Condominium living is a terrific alternative to renting or single family home ownership. The advantages of ownership are there without the hassles of having to maintain a lawn and landscaping and the association has the insurance. What more does a person need? Private insurance for one thing. Condo insurance is the way a person can assure him- or herself that those personal possessions are covered as well as any personal liability if someone should be injured within the condo. The association insurance doesn’t typically cover either of these things, only the areas outside of an individual unit.
Most association insurance stops at the front door. This means that the individual owner is responsible for everything inside. The walls, fixtures, all personal property, as well as personal liability are the purview of the owner him- or herself. This is where the personal condo insurance comes in: to protect from financial losses due to no fault of the owner’s actions.
An added advantage of getting personal condo insurance is that if requires the owner to value his or her possessions. Exactly how much is that dining set worth if it had to be replaced? How much is that treasured jewelry worth in dollars? How much would it take to replace the art work if it should be stolen or destroyed in a fire? These are questions that need to be answered both so the owner can put a valuation on them for insurance purposes and so that the owner can fully appreciate what he or she has.
Why should a person get a personal condo policy? For the same reasons a homeowner gets homeowner’s insurance: it is just good sense. Personal liability for injuries sustained inside a condo is not covered by the association’s policy. A friend who slips and falls in a condo has every right to expect the owner to cover the medical expenses. Without condo insurance those expenses will have to come out-of-pocket, and one claim in five years would cover the entire cost of the policy. Malicious mischief happens even in the best of communities and that is another reason for a condo insurance policy.
Condo insurance is a good idea and the only financially responsible thing to do.
