So, you need California Condo Insurance, Townhome Insurance, Walls In Insurance and/or HO6 Insurance and want to get a better idea of what this means.
These days, lenders usually require condo or townhome owners to buy a “Walls-In” or HO-6 policy where the interior of your unit is covered in an amount that is at least 20% of the purchase price.
For example, you are buying a condo in California for $600,000. Your lender may require at least $120,000 of coverage for the interior. You can always get more than $120,000, but this is most likely the minimum lender requirement.
Let’s first define townhome, town home, condo, condominium and row house.
A townhouse, townhome or row house is when two or more units are joined by common walls. Each unit never has units above or below and will never have more than two walls in common with adjacent units. With a condo or condominium, you own the individual unit and the exterior, roof and common areas are covered by the HOA, also known as the Home Owners Association.
California Condo, Townhome, HO-6 and Walls In Insurance is pretty much all the same. As the home owner, you’re responsible for the interior: cabinets, sinks, toilets, fixtures, baseboards, flooring, etc. In most cases, the HOA is responsible for common areas: the exterior of your unit, walls in between units, the roof…etc. In rare cases, the HOA may rebuild the interior, but they only rebuild the interior with “basic” materials. So, if you bought the unit with carpet, but upgraded to hardwood, you would be responsible for the cost difference of the carpet and hardwood.
Our Walls In insurance covers you for damage or lass resulting from:
– Fire and lightning
– Windstorm, hurricane and hail
– Explosion
– Riot and civil commotion
– Falling objects
– Aircraft and vehicles
– Sudden and accidental damage from smoke
– Collapse of building
– Vandalism and malicious mischief
– Theft
– Accidental discharge, leakage or overflow of water or steam from within a plumbing, heating or air conditioning system or household appliance
– Freezing of a plumbing, heating or air condition system and household appliance.
As a condo owner, you’re also responsible for insuring your personal property. Personal property is anything you’d take with you in a move that’s not permanently fixed to the property. Our condo insurance policy not only covers your property in your home, but also follows you all over the world. If you are on vacation and your luggage is stolen, your California HO6 insurance will cover you!
Additional coverage our California Condominium Insurance offers is:
– Liability Coverage: Coverage for bodily injury you cause to other people or damage to their property (includes any legal expenses).
– Replacement Cost: This coverage will replace your personal property at current market value vs. the depreciated value. YOU ALWAYS WANT THIS COVERAGE! Many insurance agents leave this coverage out of the policy to make the policy cheaper. We have had many property loss claims in our agency and clients would have only received 25% of the amount they got if they didn’t have this coverage. For a few more bucks a month, get Contents Replacement Coverage.
– Loss Assessment Coverage: If the HOA slaps you with a special assessment due to a covered loss, you won’t have to pay for this out of pocket. Your condo insurance can cover this.
– Specialty Items: These items are not covered the same way as your basic personal property. Specialty items include furs, guns, silverware, computers, fine arts, jewelry..etc.
For more information about insurance for condo or townhouse in California, please contact us at https://einhorninsurance.com/california-fire-insurance/
