When you live in a condo, filing an insurance claim involves both your individual HO-6 policy and your community's master insurance policy. You must first determine if the damage is to your personal property, the interior of your unit, or a common area before knowing which policy applies to covering your damage.
Follow these steps when filing a claim to help ensure a smooth and timely process.
Step 1: Document the damage and prevent additional damage
Take photos and videos of the affected areas. Take pictures of the source of the damage if it's safe to do so. Start making a list of all damaged property and belongings. Keep track of things such as serial numbers and model numbers in your list.
One of your most important tasks as a policyholder is also to prevent additional damage from occurring as soon as possible. Stop a leak if it's the source of damage, board up any openings, or contact neighboring units if the source of the damage is stemming from their unit. Keep all receipts for any emergency repairs you make to prevent further damage.
Step 2: Contact your insurer and your community's governing body
Contact your HOA, board, or property manager immediately. They can help determine if the master policy should cover the damage and can initiate that claim.
You also need to contact your insurance company. File a claim with your own HO-6 policy for damage to your belongings, incurred additional living expenses, and anything the master policy doesn’t cover.
Step 3: Review your community's governing documents
Take a good look at your community's Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) and bylaws. These documents define what the community's master insurance policy covers versus what the unit owner is responsible for covering. Your insurer will need a copy of these documents so they can finalize coverage for the loss.
Step 4: Work with insurance adjusters to determine policy coverage
An adjuster from the company you bought your HO-6 personal policy from will assess damage to your personal property and anything not covered by the community master policy. If the master policy covers some of the damage, an adjuster from the community's insurer will also inspect the property. In complex cases, especially if a leak originated from a common area or another unit is involved, your personal insurer and the community's insurer will determine which policy is primarily responsible.
You may be responsible for paying the community master policy's deductible for damages to your unit. Often, your HO-6 provider will cover your unit's damages up to the master policy deductible, but you are responsible for paying your HO-6 deductible.
Step 5: Keep a contact log. Record any invoices and payments issued for your claim
Document all communications related to the incident, such as emails, letters, payments, and invoices for any mitigation or repair work completed.
Maintain a list of who to contact regarding each aspect of your claim, such as mitigation, repair, master policy adjuster, HO-6 adjuster, HOA board members, or property manager.
Consider these special circumstances
Condo insurance claims can be complex. Some special circumstances apply to condo communities, including:
Damage from a neighbor
If a neighbor's negligence caused the damage, such as an overflowing tub, your HO-6 policy will typically cover damages not covered by the community master policy, as well as your belongings. Your insurer may attempt to recover its costs from your neighbor's liability coverage. Sometimes your CC&Rs will specifically lay out how liability is determined when water escapes from one unit to another.
Master policy claim denial
If the community's insurer denies a valid claim on the master policy, the community's governing body has a duty to resolve the issue. If it doesn't and you can't get the issue resolved, contact your personal insurer first and consider consulting with an attorney for legal advice.