3B Limo

A condo is insured differently from a single-family detached dwelling. If you’re insuring a single-family home, you buy a policy that covers the structure as well as its contents. In a condo, you need two separate policies — one to cover your unit and its contents (known in many areas as an H. 0. -6 policy) and another, the master policy, to cover the condo’s common areas.
The most important thing for prospective unit buyers to find out is exactly what is covered by the master policy and what is not. You want above all to avoid a situation in which the master policy coverage and your unit policy coverage fail to come together, leaving you potentially vulnerable to serious damage claims. The nature and extent of the condo insurance already in place are two of the things your attorney should be able to tell you after reviewing the condo documents.
Some condos have what is known as a “bare-walls’ policy. It covers only the building’s shell and the areas — the lobby, the grounds, the pipes, the roof, the electrical master wiring, and so on. Unit owners have to buy coverage for structural elements within their units (bathroom fixtures, built-in cabinets, etc.) as well as for their personal property. If a condo you’re considering has bare-walls coverage, then be sure to determine precisely where the master policy ends and where the unit owner’s policy must begin. One way to avoid any question about whether or not something is insured is to obtMn your unit policy from the same firm that issues the master policy.
Some condos have opted for what is known as “single-entity” coverage. This covers essentially everything that’s a fixed part of the building, regardless of whether it is in the common areas or inside the units themselves. With this approach, the walls, cabinets, fixtures, and so on inside individual units are covered by the master policy. Unit owners need only insure their personal property.
If you encounter single-entity insurance in a condo you’re interested in, be sure to find out what happens if individual owners make improvements to their units. These improvements raise the value of the whole complex and thus increase its insurance costs. You want to make sure that this increase will be paid by the particular owners responsible for it. It’s not an expense that should be shared.
These are the most basic issues you have to consider under the heading of condo insurance, but there are many other aspects that vary with local conditions and state law. Because it’s so important to be adequately insured, and because the whole area of condo insurance is so complicated, you shouldn’t buy a condo without the advice of a competent and trustworthy insurance agent.