Condo Insurance: What You Need to Know
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. Condo purchases are different than home purchases. Unlike a home purchase, where individuals own the land on which the property is located, a condo purchase involves ownership of a unit in a larger building. Your condo association will have insurance for the condo building as a whole and for the property and common areas of the condo. However, your condo’s HOA will not cover some or all of the repairs to your unit or damage to your unit in the event of a fire or flood. In many instances, the association will be responsible for the walls and ceilings but you must review and understand the association documents and what is covered. If you are purchasing a condo or own a condo, you will want to have condominium insurance. If you are renting, you should absolutely look into renters insurance as well.
Condo insurance may often cover damage to interior fixtures, loss due to theft, or personal injury if a person gets hurt inside your home. Another way your condo insurance can cover you is if the condo building itself sustains such serious damage that each unit in the condo is issued an assessment. Some condo insurance policies will cover the assessment in part or whole, according to Nerd Wallet. Many policies of limits on assessments and the amount may vary based on the need or reason for the assessment.
Condo insurance typically covers damage due to fire or smoke, theft, vandalism, lightning, or damage due to a burst pipe. However, condo insurance often may not cover all damages. Earthquake damage, flood damage, insect infestations, wear and tear, and other kinds of water damage may not be covered by condo insurance. If you live in an area prone to floods or earthquakes, you may need to add a rider to your policy. Make sure to review your policy carefully and do not merely rely on your broker or agent about what is and is not covered.
According to Habitat, when all people in a condominium carry individual insurance, this is to the benefit of all people who live in the building. For example, if one person leaves a faucet on accidentally in his or her unit and this causes flooding in other units, the person’s insurance policy may cover the damage. This can be beneficial for all people who live in the building because the HOA may not have to make a claim against the building’s insurance, which could lead to increased premiums and increased HOA payments for everyone in the building. However, if you are in a large and/or high-end building, if the water source is on a high floor, so many units below may be impacted the unit owner may not have sufficient coverage for the total amount of loss.
Some condominiums may require all unit owners to have insurance for this reason. It protects everyone in the building from additional assessments and damages.
If you have suffered damage to your condo after hurricane Irma and are still struggling to settle your claim, you may want to speak to the hurricane Irma insurance lawyers at Leader & Leader, P.A. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Our firm can review your damages, your policy, and the cost of repairs and help you seek the damages you may be entitled to receive under the law. The claims process can be challenging for some, especially if a condo owner doesn’t know what is or isn’t covered in the policy. Insurance adjusters may also sometimes use estimates to determine the value of a claim and these estimates may be based on lower values and not always on actual damages.
Visit Leader & Leader, P.A. today to learn more. We can help you seek the settlement you may deserve under the law.
Leader & Leader, P.A.
633 South Andrews Ave.
Suite 201
Fort Lauderdale, FL33301
Phone: 954-523-2020