How To Avoid Gaps In Your Condo Insurance Coverage

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How To Avoid Gaps In Your Condo Insurance Coverage
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• Condo associations have Master Insurance policies
  that cover common elements and events, but which
  rarely provide adequate cover for what you may be
  personally liable for without an individual HO-6
  policy.
• Most condo residents, when looking outside of the
  master insurance policy, tend to search for the
  cheapest and speediest individual insurance
  policy which gives only enough coverage to meet
  the lenders minimum requirements, but this could
  be an even faster route to getting hit with a
  bigger claims bill. Heres why

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• Gaps in coverage that put you at risk
• With more and more condos facing challenges due
  to water damage and freezing, as the claims rise
  and property damage costs increase, many
  insurance providers are starting to make changes
  to their existing coverage which could increase
  your risk exposure.
• Lets look at the differences between the
  coverage provided by master insurance policies,
  and those provided by individual policies

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• Items not covered by master insurance policies
• These items are also not generally classed as the
  associations responsibility and can include
• Personal property this can include clothes,
  furniture, jewelry and money to name but a few
• Betterments and improvements any upgrades that
  were carried out after the initial conveyance
• Additional living expenses this can include the
  cost of living at a temporary location, storage
  fees, loss of rents etc
• Personal liability this can protect you against
  bodily injury or property damage claims that
  arise from your unit

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• Loss assessment If the master policy limits
  have been exhausted but there is a covered cause
  of loss, then this would apply to all unit owners
• Medical payments no fault coverage available
  for injured guests within your unit
• However, if as a condo owner you purchase an HO-6
  insurance policy which is also required by
  lenders the above items will be covered.

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• Dwelling coverage
• To avoid significant costs incurred by expenses
  that you may be held responsible for by the condo
  association under the master policy deductible
  something caused by the owners act, neglect,
  misuse or carelessness dwelling coverage should
  be included in every HO-6 policy.
• As mentioned previously, there has been a rise in
  water damage losses causing carriers to increase
  their deductible, so reviewing your dwelling
  coverage is imperative if you want to avoid being
  out of pocket.

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• Many condo communities require that homeowners
  have at least 25,000 of dwelling coverage to
  indemnify them for the deductible expense in the
  event a claim arose from their unit, and if
  coverage is not available, the homeowner would
  have to pay this expense personally, or the
  association could place a lien on their unit.
• Dwelling coverage should also include a
  homeowners betterments and improvements,
  including those completed by prior owners, and
  most lenders will require at least 20 of the
  units market value insured under this coverage
  as well.

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• If youre a condo owner and want to ensure that
  your insurance coverage is adequate, then speak
  to a professional insurance agent today, before
  its too late!
• We Insure Miami was founded on the principle that
  every individual and business, big and small, has
  assets and valuables that need to be protected
  and insured against forces outside of our
  control. We offer Auto, business and homeowners
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  a complimentary review of your insurance policies.