Condo insurance is different from traditional homeowners insurance and as such, there are a number of different issues to consider. Your condo insurance policy covers everything from the drywall in while your association is responsible for the roof and the exterior of the house. This is different from traditional homeowners insurance as that covers everything if anything were to occur.
The first question is what deductible are you going to set. The deductible is what you pay before the insurance kicks in. If you were to have a $15,000 claim and a $5,000 deductible, you would only get $10,000 from the insurance company. The policy premiums you pay will largely depend on what your deductible is. The higher the deductible the lower your monthly payments will be. If you have money in savings, go with a higher deductible.
Many insurance companies will drop you if you make too many claims a year (2 is sometimes considered “too many”) so a higher deductible will keep you from making claims on small items.
The next thing you need to consider is how you want your items replaced if something were to happen to your personal property. Let’s say the TV you bought 2 years ago for $900 was stolen. If you have a replacement value policy, you’ll get $900 to buy a new, similar TV. If you have an actual cash value policy, the insurance company will give you the amount it would cost to buy a 2 year old TV from Craigslist. Replacement value policies are more expensive but if you don’t want to be shopping for new furniture at garage sales, you may want to consider it.
You should require any renter occupying your condo to purchase renter’s insurance. You are responsible for everything that happens in the condo except for the renter’s personal items. If they buy renter’s insurance, they share in the responsibility. It also helps to protect your property if the renter damages it.
So, those are some of the basics of condo insurance.
Condo Insurance is just one of the topics covered at http://HomeInsuranceProvider.net. You’ll find various resources related to protecting your home and condo there.
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