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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repealed the requirement to carry such policy for individual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 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
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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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