Condo Q&A

Be careful of what condo association insurance actually covers

Written by stephen polinsky | Wed, Dec 29, 2010 @ 02:26 PM
Our 32-unit overall condo association insurance in Minnesota is with State Farm. At our annual meetings, the insurance agent has attended. He has told us that anything in our own units that is more or less "nailed down" or "attached" is covered; such as appliances, cupboards, bathtubs, carpeting, even wallpaper, walls, doors, door trim, etc. Wow - that sounded pretty darn good to me! I experienced damage lately to "nailed down" property and submitted a claim to State Farm. The response was that it was not covered because the Association has a $5,000 deductible, and this applies to the inside of individual units as well as to the overall property. My damage is less than $5,000. I have private homeowner's condo insurance. I based that coverage amount and deductible in part on what I had mistakenly thought State Farm would cover for an incident. So, condo owners, beware. What you think might be covered in the way you think it would be covered probably isn't!