Best Condo Insurance

While condo insurance may be similar to renter's insurance, condo owners must also think about what their condominium association's policy covers and whether they should take out additional building insurance. In other words, the association's policy may not cover any improvements you make to your property.

Obviously, you're going to need liability coverage and insurance for your possessions. But you may also need coverage for any built-in items, like cabinetry, shelves, fixtures, and appliances. It's best to review the master policy with your insurance agent so you can be sure to get all the coverage you need.

Some insurance plans cover only the "bare walls in," meaning anything built in and fixtures are not covered, but personal property is covered. Other policies cover "all in," which means everything in the interior of an individual unit is covered.

HO-6 condominium owner coverage should protect your personal property from the following:

• Fire or lightning
• Hail or windstorm
• Explosion
• Riot or civil commotion
• Damage caused by aircraft
• Damage caused by vehicles
• Theft
• Vandalism and/or malicious mischief
• Volcanic eruption
• Smoke
• Falling objects
• Weight of snow, ice, or sleet
• Accidental water overflow or steam discharge from a plumbing, heating, air conditioning, automatic fire sprinkler system, or a household appliance
• Accidental and abrupt tearing apart, burning, cracking, or bulging of a steam or hot water heating system, automatic fire-protective system or air conditioning
• Freezing of a plumbing, air conditioning, heating, automatic fire sprinkler system, or household appliance
• Accidental and sudden damage from artificially generated electricity (excludes loss to a transistor, tube or similar component of an electronic device)

You should also ask your insurance agent whether you may need the following additional coverages:

• Unit assessment - this will reimburse you for the portion of an assessment charged to all unit owners for a covered loss. As an example, if a fire damages the lobby, all unit owners will be charged for the cost of repairing it.
• Water back-up - this will protect your property against damage caused by sewers or drains backing up. This coverage may not always be included in policies.
• Umbrella liability - an inexpensive way to get more liability protection and broader coverage than what is included in a standard condo/co-op policy.
• Flood or earthquake - you will need to purchase separate flood and earthquake policies if you live in an area where such disasters tend to occur.
• Floater or endorsement - Most standard policies have a $1,000 to $2,000 limit on jewelry theft. So if you own expensive jewelry, furs, or collectibles, you might want to consider getting additional coverage.

Remember to ask for any available discounts, such as multiple policy (if you have your car insured with the same company) and non-smoker discounts.