Condominium insurance coverages include many aspects that allow them to be tailored to the realities of condo life. Here are five questions and answers taken from La Capitale’s blog that will help you better understand how condo insurance works.
1. How does condo insurance coverage work?
To ensure you’re well protected, your condo should be covered by two insurance contracts: home insurance for condominium owners and condominium building insurance. These two contracts should usually complete one another and be adapted to the individual and collective needs of condo owners, as applicable.2. What does home insurance for condominium owners cover?
In Quebec, purchasing insurance is at each condo owner’s discretion. We nevertheless see that owning insurance is often required in the declaration of co-ownership. For condo owners, the insurance should typically cover:- Your civil liability for damage caused to property or injury caused to another person for which you are held liable
- Your personal property
- Improvements you made to your unit (for example if you replace laminate counters installed at the time of construction with granite counters, your home insurance covers the difference in value between the old and new counters)
3. What does condominium building insurance cover?
The condominium syndicate is required to make sure the building’s coverage would be sufficient enough to restore the building to its original state in the event of a major loss. More specifically, this insurance must cover:- The building, for the replacement value, including parts located in private units such as windows, external walls and floors
- The building’s common areas such as the lobby, hallways, roof and staircases
- The original fixtures of each condo unit, i.e. counters, bathtubs and cabinets
- Property belonging to all condo owners
- The condominium syndicate’s and directors’ civil liability