On Condo Renters Insurance, How Much Liability Is Enough?

On condo renters insurance, how much liability is enough?  Are there extra considerations to be aware of for liability coverage when you live in a condo?  Are there additional risks that you need to think about?

Of course there are. Since condos involve a unique form of ownership that’s different from owning an apartment building or a single family home, you need to be sure that your renters policy is sufficient.  Whether you need Savannah, GA Renters Insurance or coverage anywhere else across the country, Effective Coverage can help.

When You Have Condo Renters Insurance, Your Neighbors Are Owners

How much liability is enough when you are the only renter and you’re surrounded by – and sharing walls with – people who own their units?  Generally, people who own their homes accumulate more personal property with a higher value than renters.  They don’t expect to have to move it in the near future, and they want to make the home they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on more pleasant.

They also have equity in their home, and a vested – and emotional – interest in that equity.  People are not always rational when damage to their home is concerned, and that’s understandable because they’ve been paying for it for years and invested not only money but time, energy, and a bit of themselves in it.  That means they’ll expect you to make good on damages to their unit that you cause.

How could you cause damage to other units in a rented condo?  Fires are a common example.  Condo buildings often have safety features designed to prevent the spread of fire between units, but how much liability is enough when you are surrounded by other homes?  In addition, some parts of the country have historic buildings that have been converted into condos.  These buildings have safety features retrofitted, but they also come with additional risks.

So how much liability is enough when you are surrounded by people who are highly motivated to make sure that they get their money out of you if there’s a loss?  Remember that instead of dealing with just your landlord’s insurance company trying to subrogate, you’ll be dealing with many companies.

They’ll all want money from you for the damages, to recoup what they paid out to their policyholders.  On condo renters insurance, you’ll want as much liability as you can afford.  Fortunately, we’ll address that below.

Can A Condo Association Sue A Tenant? How Much Liability Is Enough?

The condo association owns the building and has a responsibility to the owners to rebuild it if there’s a loss.  Bearing that in mind, the association maintains a master insurance policy that covers the building.  If you rent a condo and there’s a loss to it, the association will make a claim on their master policy to return the owners unit to bare walls.  The definition of that varies based on the association documents, of course, but generally it means stubbed plumbing, sheetrock, and bare floors.  Anything beyond that is the owner’s responsibility.

The condo association’s master policy insurer will look to you to get their money back, and the owner’s insurer will look to you to get back the money they spend bringing the unit from bare walls to the condition it was in before.  That’s called “betterments and improvements.”  Now even more companies are standing in line to get money from you.  How much liability is enough now?

There’s another thing you should consider about condo associations if you rent a condo.  There are two broad types of associations.  The first is well-run, helpful, productive, and benefits the owners and residents of the building.  They are, by far, the most common.

In rare cases, you’ll find an association that’s not well run.  While they’re very much the exception, they’re often litigious.  In addition, sometimes “not well run” turns into underinsured, or unable to meet obligations.  If the association can’t rebuild the building, the owners may look to you to pay for those damages as well if it was your negligence that caused the loss.

The vast majority of associations are run by people who care about the building and the community, and who operate everything by the book.  That’s what you’d expect from people who own homes.  But whichever kind of association you end up with in a condo you rent, you have an obligation to them as well as to the owner of the unit that you rent.

Renters Insurance Liability Is Cheap, Max It Out!

Now that you’ve seen how many people will be looking to collect money from you if you cause a loss such as a fire or water overflow, you’re probably wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into by renting a condo.  Have no fear, that’s what Savannah, GA Renters Insurance is for.

The base level of coverage on most condo renters insurance policies will be $100,000.  If you were renting a single family home, where your only obligation is to make the owner whole if you cause a loss, that might be enough.  But in a condo, everyone is closely connected and your loss is everyone’s loss.  That means you need as much liability as you can get!

Condo renters insurance generally offers coverage of up to $500,000.  That’s a good start.  In the real world, a lawsuit against you personally is less of a risk the more liability coverage that you have.  That’s because there’s more of an opportunity to settle the loss within the policy limit and make everyone happy by giving them some portion of what was lost.  The other insurance companies may well be willing to accept part of their loss and settle the subrogation, but they’re not going to take whatever is left after everyone else is paid if you don’t have enough coverage.

Fortunately, renters insurance liability is not expensive to increase.  Often, the difference between $100,000 and $500,000 of coverage is twenty or thirty dollars a year.  So how much liability is enough, when your entire future is at stake if your negligence causes even a small loss?  As much as you can get.

To get the coverage you need for renters insurance, just call Effective Coverage at (800)892-4308.  Whether you’re renting a condo, a single family home, an apartment, or something entirely different, you’ll get personal attention and your policy will be written by the underwriter who is able to offer the best combination of price and coverage for your individual situation.  It takes just minutes to give your family the protection they need, and it costs just a few dollars a month.

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