Condominium Insurance Coverage

Condominium Insurance Coverage
building improvement declaration cover ceiling and drywall?

I own a building (considered a condominium) that is insured for “Building Improvements” with limits of $200,000. The head of a sprinkler popped off outside the building and sprayed water through the soffet, under the roof and got into the drywall and ceiling. The insurance adjuster is saying that because I dont have building(s) coverage, that I am not covered for this loss. I cannot find anything in the policy that talks about building improvements and what that means. Can anyone shed some light on this?
It is also a commercial building that I rent out to small buisnesses.

Building improvements & betterments is anything you ADD to the structure after you bought it – not the ceiling that was already there, but maybe the hardwood floors you installed, or the gilding you had painted on the ceiling, or the built-ins you added. It’s NOT the same thing as structure, which is normal wall.

You need to go talk to your agent. Your agent needs to call the company, and talk to the adjuster supervisor. You’ve got a serious potential claim against your agent, if your agent failed to recommend you buy any building coverage, just because it’s a condo. MOST master policies cover to the studs – and most of the time, the unit owner is responsible for drywall in – meaning, you NEED to be carrying some building coverage, IN ADDITION to the building improvements that you might have added, after you bought the place.

Condominium Insurance. Michael Ackerman Seattle Real Estate.

Condominium insurance – A special Ho–6 Insurance policy

A condominium may not be similar to a home but you still need insurance if you own a condominium. You need to insure your condo against: • Personal property damage • Liability • Damage to building • Loss of use This is a special insurance designed to provide for the needs of the condominium owners. Condominium owners may not own the entire complex. Usually they own their own unit and only share common ownership with other unit owners. This means that the common areas of the association become the responsibility of the unit owners. An association would, therefore, collect a monthly payment from all unit owners towards the insurance of these common areas. However, you need to buy your own policy if you want to cover your unit. The rules of the association must clearly mention the distinction between the part to be commonly insured, the part to be insured by you and the part to be insured bu the association. There are 2 categories of the master condo policies: • Bare walls in – All real property from the exterior are covered, but do not cover any fixture or installations inside a condominium unit. • All in: This covers fixtures, installations inside the units, floors as well as ceilings of the individual condo units. How much condo insurance is right for you? Now that you know what you want to protect with your Ho-6 insurance, you need to assess the right amount of insurance that you require. It would be best to do a little research. Find out how much other unit members had to pay for nay recent upgrades they had to do in their condo. This way you can get a fair idea of the amount you might need to insure your own condo. Once you have finished deciding on the amount of coverage you want, you can now decide what coverage to buy. The two basic categories include: 1. Cash value – Pays the depreciated value of the content covered. 2. Replacement cost – Pays what would be required to replace a covered content. Is contents insurance a separate policy? Yes it is. Anything inside your unit will not be covered under a common policy or even the one that the association has. You need to purchase a separate content insurance for that. If you do not purchase separate contents insurance do not expect to get coverage when you need it.
About the Author

Juanita Martinez is a longtime contributor and Moderator of the ampminsure community. She is a financial writer, specializing in the field of insurance. You can reach-out to her through the ampminsure community for ho6 insurance related queries.

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