Early last month, there was a fire at a condominium community that we insure. One unit was completely gutted, another sustained moderate damage, and a third unit had minor smoke damage. The unit that was gutted, which had all their belongings in a soggy, ashy pile outside, had no condominium unit owners (HO-6) policy. In fact, I attended the property inspection a few days after the fire and was troubled to learn that only one of the three affected unit owners carried this important protection.

When you purchase a condominium, you may receive misleading information that “the homeowners association carries all the insurance.” While the association likely has a policy for the structure itself and possibly some interior fixtures, it doesn’t insure the personal property of the owner.

Depending on how the governing documents are worded, the HOA is responsible for insuring all buildings and structures owned in common. They may also need to insure property attached to the interior of a unit (commonly called “walls-in” coverage), or they may not cover interior fixtures (“bare walls” coverage). Either way, the unit owner’s HO-6 policy should be designed to pick up where the association’s master policy leaves off.

In the case of the unit with moderate damage, the association’s insurance carrier is paying to repair the damaged ceilings and walls (based on its agreement with the association policy), while the unit owner’s carrier is paying to replace their furniture, clothing and other personal items.

Don’t be afraid to call your insurance agent and put them in touch with the agent for your association. Working together is the best way to ensure that all property, both association owned and personal, is properly insured.

Terri Guest, CIRMS, CMCA is the Northern California Sales & Marketing Representative for Berg Insurance Agency and can be reached at Terri@berginsurance.com. Have an insurance question? Ask Terri and your question may be the subject of next month’s edition of Coverage Corner! If your question is picked, you will win a gift card!