Condominium insurance coverage adequacy

[abhishek]

Hello,

I wanted to check if my Condo Insurance coverage is adequate, or if I should be looking at increasing any coverage. Some information below:

1. Apartment building was built in 1901, has a common basement and a common backyard
2. My apartment is on the 1st floor – 2bed + den, 2 bath, 1450 sq ft.
3. Floors 2 to 4 have 2 apartments each – total 8, 1-bed apartments, each around 700sq ft.
4. Building has a self-managed HOA
5. I’ve been in my apartment for 5 years now

Here is my coverage (State: NJ / Carrier: Travelers (via Geico, with whom I also have Auto and Umbrella ($1m coverage)):

1. Deductible All Perils $1,000
2. Cov A Dwelling $181,888
3. Cov C Personal Property $97,700
4. Cov D Loss of Use $48,850
5. Cov E Personal Liability $300,000
6. Cov F Medical Payments $5,000

There are other special limits of liability (ranging from $500 to $1,500 – can provide those, if required)

12-month premium: $642 (received a letter that it may go up by 14% this year)

Policy is now 1-year old (was with State farm earlier), and there have been no claims on either policy.

 

[ifitry]

@abhishek condo insurance is pretty much never a diy endeavor, because someone knowledgeable needs to review your cc&r's/bylaws and condo master policy and make your coverages fill the gaps

right offhand though, i'd be terrified to be in a shared building without loss assessment coverage

 

[resjudicata]

@ifitry I agree. A lot comes down to your specific condos’ bylaws and what endorsements are then added.

An unendorsed HO6 generally provides only named perils on Cov A & Cov C. Do you have endorsements to change that to “special perils”?

What about water back-up? This isn’t specific to condos but, IMO, should be on all policies.

 

[abhishek]

@ifitry Thanks - I'll have to open up the building's master policy document. I checked my condo policy, and do have the "Loss Assessment coverage" for both property and liability, of $1,000 each. Perhaps I need to raise that up but will look into the master policy first.

 

[ifitry]

@abhishek strongly recommend letting an agent do this for you for free but it's your world

 

[johnredeemed103]

@abhishek Yeah you’re gonna want to push this to $10K at a minimum. And have agent advise as others have said.

 

[srg]

@abhishek My gut feeling is that your Coverage A is undervalued. Construction costs are way more than you probably think. I also feel that personal liability should be no less than $1 Million.

 

[abhishek]

@srg Thanks, I also feel cov A is low. Do I still need to up the personal liability if I have a $1m umbrella coverage?

 

[steveng]

@abhishek If you have a new travelers policy in NJ, you can max out personal liability at $1m for dollars, giving you $2m total liability over your home.

180k sounds low for walls-in. I’m not sure where in Nj you are, but in many places I would be using 250-400 sq ft to insure adequate coverage. Similar to the personal liability, your jump from $188k shouldn’t be too costly.

As others have said, find an agent that is comfortable with condos and use them.

Good luck!

 

[malabbott]

@steveng Smart.. increasing your liability limit to 1M for an additional $20 per year.,

 

[srg]

@abhishek If you have an umbrella, that works. Check your umbrella policy to make sure that your primary policy(ies) meet the underlying requirements. As an example, if your umbrella requires your HO to be at least $500K, and you only have $300K, then in the event of a large claim, the umbrella will trigger, but only after the primary policy pays their $300K, and YOU pay the missing $200K. My guess is that you're fine as it is, but always best to read the policy to be sure.

 

[malabbott]

@srg Are we looking at a Unit Owners policy... it may be more than enough to respond to the Master Policy deductible

 

[ifitry]

@abhishek direct messages are not allowed in this subreddit /@abhishek -- that's the kind of thing that gets you banned around here so don't do it again

it's impossible for anyone to tell you whether your coverages are adequate without reviewing your cc&r's/bylaws and your condo master policy which is why, for the third time now, i'm telling you that you need to make sure your broker or agent explains to you how the policy he sells you covers your assets adequately and whether there are any coverage gaps

 

[malabbott]

@abhishek Do you live in a condo or an Apartment building? Is there an association? Is there a Master insurance policy for the building? What is the master policy deductible? These are all important questions... before you can assess if you have the right coverage