Your home fire insurance protects you from devastating financial loss. It helps you get back on your feet and recover if anything happens. Your home insurance policy should help you repair your home, replace your belongings, and get back to normal.
But what does fire insurance cover and how does it change when you live in a condo? You may need to get help after a fire to make sure that the insurer provides adequate coverage for you to get back on your feet. Fire insurance for condo buildings works a little differently than it does for a house. Here’s what’s covered by home fire insurance when you live in a condo.
Contents
Your policy will help you replace or restore personal belongings damaged by smoke or fire. Electronics, furniture, clothing, media, and even food can be covered. Contents insurance is not different in a condo than it would be in a detached home. If you’re renting, tenant’s insurance will also cover contents, in addition to liability and additional living expenses.
The contents part of your coverage requires considerable documentation on the policyholder’s part. You will have to create a Schedule of Loss that lists all of the belongings lost in the fire. The insurance adjuster will take this list and estimate its replacement cost or its depreciated value, depending on the type of coverage you have.
Contents coverage can be a source of disagreements with your insurer. They may over-depreciate your belongings or misvalue their replacement costs.
Additional Living Expenses
When you can’t live in your home during repairs, you have to stay somewhere else. Additional Living Expenses coverage compensates you for costs like staying in a hotel, a long-term rental, extra commuting costs, storage, and food costs beyond your usual expenditure.
Additional Living Expenses should enable you to maintain your standard of living while you wait for your home to be repaired. That means the insurer should reimburse you for a rental that is comparable to your condo.
Structure
The main difference between fire insurance for condos and detached homes is in this area of coverage. The condo association will have its own insurance policy to cover structural damage, but you may want to see just how much coverage they have. Some associations may only have a minimal policy.
If you’ve made any renovations, such as upgrading fixtures or installing hardwood floors, that added value won’t be reflected in the condo association’s coverage. You will likely need to alert the association of these changes or find a policy that allows you to cover the additional cost to replace your improvements. Structure coverage pays for the building materials and labor that goes into repairing your condo, so if you have installed new materials, you will likely need higher coverage limits.
Repairing a multi-unit building with common areas is a more complex challenge than a detached home. You may not have as much control over this part of the claim, as the condo association will be the one dealing with the insurer.
The best way to protect your family from financial loss is to make sure that your condo fire insurance has you adequately covered.
