insurance?

This is the paragraph that is in our declaration!

13. Insurance.
(a) The Board shall have the authority to and shall obtain insurance for the Property against loss or damage by fire and such other hazards as the Board may deem desirable, for the full insurable replacement cost of the Common
Elements and the Units. Premiums for such insurance shall be Common Expenses.

The insurance agent said they would replace anything that is stated in the declaration (up to the policy limit). He also said that the above paragraph is pretty vague. I think he maybe right. Before I say anymore to the rest of the board (3 of us total) I would like your opinions. Thanks

We are condo's. No pools, club houses are anything like that. Just condo's (4 plexs and dublexs)

I think i am going to have an attorney looks this over. The declaration reads as this, "Each unit shall consist of the space enclosed and bounded by the horizontal and vertical planes constituting the boundaries of such unit as shown on the plat. Clear as mud!!!!!!!

MichaelJ8,

What you posted – “Each Unit shall consist of ….”, is fairly common terminology. But, I expect there is also more description following.

Are you getting a Master Insurance policy for the first time? Or changing Insurance Companies and/or Agents?

While this might not quite fit, individual condo unit insurance is somewhat like renters insurance. Even then one must add to it for it to covers ones expensive oriental rugs verus vinyl flooring, etc.

Now in our standalone homes HOA the HOA is also named on ones individual insurance. This so one cannot collect the insurance and abscond with it leaving a damaged/destroyed/unsafe house.

MichaelJ8,

Requirements vary between the states. In some States per the Declaration, the Unit Owner owns from the PAINT INWARD on the perimetric walls. In other states the Unit owner owns the perimetric wall board, the lath, furring etc. For example:

UNIT BOUNDARIES. Except as provided by the declaration:
(1) If walls, floors, or ceilings are designated as boundaries of a unit, all lath, furring, wallboard, plasterboard, plaster, paneling, tiles, wallpaper, paint, finished flooring, and any other materials constituting any part of the finished surfaces thereof are a part of the unit, and all other portions of the walls, floors, or ceilings are a part of the common elements.

In Vermont the State statute reads similar, except that in Vermont only the wallboard is part of the Unit, not the lath and furring etc.

In Connecticut the CIOA was recently revised to, I believe, require that the insurance on Units include coverage for improvements unit owners installed, unless the declaration limits the association's authority to do so.

Searching just now I found the following: Typically the condo association will insure the building based on one of two approaches: bare walls or single entity.

A "bare walls" approach means that the association will insure only the building including walls, the roof, floors, elevators, etc. The association is not responsible for insuring anything inside the unit such as appliances, cabinets, carpeting, wallpaper, plumbing, electrical wiring, etc.

In comparison a “single entity" coverage plan means that the condo association will insure the building as well as particular fixtures inside of the unique unit including carpeting, cabinets and appliances.

As I understand, if what “you would like” is per YOUR Declaration definitions for Unit, Common, etc., AND per the Illinois Condominium Property Act, only then would that be what the Master Policy would insure.