You have the keys in your hand, and a snazzy new décor plan in your head – but do you have everything you need to protect your new home?

Just because it’s not a detached home, doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve protection – just as homeowners need home insurance to protect their abodes from life’s unexpected events, so do condo-owners need condo insurance to protect everything that their condo corporation’s policy doesn’t cover.

If you’re in need of a condo insurance refresher, not to worry – we’ve got you covered. Read on to get informed with our detailed condo insurance primer.

Do I Need Condo Insurance?

Although condo insurance is not mandatory by law, it’s strongly recommended – and for good reason.

While your condo building itself is insured by the condo corporation, their policy doesn’t protect you against damages in your unit. This means that if you experience a flood, burglary, or even smoke damage in your unit, the condo corporation’s insurance policy will not cover the costs – these costs will be left for you to pay, out of pocket.

What Does It Cover?

Condo insurance protects the interior of your condominium unit, and the personal property that’s housed inside. What’s more, it also covers improvements to your unit.

Desjardins Insurance’s condo insurance policy also includes liability coverage, so you’re protected in case someone is injured in your unit, or their property is damaged.

To make sure you’re protected in case the unexpected occurs, you’ll want to make sure your condo insurance includes:

• Your personal belongings: This includes all of your personal property, such as clothing, electronics, computers, pots and pans, appliances, etc.
• Liability: In the unfortunate circumstance that someone injures themselves in your condo, you could be held liable if they sue you. In this instance, your condo insurance would protect you. Liability coverage also protects you in case you cause accidental damage to someone else’s property.
• Upgrades to your unit: If you’ve made improvements to your condo, such as installing hardwood or a new Jacuzzi, you’ll want to factor the value of these renovations into your policy.
• Living expenses: If you need accommodations outside of your condo while it’s undergoing repairs after an insured loss, you’ll want to make sure your policy helps cover some of the additional living expenses, such as a hotel room or storage.
• Loss assessment: You are held financially responsible with all other condo owners for the cost of damage to the common property. You will have to pay your share to cover the damage that is either not covered or exceeds the existing coverage under the building master policy, or the portion of the deductible determined by the assessment, even if the damage itself is covered by the building master policy.

What Does It Not Cover?

Most standard condo insurance policies do not cover items of high value, such as rare works of art, precious stones, and expensive jewelry.

If you would like to add these items to your insurance policy, speak with your insurer to see if you can schedule them separately on your policy.

What Does Desjardins’ Condo Insurance Include?

When you choose Desjardins for your condo insurance policy, you get peace of mind in knowing that your unit is covered by our all-risk policy, which protects you in case of most types of accidents that could cause damage to your condo, including a fire, a break-in, and water damage caused by a washing machine or dishwasher.

All-risk insurance also protects you in other situations that most people don’t think of, such as:

• Your laptop breaks because you dropped it while walking down the stairs
• Your TV breaks because your entertainment unit wasn’t set up properly, and toppled over
• You accidently drop your fridge during moving
• While re-painting your bedroom, you accidently spill a bucket of paint onto your mattress

Desjardins Insurance also offers liability coverage, which protects you if someone accidently injures themselves in your condo, or if you accidently damage a neighbour’s property. For example:

• You have an area rug in the living room, and your guest accidently trips over it and injures themselves.
• Your pet bites your visitor.
• You leave your bathtub running unattended, and it overflows, causing water damage to your neighbour’s condo unit below.

In cases such as these, if your guest or neighbor decides to sue you for bodily injury or property damage, your liability insurance will cover the legal fees.

Desjardins Insurance also offers various optional coverage options, including:

• Water damage protection
• Swimming pool and hot tub
• Escape of fuel oil

How Much Coverage Do I Need?

The amount of coverage you need is dependent on your own personal situation. Besides the standard and liability coverage, you can pick and choose which additional coverage options make sense for you.

For example, take into account the value of your belongings, and determine whether it’s worth it for you to get extra coverage to protect your valuable items. Or, if you live in a flood-prone area, it may be worth opting for water damage protection to pre-emptively protect your condo unit and its contents from the possibility of future flooding.

How Can I Get Condo Insurance?

Getting condo insurance with Desjardins is as easy as getting a quote online, and completing the online form.

At Desjardins insurance, protecting you and your home is our primary goal. Get a quote today to see how easy it is to protect your condominium, and everything inside of it, with Desjardins.

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