INSURANCE IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST!

By Jan Bergemann

Published August 6, 2021

 

We always hear condo owners complaining about the high cost of insurance – not only for the property insurance, but as well for the HO6 insurance of the individual unit-owner.

 

But what do you do if there is no insurance when disaster strikes?

 

Many owners cancelled their HO6 insurance once the legislature repealed the requirement to carry such policy for individual owners. But many folks have regretted the cancellation when they realized that for example water damage caused by a leak in the upstairs unit is no longer covered and they have to pay for it themselves – if they can’t prove that the unit-owner above them aced negligent or worse.

 

But even if the association carries all the necessary property insurance policies, reserve funds should be always fully funded. Please don’t forget: Most condo insurance policies carry a 5% deductible for hurricane damage. So, if the roof of your building gets blown away by a hurricane – remember all the “blue roofs” after Wilma? – the insurance only kicks in if the damage is above the 5% deductible – and the 5% count for the complete insured value of the building, not just the roof damage. And that’s when the fully funded roof reserve-funds comes in handy, to cover the cost of the deductible. After Wilma most condos down South didn’t have reserve-funds worth mentioning and high special assessments had to be levied to cover the cost of the roof-repair.

 

A special assessment many families couldn’t afford – and they lost their homes.

 

Wouldn’t you agree that great insurance policies and fully funded reserves can be very helpful in case of serious damage to your property?


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Jan Bergemann Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice, Florida 's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group. CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in community  

associations. He moved to Florida in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues for his own purposes. End of retirement!

 

CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in Tallahassee - finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.

 

The organization has two websites to inform interested Florida homeowners and condo owners:

News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.

Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.

   
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all service providers surely have a different interest! We are trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking in Florida !


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