Insurance news and information

Flickr photo credit: aprilzosia

Even if your condominium or apartment complex is located outside California, you’re still facing an earthquake risk. That’s because all 50 states to date have been hit with earthquakes, and 39 states have suffered losses, according to the California Earthquake Authority. More than 5,000 earthquakes hit every year, and losses can be devastating. The San Francisco earthquake in 1906 caused $235 million in damages (an amount equal to $5.1 billion today).

So who insures the risk in the condo association world? Are condo associations responsible, or do unit owners bear the burden of insuring against earthquake damage? Read more…

One potentially confusing issue in condominium associations is who insures what.  In the past, most condominium association policies would cover whatever the association owned.  Other association policies extended coverage into the units – for example, the sheetrock walls and ceiling, the plumbing, and the electrical within each individual unit.  Association policies would often be written broad enough to cover the floor, kitchen cabinets, appliances, and carpeting.

In recent years, with the rising cost of insurance claims and the ambiguous language in some association CC&R’s, insurance coverage has changed dramatically.  Many condominium documents specifically detail what is to be covered – - for example:  roof repair and replacement only.  In this instance, the documents are explicitly pointing out that all other structure is not covered. Read more…