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Old 05-09-2019, 10:03 AM   #1
bizaro86
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I'm looking for an insurance broker to get insurance on a condo I'm purchasing as a rental. Appreciate a recommendation, or if someone on here does this!
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Old 05-13-2019, 10:02 AM   #2
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BUMP - Nobody? I had one private contact but the person ended up not being able to help me.

Surely someone on CP knows or sells home/condo insurance...
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Old 05-14-2019, 08:39 PM   #3
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I deal with Lakeview insurance brokers.. but I am not in your situation so "your milage may vary"
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Old 05-14-2019, 08:54 PM   #4
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Call the company that does your home insurance. No commercial broker is going to take your $20/month account.
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Old 05-14-2019, 09:33 PM   #5
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PM sent
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Old 05-14-2019, 09:36 PM   #6
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Call the company that does your home insurance. No commercial broker is going to take your $20/month account.
This. Your rental likely has to be tied to an existing home policy - at least for decent rates.

If all else fails, try one of those online brokerages, like Sonnet or something.

Last edited by I-Hate-Hulse; 05-14-2019 at 09:45 PM.
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Old 05-14-2019, 10:05 PM   #7
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This. Your rental likely has to be tied to an existing home policy - at least for decent rates.

If all else fails, try one of those online brokerages, like Sonnet or something.
Decent rate isn't my primary concern here. I have the condo insured under my existing homeowners policy, but the condo board raised the deductible on their insurance for water damage to $50k. The highest limit my insurance company will do for a condo is $25k, so if a pipe goes in my unit I have a potential $25k liability.

Thus, I am searching for new insurance. it seems like AMA might be willing to write a higher limit, but we'll see.
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Old 05-15-2019, 09:48 AM   #8
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Standalone rented dwellings are a hard sell.

It's possible Intact may do it. I suggest them as their limits for loss assessment are very high. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better condo policy than Intact.
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Old 06-05-2019, 11:58 AM   #9
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Did you have any luck? I just purchased a place that's in a rental pool, and oddly my current insurer won't touch it.
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Old 06-06-2019, 08:39 AM   #10
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Did you have any luck? I just purchased a place that's in a rental pool, and oddly my current insurer won't touch it.
Not so far...
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Old 06-10-2019, 01:23 PM   #11
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Decent rate isn't my primary concern here. I have the condo insured under my existing homeowners policy, but the condo board raised the deductible on their insurance for water damage to $50k. The highest limit my insurance company will do for a condo is $25k, so if a pipe goes in my unit I have a potential $25k liability.

Thus, I am searching for new insurance. it seems like AMA might be willing to write a higher limit, but we'll see.
Your insurance doesn't cover damages to the pipes unless you caused it for liability sake. When you have insurance in a condo environment you are paying for everything outside of the walls and liability. If a pipe burst within your wall and it's not directly your fault condo corp pays. You want to have your insurance in place to take care of your personal items damaged and if you need to vacate the property. In a rental that would be your appliances mostly. You want to make sure your tenants have insurance as well in case something happens your insurance can subrogate against their policy and it is their fault inside of your unit.

Last edited by fundmark19; 06-10-2019 at 01:27 PM.
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Old 06-11-2019, 10:41 AM   #12
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Your insurance doesn't cover damages to the pipes unless you caused it for liability sake. When you have insurance in a condo environment you are paying for everything outside of the walls and liability. If a pipe burst within your wall and it's not directly your fault condo corp pays. You want to have your insurance in place to take care of your personal items damaged and if you need to vacate the property. In a rental that would be your appliances mostly. You want to make sure your tenants have insurance as well in case something happens your insurance can subrogate against their policy and it is their fault inside of your unit.
Let me tell you a story of something that happened to me in the past.

I buy condo, condo corp insurance policy has $10k deductible. Condo corp changes deductible to $30k without mentioning it to me or sending out a new certificate. I have insurance with a $20k limit.

A few weeks later, my tenants leave their window open winter, because they're idiots. Pipe bursts, floods my unit and 3 units below. Damage is over the condo corp deductible, their insurance pays everything except the $30k deductible. My insurance pays the $20k limit. My tenants leave town in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again. Now, I have a copy of the tenants insurance policy I insist my tenants buy, but the adjuster informs me that without serving the tenants they can't collect from the policy as the insurer has declined to just pay. I pay the $10k difference, plus my deductible ($1000).

4 years later the insurance company finds the tenants somehow, serves them, and settles with their insurance company. So I got the $10k back eventually, but I had mentally written it off by then, and had actually sold the condo.

I do not wish to have this happen again. My strong preference is to have my limit completely cover the condo corp's deductible.
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Old 06-11-2019, 11:09 AM   #13
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Let me tell you a story of something that happened to me in the past.

I buy condo, condo corp insurance policy has $10k deductible. Condo corp changes deductible to $30k without mentioning it to me or sending out a new certificate. I have insurance with a $20k limit.

A few weeks later, my tenants leave their window open winter, because they're idiots. Pipe bursts, floods my unit and 3 units below. theiDamage is over the condo corp deductible,r insurance pays everything except the $30k deductible. My insurance pays the $20k limit. My tenants leave town in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again. Now, I have a copy of the tenants insurance policy I insist my tenants buy, but the adjuster informs me that without serving the tenants they can't collect from the policy as the insurer has declined to just pay. I pay the $10k difference, plus my deductible ($1000).

4 years later the insurance company finds the tenants somehow, serves them, and settles with their insurance company. So I got the $10k back eventually, but I had mentally written it off by then, and had actually sold the condo.

I do not wish to have this happen again. My strong preference is to have my limit completely cover the condo corp's deductible.
The 20k limit is for damages to your unit though not the units below you. That is what your liability portion should be covering which is normally 1/2 million. I am not sure why you had to pay out of pocket anything other then deductibles (for your policy) as I know nothing about the actual claims.

In a typical situation like yours this is how it should have happened:

Condo corp pays - All damages to get repaired. 30k deductible out of condo corp.
Condo owner insurance pays - 30k deductible (pay back condo corp) out of liability insurance plus is subrogated for the rest of the damage since home owner is at fault (since tenant can't be found). your 20k content insurance would cover damages to any flooring/things condo owner owns.
Condo tenant insurance - Would be subrogated to recoup any funds if possible in this situation since it would be under their liability portion again normally 1mil in coverage.

Unless I am missing some key piece of information and you are only purchasing 20k of liability insurance which would be very strange.

Last edited by fundmark19; 06-11-2019 at 11:15 AM.
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Old 06-11-2019, 11:27 AM   #14
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The 20k limit is for damages to your unit though not the units below you. That is what your liability portion should be covering which is normally 1/2 million. I am not sure why you had to pay out of pocket anything other then deductibles (for your policy) as I know nothing about the actual claims.

In a typical situation like yours this is how it should have happened:

Condo corp pays - All damages to get repaired. 30k deductible out of condo corp.
Condo owner insurance pays - 30k deductible (pay back condo corp) out of liability insurance plus is subrogated for the rest of the damage since home owner is at fault (since tenant can't be found). your 20k content insurance would cover damages to any flooring/things condo owner owns.
Condo tenant insurance - Would be subrogated to recoup any funds if possible in this situation since it would be under their liability portion again normally 1mil in coverage.

Unless I am missing some key piece of information and you are only purchasing 20k of liability insurance which would be very strange.
This. You should probably have a million in liability or something.
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Old 06-11-2019, 11:40 AM   #15
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If your current insurance company won't insure the condo then you will most likely have to move your main insurance policy to a new company and then have them insure the condo with it.
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Old 06-11-2019, 12:53 PM   #16
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The problem is condo loss ratios are so high nobody wants them. Most of the companies dont want them so they give you crazy conditions to scare you off. Good luck as you may have to make many calls to find decent coverage and deductibles at a reasonable cost. Most of the big guys wont touch it right now.
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Old 06-11-2019, 03:29 PM   #17
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The 20k limit is for damages to your unit though not the units below you. That is what your liability portion should be covering which is normally 1/2 million. I am not sure why you had to pay out of pocket anything other then deductibles (for your policy) as I know nothing about the actual claims.

In a typical situation like yours this is how it should have happened:

Condo corp pays - All damages to get repaired. 30k deductible out of condo corp.
Condo owner insurance pays - 30k deductible (pay back condo corp) out of liability insurance plus is subrogated for the rest of the damage since home owner is at fault (since tenant can't be found). your 20k content insurance would cover damages to any flooring/things condo owner owns.
Condo tenant insurance - Would be subrogated to recoup any funds if possible in this situation since it would be under their liability portion again normally 1mil in coverage.

Unless I am missing some key piece of information and you are only purchasing 20k of liability insurance which would be very strange.
Interesting. So it sounds like I quite possibly got screwed by the adjuster on that claim. I have the money back now (other than my deductible) so there isn't much to be done at this point.

In that case maybe I should just add it on to my existing policy. I have a million liability, but only $25k limit for water damages, and the cost is way, way less than anything else.
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Old 06-11-2019, 08:46 PM   #18
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If you are specifically worried about water damage you should shop with The Co-operators. They offer the most comprehensive water coverage in the insurance industry. Other companies offer comprehensive water as well but there are a lot more restrictions with the product.

You want enough coverage to replace your physical contents that you own in the property. Normally in a rental that is your appliances and betterment and improvements are normally covered. Upgraded floors etc. The liability of 1/2 million is what you want to make sure of as well.

Here is a link to the info for water coverage. The point of insurance is peace of mind that you will be put back to the same place you were prior to a loss. If you are worried about your current insurance coverage you more than likely don’t have the right coverage in place. Price is important but make sure you are looking at any exclusions and coverage limits.

https://water.cooperators.ca/

Good luck! Hope any of this is helpful

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Old 06-12-2019, 09:06 AM   #19
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My tip - call Wawanesa
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Old 06-12-2019, 09:45 AM   #20
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My tip - call Wawanesa
Without saying who the insurer in my story above was, I will comment that I am not willing to use Wawanesa.
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