High Rise Condos: Is Home Insurance Really Necessary?

[cdnsir]

Since condo fees in DT high-rises usually include insurance to cover major structural damages. Is it really worth it to pay that little bit more on your own, to insure your own personal properties inside the unit?

I mean the exterior entry, elevator panels, and the apartment door itself are all secured. And it's not like bums will crawl up the side of the building to get in. Is it really a peace of mind or do you think we are just paranoid?

[JAYMEZ]

Shit happens.. Why not? What if all the sprinklers went off , or some kind of flood or smoke damage?

Insurance is a must :thumbsup:

[Super_Geo]

I think it's worth it cause you get a discount on your auto insurance that almost completely offsets your home insurance.

I think when I bought home insurance it was like $150/year or something, and cause I had auto insurance with Meloche Monnex I got a discount of $80/year on my auto insurance.

It covers theft, that's pretty much all I'm worried about.

[Ntense_SpecV]

It's not just about theft - things like fire tend to ruin perfectly good property, especially from smoke damage. Pay the whole $25-40/month for your contents.

[Masked Bandit]

Condo insurance is DIRT CHEAP. Think of all those people in the Earlton Condo project that went up in flames a few years back. I had a client that lived in there, she had the $350,000 for a condo but didn't want to spend the $200 a year on the condo policy. She lost everything.

Aside from that all property policies come with $1,000,000 of general liability. That by itself is worth the money.

[Xtrema]

Let me put it this way:

It's only 3-4 Starbucks lattes a month.

[FiveFreshFish]

If you have a mortgage, aren't you obligated to have insurance?

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by FiveFreshFish
If you have a mortgage, aren't you obligated to have insurance?

Condo fee usually cover fire and protect structure damage. So for a condo, insurance only cover personal effects.

For detached dwellings, yes, you must have proof of insurance to protect bank's investment.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by cdnsir
Is it really a peace of mind or do you think we are just paranoid?

Insurance is gambling.

The insurance company is betting you won't have anything happen to your stuff.

You're betting you will.

Better to be safe than sorry. Fire damage, water damage, wind damage, drunken debauchery damage... you just never know what will happen.

[Dave P]

screw your contents, its all about the liability as masked bandit said.

[cdnsir]

See that's the thing. There's a reason why home insurance is only 4 lattes, but our car insurance costs a sweet Ed Hardy hoody a month. The insurance company is not dumb, the way this rate is set up, they are betting heavily that nothing will ever happen to a properly built cement tower.

So the fire and water damage I can totally agree with. But is the liability coverage for when my iphone catches on fire, and it causes smoke/water damage to the other units?

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by cdnsir
See that's the thing. There's a reason why home insurance is only 4 lattes, but our car insurance costs a sweet Ed Hardy hoody a month. The insurance company is not dumb, the way this rate is set up, they are betting heavily that nothing will ever happen to a properly built cement tower.

So the fire and water damage I can totally agree with. But is the liability coverage for when my iphone catches on fire, and it causes smoke/water damage to the other units?

Your car insurance is more than house / condo insurance because you don't drive your house down Deerfoot with 3000 other idiots on a daily basis.

Liability would be something like your dog gets away from you at the off-leash, bites someone & then that someone sues you for $350,000 for their "injuries". Makes the $40,000 in contents seem like peanuts.

Maybe you have some friends over for drinks, one of them drives home & hits someone. You MAY get dragged into the lawsuit (happens to bars all the time). Even if you get off, it still costs money to hire the lawyers to defend you. That's all covered by the liability component of your property policy.

There are all kinds of stupid situations that a personal liability claim can come up, and they're usually not cheap.

[ExtraSlow]

Can you afford to replace the entire contents, including carpets, drywall and appliances if there was a fire? Can you afford to be sued if a guest injures themselves inside your condo?
I sure couldn't, so I had insurance when I lived in an apartment. It's incredibly cheap, and you often get a discount on your car insurance when you have it, so it's preactically free.

I can't imagine a situation where you wouldn't be better off with this type of insurance.

[masoncgy]

Sure, it's very necessary. You're attached to how many neighbors... and how many other strangers live on the same floor? You don't know what they are doing, or what they are up to...

What if someone likes to get drunk every night and smoke like a chimney... odds are high that someone like that will eventually cause a fire.

All it takes it a small fire in a unit to cause major damage all over the place... and for the paltry few dollars it costs to insure contents, why wouldn't you get the peace of mind.

Shit happens... if you don't value your property and have no issues losing everything (and then some), then don't bother with it.

[bg_27]

Smart people buy insurance, dumb people question if its "worth it".

[bspot]

I was out of my place for 7 months for repairs on my condo I had bought new.

Good luck if you end up on the hook for living expenses at a hotel for that long.

[Kloubek]

Contents insurance is NOT expensive dude. Just buy it.

[tom_9109]

Originally posted by bg_27
Smart people buy insurance, dumb people question if its "worth it".

Exactly.

[Jeremiah]

Home insurance saved us a couple times and for the small pricetag it is definitely essential

[barmanjay]

1 phrase:

insurance can cover any special assessment up to a specified amount.


just make sure your insurance provider adds this into your policy

[syeve]

Originally posted by Dave P
screw your contents, its all about the liability as masked bandit said.

:thumbsup:

One flooded toilet or leaky washing machine and it will be the best money you've ever spent.

[cdnsir]

What a landslide on the votes!

So far the biggest draws seems to be liability, discount on my auto insurance, and now it might even help to cover special assessments? All this seems too good to be true, I wish all insurances are as useful as this.

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by cdnsir
What a landslide on the votes!

So far the biggest draws seems to be liability, discount on my auto insurance, and now it might even help to cover special assessments? All this seems too good to be true, I wish all insurances are as useful as this.

Careful on the special assessments. A lot of condo owners think that their policy will cover assessments for maintenance related items (new roof / windows / whatever). It does not. The only special assessments that are covered by a condo policy are ones coming from events occurring on condo property where the condo board either didn't have enough insurance or any insurance at all. It's pretty complicated but in ten years of doing this I've never once seen a special assessment qualify.

[ipeefreely]

Originally posted by Masked Bandit


Careful on the special assessments. A lot of condo owners think that their policy will cover assessments for maintenance related items (new roof / windows / whatever). It does not. The only special assessments that are covered by a condo policy are ones coming from events occurring on condo property where the condo board either didn't have enough insurance or any insurance at all. It's pretty complicated but in ten years of doing this I've never once seen a special assessment qualify.

Good to know...... I was surprised that you could get insurance for that (awhile ago) and now i hear it useless.... interesting.:bullshit: (not you, paying for somthing that's useless! :( )

Any details on the one that they went threw with? Is this common or just with your company?

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by ipeefreely


Good to know...... I was surprised that you could get insurance for that (awhile ago) and now i hear it useless.... interesting.:bullshit: (not you, paying for somthing that's useless! :( )

Any details on the one that they went threw with? Is this common or just with your company?

lol....have another read through my post. I said I've NEVER once seen a special assessment qualify.

There's lots of this shit in insurance policies. Coverage for a million things that will never happen but it sure looks good on paper.

Kind of like when you are buying a new car and under the features it lists "power steering". When was the last time someone bought a new car WITHOUT power steering?

[ipeefreely]

Reading fail for me! :facepalm:

I thought you said only once! haha

Oh well... good to know! :)

[CUG]

Who voted no???? I know a lot of people who insure the shit out of everything.

[w_man]

A guy in my building recently had a problem and his condo insurance saved his ass ...

The zone valve on his heating unit gave out while he was out for a dinner party one night. He was away for probably 3-4 hours and came back to a flooded bedroom. Had to replace the zone valve, replace the carpet, cover the damages caused to the unit directly below him and a shit load of other expenses.

Get condo insurance. Cover your ass!! shit happens!! With the houses/condos built in the recent years when there was labor shortage and anyone with a hammer was working as a construction worker ... I wouldn't think twice.

[Neil4Speed]

Hey guys, I know I'm bumping an old thread here, but any suggestions on a good condo insurance provider and what I should be looking for in a policy?

[guessboi]

Condo insurance is cheap - usually less than $200/ Yr - Just combine it with your auto insurance provider.

Here read this so you know what condo insurance is all about.

http://www.ibc.ca/en/home_insurance/documents/brochures/condo%20brochure_eng.pdf

[spike98]

I have a unique question...

I am in a short term (3 months) furnished rental. I have maybe $1000 worth of clothes/belongings. In my case, would contents insurance be worth it? I have no contents but would i be on the hook for liability even if the owner has insurance of their own?

Having 2 home policies (rental and other while its on the market), 2 full auto policies, and an RV policy I already pay quite a bit. Sure $300 doesn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but if the only risk is losing my moores shirts and the $200 toshiba TV then i don't see the value in setting up and cancelling the policy for such a short term.

[GQBalla]

Obviously a waste of money

Just pay to replace after you lose a majority of your Condo to whatever damages that may occur (the beyond baller rules)

[Disoblige]

Condo policies include coverage for your contents, liability, additional living expenses and common loss assessment. If the condo had a fire for example, the condo board could issue each condo unit owner a fee to cover costs, this is where the common loss assessment is valuable to have.

I pay ~$250 a year and I get for my Comprehensive Condo Policy: $30,000 contents coverage, $25,000 in common loss assessment, $500 deductible, Water damage extension, $15,000 in additional living expenses.

Neil4Speed, Intact is pretty good, at least for Home Insurance I think. Price is decent and offers good value. I haven't used them for any claims though.

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by Neil4Speed
Hey guys, I know I'm bumping an old thread here, but any suggestions on a good condo insurance provider and what I should be looking for in a policy?

Condo policies are all pretty much the same, just tie it in with your auto policy. It will trigger a discount on both sides.

[D. Dub]

Skipping contents insurance is penny wise and pound foolish.

[Prail]

Don't forget special assessment coverage.

Even if the building has coverage, sometimes they can have huge deductibles if they have a lot of claims. I used to be a claims adjuster way back in the day... wasn't uncommon to have assessments made to units for the deductible ($10,000 to $25,000 is common), your policy will cover those as well if it's the result of an insured loss (water, fire, etc.).

The liability itself as stated is worth the money alone.

The building coverage only covers structural, anything past the drywall is on you.

It's a good idea for sure.