Condominium Insurance

If you own a condo, you face a myriad of unique risks. As such, you need the right insurance policy to help cover your condo unit, personal property and liability. That’s where condo insurance comes in.  

Nicholas A. Consoles Insurance Agency Inc. of Peabody, Massachusetts, can help you explore suitable coverage for your condo to ensure that if you have a covered incident, you have a financial safeguard. 

What Is Condo Insurance? 

Like a traditional homeowner, condominium homeowners have unique insurance needs to gain a layer of financial protection against property damage or liability claims. Although you may not be able to purchase a standard home insurance policy, there is a specific type of home insurance policy designed just for condo owners. This policy is known as an HO-6 policy. What is covered under your policy will vary, as every policy is different, but the typical HO-6 policy provides coverage for your unit, personal property, liability and loss of use.  

What Insurance Does a Condo Owner Need? 

In most states, there are no laws that require the specific types of insurance policies a condo owner may need. However, while there may not be laws requiring you to carry insurance, if you’ve financed your condo, your lender may require proof of condo insurance before they approve your home loan for your condo. Beyond these requirements, having an HO-6 policy helps provide you with a layer of financial protection if you experience a covered loss. Without coverage, if you face a covered incident, you may have to pay for the damages, repairs, or your liability for property damage or bodily injury, entirely out of your own pocket. 

The amount of insurance coverage you need depends on your specific situation and if you want to add additional protection. Some condo owners benefit from adding these other types of insurance or endorsements to your condo policy: 

• A unit assessment endorsement may help reimburse you for your share of an assessment charged to all unit owners due to a covered loss.

• A floater is an additional coverage or endorsement to your condo policy that can be added to provide coverage for expensive items such as jewelry, furs or collectibles.

• A water backup endorsement may be available to add to your existing policy to help cover property damage to your condo caused by a sewer or drain stoppage, which your condo or flood policy might not cover.

• A flood insurance policy might be valuable if you live in a flood-prone area, as standard condo insurance policies may not cover losses related to flooding.

• An earthquake insurance policy might be beneficial if you live in an area prone to earthquakes, as standard condo insurance policies may not cover earthquake-related losses.

• An umbrella liability insurance policy may help give you more liability protection and coverage than what is in your condo insurance policy.

How Does Condo Insurance Work? 

Condo insurance works similarly to a standard home insurance policy, providing liability and property damage protection for your unit and personal property. In exchange for paying a premium to your insurer, they will provide you coverage, as dictated under your policy, for the length of the policy term. Should you experience a covered loss, depending on the type of claim and your policy, you may be able to file a claim against your policy to receive financial assistance in paying for that claim. 

Condo insurance is designed to work with the condo association’s master policy.  While a condo association is responsible for insuring its building and any shared building resources (e.g., pool, rec area, meeting room), your HO-6 policy protects the inside of your unit and your personal property—with specific coverage defined in your policy.  

How Is Condo Insurance Calculated? 

The cost of your condo insurance policy depends on where you live, your deductible, the coverage you want for your unit’s interior and if you’ve added additional insurance or supplemental coverage. We can help ensure you have sufficient coverage for your specific living situation. 

Ensure Your Condo Has Protection 

Nicholas A. Consoles Insurance Agency has been serving the insurance needs of the North Shore of Massachusetts for over 50 years. Call us at 978-223-4037 to get started on a condo insurance policy.