I have been asked the following question: If I own a condo, can I just get a renters insurance policy or do I need a condo insurance policy? The answer is definitely, a Condo Insurance Policy.
Renters Insurance will only cover the contents of an apartment, condo or home. This is fine if you are a tenant and the contents are the only exposure you have in the event of a loss. But, if you own a condo you have additional concerns even though you don’t own the entire building.
The Condo Owners Association will provide coverage for the building/structure. The typical coverage provided by this type of policy will be only for the roof and exterior walls. Coverage stops at the wall studs and anything inside of this is the unit owners responsibility. This would include the sheet rock, paint, texturing, wallpaper, cabinets, wall tiles, showers, sinks, fixtures, lighting, cabinets and more. Renters Insurance does not cover these items. You have to determine a value for these finish out items and add this to the contents coverage amount and use this as the coverage amount for the condo insurance policy.
This is a major difference in coverage and must be address properly or you could risk a major loss. So, get the Condo Insurance policy if you own the unit. It does cost much more and could save you a bunch in the long run.