Insurance for the buildings other people live in.
Strata corporations, property management firms and the councils who have to sign off on it. BC strata insurance has been the hardest market in the country for several years, and the decisions you make at renewal now follow the building for years.
Talk to a broker See what’s involvedBuilding, common property, council liability and deductible exposure
Strata corporations, councils and property management firms
Your current policy, two years of claims, and any appraisal
Why has strata insurance become so expensive in BC?
Because insurers paid out more than they took in on BC strata for several years running. Most of it was water damage, which is the most common loss in a multi-unit building and the one most likely to happen again.
Insurers responded by raising premiums, raising deductibles sharply, and in some cases leaving the class altogether. Many buildings now carry deductibles in the tens of thousands. And a building’s own claims record matters more than it ever did.
A building deductible now runs into the tens of thousands, and when a loss starts in a unit the corporation can assess it against that owner. Councils who never explained this end up defending the decision themselves.
So the useful work is no longer shopping the renewal around. It is cutting the losses that drive the price, and making sure every owner knows the deductible they can be charged.
The cover, and who it protects.
Building and common property
The structure, common areas and fixtures, insured at a current replacement value from a recent appraisal, not a figure carried forward for a decade.
Strata council liability
Directors and officers cover for the volunteers on your council, who make decisions that affect other people’s largest asset.
General liability for the corporation
Injury or damage arising from the common property, the lobby floor, the parkade, the walkway.
Property manager’s E&O
For the management firm itself: claims that the advice, the accounting or the oversight caused a loss.
Equipment breakdown
Boilers, elevators, HVAC and pumps, the failures that generate emergency spend and angry owners in the same afternoon.
Loss assessment and deductible exposure
Where the corporation’s deductible lands on an owner, and how their individual policy should be arranged to meet it.
The deductible conversation nobody wants to have.
A high building deductible is not simply a cost to the corporation. It is a bill that lands on an individual owner when the loss starts in their unit, and most owners have no idea until it happens.
Tell owners the number
Every owner should know the building’s water deductible and be told when it changes. It is the single most useful thing a council can communicate.
Their policy has to match it
Strata deductible assessment coverage exists for exactly this, and the limit must reflect the building’s real deductible.
We will brief your owners
We are happy to explain it at an AGM or in a letter, in plain English. It reduces disputes and it reduces claims.
What actually moves a strata renewal.
Not shopping harder. Presenting the building better.
In a hard market, the same building can get two different answers depending on how it is presented. What changes the outcome is evidence. A current appraisal. A documented maintenance history. Proof that a known water problem was fixed properly, not patched. And a depreciation report an underwriter can actually read.
We will tell you which of those your building is missing before we go to market, not afterwards. And where the honest answer is that the price reflects the building’s record, we will say that too, then help you change the record for next year.
A situation we see.
A supply line fails in a fourth-floor unit and water reaches three floors. The corporation’s policy pays for the building damage, then assesses its deductible against the owner where the loss began. That owner did not know the number until the bill arrived.
Buildings of every size and age.
If your building has been non-renewed or is being quoted at a number the council cannot approve, bring us the file. Habitational property is one of the classes we place when others will not.
What councils and managers ask us.
Who pays the strata deductible when a loss starts in a unit?
Often the owner of that unit, depending on the bylaws and the circumstances. That is why strata deductible assessment coverage on an owner’s personal policy matters so much, and why the limit should match the building’s actual deductible rather than a default figure.
Our insurance went up sharply. Can we do anything about it?
Sometimes yes, but rarely by shopping alone. The levers are a current appraisal, evidence of completed repairs, a credible maintenance and depreciation record, and reducing repeat water losses. We will tell you which of those your building is missing before renewal, not after.
Does the strata’s policy cover what is inside my unit?
Generally not your belongings, your improvements or your liability. Those sit on the owner’s individual policy. What the strata policy covers is set out in the bylaws and the policy wording, and the two should be read together.
Do volunteer strata council members need liability insurance?
Yes. Council decisions affect other people’s homes and finances, and directors can be named personally in a claim. Directors and officers cover for a strata council is standard and inexpensive relative to the exposure.
Our building was non-renewed. What now?
Send us the notice and the last two years of claims. Habitational risk is one of the classes insurers have pulled back from hardest. Placing it is ordinary work here, and we will be honest with you about the likely terms.
Can you explain the insurance to our owners at the AGM?
Yes, and we recommend it. Most owner disputes about insurance come from people not knowing what the building covers and what their own policy has to cover. A short plain-English briefing prevents a lot of that.
Send us the building.
The current policy, the last two years of claims, and the appraisal if you have one.
WE WILL TELL YOU WHAT THE SUBMISSION IS MISSING BEFORE WE GO TO MARKET
Own commercial units too? commercial property.
Boilers, elevators and central HVAC fail without any fire or flood. equipment breakdown.