If you live in a condominium unit, villa, or a townhome, ask yourself this question: What kind of insurance am I supposed to have, a homeowners insurance policy or a condo unit owners insurance policy? If you are unsure how to answer this question, then how can you be sure you have the right type of insurance policy for your home? The answer is you can’t. Navigating insurance for these types of homes can be a bit tricky, however at Evolve Insurance Agency, we can help.

Generally speaking, if your condo, villa, or townhome is located in an association classified by the State of Florida as a Condominium Association (COA), then you would need to carry a condo unit-owners policy as you are likely only responsible for covering your unit, or the “walls-in”. If your unit is located in an association classified as a Homeowners Association (HOA), then you would most likely need to carry a homeowner’s insurance policy (HO3) as you are probably responsible for covering the entire structure.

In either case, we never suggest to rely solely on that piece of information when making this determination. Every condo and homeowners association is a little different; however they all clearly spell out your insurance requirements and what parts of the property you’re expected to cover. So first, locate your condo association by-laws and documents and review the areas pertaining to insurance; this should be clearly labeled in the documents. Second, locate your insurance policy and review the coverage limits for your condo, villa, or townhome and more specifically, the coverage form the policy is placed on (You should see either: HO6, HO3, DP3, or DP1). If you are like most people and are not too familiar with insurance then you may not have a clear idea of what you are looking at, but that’s when you should give us or your current agent a call to further discuss.

Knowing you have the right coverage is extremely important for a condo, possibly even more so than for any other type of home.  I could cite countless numbers of experiences I have witnessed and heard about from fellow agents regarding a claim uncovering an incorrectly purchased insurance policy, at no fault of the insured or the agent. Since Condo Unit-Owners insurance policies only provides coverage that equates to about 1/3 of the coverage provided by a Homeowners policy, you could be left holding the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair or replace your home in the event of a claim.

Don’t wait until a claim occurs to find out the hard way, give us a call at Evolve Insurance Agency at 941-244-2760 and we’d be happy to take a fresh look at your condo policy and coverage. An experienced agent is ready to answer your questions and ensure you are purchasing coverage needed to protect your asset and cover what you are required to cover.

David Kronk, Principal Agent, Evolve Insurance Agency