustained by others should you or covered residents of your household be found legally responsible.

Building Protection Coverage

This coverage is designed to help pay for repairs to the interiors of your unit should they sustain damage due to a covered peril.

high rise buildings

Depending on your condo policy, the coverage may include:

Personal Property Coverage

This coverage (a.k.a. Contents Coverage) is for personal belongings like appliances, electronics, and clothing in the event of a fire, water leakage, or any other loss.

There are several types of Contents Coverage. Depending on your assessments, you get either:

Theft Protection

Your condo policy may also include this to help mitigate losses due to theft and/or robbery. Depending on the said policy, theft coverage may also include your storage locker or your parking space.

Loss Assessment Coverage

Certain situations will require a condo owner to pay for repairs and maintenance of common areas in the building.

plants on building lobby

For example, a plumbing issue causes flooding in the lobby. Now, the condo corporation is charging a certain percentage of the expense incurred to all the condo owners.

Coverage for loss assessments will pay for your share of the expense if the amount billed exceeds what is already covered by the condo association’s policy.

Additional Living Expenses Coverage

Additional Living Expenses Coverage will help when your unit is damaged and you have to move out while it’s being repaired.

This policy will help pay for additional living expenses that you might incur while you’re away. Of course, this is subject to different terms and conditions depending on your condo policy.

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Costs

The average cost of condo insurance varies and depends on several factors such as:

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The average estimate for personal condo insurance ranges around $20 to $40, but it still largely depends on the coverage.

The payment method may vary from cash to credit cards, depending on your insurer.

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Difference Between a Commercial and Personal Condo Insurance

FAQ

How Does Condo Insurance Work?

When you get a condo and have a mortgage, you will be required to obtain a personal policy on top of the master policy.

Both these policies have two distinct coverages. They work together to give you holistic coverage. A standard personal policy might be insufficient. So, consider getting an umbrella policy to provide additional coverage once your standard coverage has been exhausted.

You can get information as to which areas remain vulnerable and should be subject to personal condo insurance from the master policy itself.

Conclusion

Hopefully, by now, you now understand what is condo insurance and how it’s beneficial to you and your home.

It’s equally significant as your health [1] and auto insurance. With flexible policies and payment terms, from checks to credit cards, you will indeed find one tailored fit to your lifestyle.

Now that you have the necessary information to understand how this works, you don’t have to feel doubtful or skeptical anymore and make a decision if a condo insurance policy is for you.

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Tal Shelef
Tal Shelef is a know it all when it comes to pre-construction developments Canada Wide. His years of daily research and growing up on construction sites / seeing development sites grow from the ground up at an early age gave him a passion like no other. He uses his knowledge to educate Condowizard’s clients. Have a conversation with Tal and see how much value one phone call may provide you.

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