Owning a condominium is a rewarding experience, but it comes with responsibilities and potential risks. One crucial aspect that many condo owners overlook is insurance. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the ins and outs of condo owner insurance, ensuring you have the knowledge to safeguard your investment and personal belongings.
Necessity of Condo Owner Insurance
Condo Owner Insurance to reduce administrative costs
Consider the replacement, repair and cleaning costs of your valuable possessions: designer clothes, shoes, furniture, audio entertainment centre, dishes, tools, computers, sports equipment and stamp collection.
Condo Owner Insurance against shortfalls
There is a risk of loss from a theft or structural fire, not just from burning, but imagine water damage to your books and computers caused by fire-fighting elsewhere in your building.
To insure these items against loss, you need condo owner insurance.
Please update your inventory of your personal possessions.
It is hard to know how much would cost to replace or repair your personal possessions. Kindly use Home Inventory Form to calculate the values of your properties. You may realize that you have more than you think.
The inventory would be helpful in case of fire or theft.
Condo Owner Insurance reduces additional costs.
When you lose the use of your own space, you suffer an additional loss, as you must pay for new premises. Repairs to your home could put you in a temporary accommodation for some time. Condo owner insurance could cover necessary living expenses.
Features unique to condo owner insurance
If you improve your own space, by updating the bathroom tiles – installing new carpeting – or switching to laminate floors, these improvements will not be covered under the building insurance.
They would not be compensated for these in the event of loss.
But the Condominium-owner insurance would provide coverage against loss of such improvements.
Condo corporations or Strata insurance deductible coverage*
In order to reduce premium, some condo corporations or strata chose to increase deductible on their master building policy for property damage. If that damage is caused by you or your tenant, you would be responsible to pay the entire deductible of the condo corporation or strata insurance.
Deductible
The deductible goes from $5,000 to $50,000 or could be higher. You need to check with the management company or the strata council the amount of the deductible of the building insurance policy, the coverage of your condo owner insurance may not be enough.
Condo Owner Insurance policy that also covers personal liability
In addition to loss of personal possessions, there is personal liability to consider. You may be legally liable to pay compensatory damage due to body injury or property damage arising from your personal actions.
Damage example
Such damage could result from thrown objects breaking the glass or water damage resulting from forgetting to turn off the kitchen faucet. If a guest slips and falls at your home, or has an arm broken by a falling bookcase, you could be liable for the damages and could be subject to a lawsuit.
Personal Liability coverage
Since you own the condominium as an asset, you could be sued for the asset. Condominium-owner insurance would provide coverage for situations such as these. Personal Liability coverage starts from $1,000,000 up to $2,000,000.
Additional Protection*
You can include Earthquake, Home-based business and Watercraft coverage as well as condo deductible coverage within condo owner insurance.
Discounts*
- Age 45 or more (depends on underwriters)
- Have installed and activated an approved centrally monitored fire and/or burglar alarm system
- Have claims-free periods for the past 3 years
- Have been insured with us for 5 or more years
- Various higher deductibles
*Subject to the provisions, conditions, definitions, limitations and exclusions as described in the policy wordings.
To learn more about the structure and importance of condominium owner insurance, check out the Insurance Bureau of Canada document.
Insurance Brokering
As a member of the largest independent insurance broker group in British Columbia, we have condo owner insurance contracts with major respective insurance companies, such as Aviva, Family, Gore Mutual, Intact, Lloyd’s, Optimum West, Peace Hills, Travelers and Wawanesa in BC.