What Does Condo Insurance Cover?

The type of insurance you need to protect your household depends upon the type of home in which you choose to live. It also depends on whether you own or rent. Generally speaking, individuals own a condo unit or townhouse, or rent an apartment. If you own the place in which you live, you will want to purchase some variation of a standard home insurance policy and if you are renting or leasing an apartment, you can get the protection you need by purchasing renters insurance. 

Most people know that a typical home insurance policy covers the dwelling, the contents within the dwelling, and liability for damage to another person's property or physical injury to another person. Condo insurance provides coverage for everything within the walls of your unit, but does not cover the dwelling structure itself.

As an example, if you live in a condo in a high-rise building and the building burns to the ground, your condo insurance can pay to replace or repair the damaged items that you lost, including personal effects, furniture, appliances, fixtures and pretty much everything else inside of your condo. The actual cost of reconstructing the building will be the responsibility of the condo association.

A condo association carries insurance that covers buildings and common grounds. It does not cover anything inside of your condo. When you own a condo, you have to abide by the rules and terms of the association. The association is legally obligated to do maintenance or make repairs to the exterior of the building. They may also bear some responsibility for taking care of the central electrical and plumbing lines that condo owners use to get their water and electricity.

This is where it gets a little tricky. If water starts leaking into your condo from the unit above you, who is responsible for fixing the damage? If the leak was caused by an overflowing bathtub, the owner of the condo unit above you would bear liability. However, if a main water pipe inside the walls of the building failed, the liability would likely shift to the condo association.

Condo insurance is typically less expensive than homeowners insurance because you don't have to pay for coverage to the dwelling. Your premium depends primarily on the value of the contents within your home and the amount of liability coverage you choose to carry. 

Is your home covered? Call Driscoll & Driscoll Insurance Agency at (661) 266-9390 for more information on condo insurance.