The short answer
Condo insurance is the policy a unit owner carries on their own account, separate from the building's policy that the condominium corporation holds. It typically covers your belongings, improvements you have made, your liability, extra living costs, and your share of certain building charges. Where the corporation's cover stops is set by your bylaws, so a licensed broker reads those first.
- New condo owners who have just received a status certificate and a pile of documents
- Owners who renovated the kitchen or bathroom and are unsure what is covered
- Anyone who has been told the corporation has a large deductible
- People downsizing from a house into a unit
- Owners renting out their unit part of the year
4 licensed brokers in the network handle this. In Alberta, Canada, a request for condo insurance can be offered to up to three of them, chosen because they are licensed for this line and place. They are test brokers while we are in demo.
See the brokers → Outside Alberta, Canada you can prepare and save a request today; sending opens place by place. Brokers answer with their own quotes. Broker.insure does not quote, advise or take commission.
01 / What it covers
The parts worth understanding
The corporation's master policy
Insurance held by the condominium corporation, or strata corporation in British Columbia, on the common property and often the building structure. What it includes inside your unit differs by corporation and province.
Improvements to your unit
Upgraded flooring, cabinets, fixtures and finishes. These may or may not be covered by the master policy, so owners often need their own cover for them. Receipts and photographs help.
Personal belongings
Furniture, clothing, electronics and everything else you own inside the unit and often in a storage locker or parking stall.
Loss assessment
Covers your share when the corporation bills owners for an uninsured loss or a shortfall in its own insurance. The limit is worth checking against the corporation's own deductible.
Liability
Your legal responsibility if water from your unit damages a neighbour's or someone is injured because of your negligence. Condo living puts you close to many others, so this matters.
Extra living costs
Paid when a covered loss makes your unit unlivable and you need somewhere else to stay.
02 / Get ready
Bring this, and expect these questions
Gather
- The condominium corporation's name, plan number and its insurance certificate, if the manager can provide it
- The bylaws or declaration sections that say what the corporation insures and who pays the deductible
- The status certificate or equivalent document from your purchase or your manager
- A list of upgrades made to the unit, with approximate dates and any receipts
- The building's age and your floor, since leaks travel and fire response varies
- Whether the unit is owner-occupied, rented out or used as a short-term rental
- Your mortgage lender's details, if any
- Claims you have made in the past several years, with dates
- A rough inventory of belongings, including the locker and parking stall
A broker will ask
- What does the corporation's master policy cover inside your unit?
- What is the corporation's deductible and who pays it after a loss?
- What have you changed or upgraded since taking possession?
- Is the unit owner-occupied, rented or listed on a short-term platform?
- Is the building older, and has it had water or fire losses?
- Do you want higher loss assessment protection than the default?
- Is there a locker, parking stall or storage cage with your belongings?
- Do you own anything that needs to be listed separately, such as art or jewellery?
Not sure of an answer? Leave it. "Not known yet" is a fine answer, and a broker will help you fill it in.
03 / Build your request
Answer a few questions. Get your own list.
Pick what fits. Your answers shape the list beside them, and they are saved to your request as plain facts a broker can read. "Not sure yet" is always a fine answer.
04 / Three situations
See which one sounds like yours
A buyer in a concrete tower with a renovated kitchen
A software developer is buying a unit where the previous owner installed new cabinets, flooring and a stone counter. The building was constructed in the 1990s, and the corporation's documents run to several hundred pages.
First steps. Ask the property manager for the corporation's insurance certificate and the bylaw on what the building policy covers. Give the broker both, plus whatever documentation of the upgrades the seller can pass along. Ask how those improvements should be insured.
Owners hit with a deductible assessment
A pipe in the unit above burst and flooded three floors. The corporation's insurance paid for the repairs, but the corporation billed the owner of the source unit and then assessed others for part of the deductible.
First steps. Keep the assessment notice and ask the broker whether the policy has loss assessment cover and what the limit is. Ask also whether it covers deductible assessments specifically, and read how the bylaw decides who pays when the cause is inside a unit.
Retired homeowners moving into a condo
After selling a house they owned for thirty years, a couple bought a two-bedroom unit and brought furniture, a piano and a collection of paintings. They have never needed unit-owner cover before.
First steps. Make a list of the larger items with photographs and any appraisals, particularly the piano and paintings. Ask the broker about the policy's limits on art and instruments, and what the move-in date should be so the old and new coverage overlap.
05 / Words you will hear
The jargon, in plain words
- Master policy
- The building-wide insurance held by the corporation. It rarely covers your belongings, and it may stop short of what is inside the walls of your unit.
- Loss assessment
- A charge the corporation passes to owners when a loss or a shortfall in its own cover has to be shared. Your own policy can respond to part of it.
- Deductible assignment
- A clause that lets the corporation pass its deductible to the owner whose unit caused or suffered the loss. Check how your bylaws set this up.
- Status certificate
- A document the corporation issues about its finances, rules and insurance. Buyers read it before closing, and some provinces use a different name for it.
- Improvements and betterments
- Upgrades to a unit beyond its original finishes. Whether the corporation's policy or yours pays for them depends on the declaration, so ask early.
06 / Common mistakes
What trips people up
- Assuming the building's insurance covers everything inside the unit, including upgrades.
- Never reading the bylaw that says who pays the corporation's deductible.
- Skipping loss assessment cover, then being billed after a large loss in the building.
- Renting the unit short term without telling the insurer.
- Insuring belongings for a rough guess instead of listing what is actually there.
- Forgetting the locker, parking stall or storage cage.
Ready when you are
Turn this into one clear request.
Save it, add what you know, and choose when to send it. A licensed broker who handles condo insurance takes it from there.
07 / Questions people ask
Straight answers
Do I need condo insurance if the building is insured?
Yes, in almost every case. The building's policy is held by the corporation and generally protects the structure and common areas. It does not cover your belongings, your liability or, in many buildings, the improvements you have made. Most corporations' bylaws and many lenders also expect owners to carry their own cover.
What does condo insurance cover?
Typically your belongings, improvements to the unit, your liability, extra living costs if you cannot stay there, and loss assessment for charges levied by the corporation. The exact split depends on the corporation's bylaws and master policy, which is why a broker will ask for them before explaining what you need.
What is loss assessment coverage?
It pays your share when the corporation charges owners for a loss it cannot cover itself, such as an uninsured amount or a high deductible. Without it, you pay that charge directly. The coverage has its own limit and conditions, so ask a broker how the limit compares with your building's deductible.
What is the difference between condo insurance and home insurance?
A home policy insures the whole building you own, while a condo policy insures what a unit owner is responsible for, because the corporation insures the building. Condo cover therefore centres on belongings, improvements, liability and assessments. Which parts of the unit count as building or as improvements is set by your corporation's documents.
Does my condo insurance cover a leak from the unit above?
Your own policy typically responds to damage to your belongings and improvements from a leak, whoever caused it. The corporation's policy may handle the repair of the structure. Who pays the deductible and whether the neighbour can be held responsible depend on your bylaws and the cause, so keep every document.
Can I rent out my condo with this insurance?
A standard owner-occupied policy usually assumes you live in the unit. Renting it to a tenant, or listing it on a short-term platform, often needs different cover and the insurer must be told. Look at the landlord insurance page, or ask a broker how your arrangement should be set up.
General information, not insurance advice. Broker.insure is a directory and request service: it is not an insurer and does not quote, bind or advise. Policy terms, availability and what is required where you live depend on your situation and on licensed professionals. Updated 2026-10-31.