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 a hard market for several years, and the decisions you make at renewal now follow the building for years.
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Building, 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 of water. A pipe fails on the fourth floor and the water runs down into the units below, so one small failure turns into several claims.
The BC Financial Services Authority looked at this in 2020. Insurers told it their losses were coming mostly from claims that cost less but happened often, and water damage in particular. That was 2020 and the market has not stood still. What your building pays at its next renewal turns on your building, and the biggest thing in that file is its own claims record. Read BCFSA on the state of strata property insurance in BC (opens in a new tab).
Under the Strata Property Act the deductible on the corporation’s claim starts out as a common expense, shared by every owner. Section 158 (opens in a new tab) lets the corporation sue an owner to recover it where that owner is responsible for the loss or damage that gave rise to the claim. So where the water started is not the test on its own. Your own figure is on the strata’s insurance summary, and a strata policy can carry more than one deductible, with a separate one for water damage. The BC Financial Services Authority is the regulator here: “RESA requires those who provide strata management services for a fee to be licensed, unless they are specifically exempted by the Real Estate Services Regulation.” A licensed professional carries a professional’s liability. Read BCFSA on working with a strata management company (opens in a new tab).
So a good renewal is only part of the job. What moves the price over time is cutting the losses behind it, 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.
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.
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.
Worth reading next: who pays the strata insurance deductible.
How this can play out.
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 strata and property managers get caught by.
Strata cover sits where three documents meet: the strata policy, the owner policies and the management contract. The conditions live in the seams.
The deductible that outgrew the minutes
Strata water deductibles have climbed fast. Owners find out at assessment time. A council that has not re-checked the number this year is carrying last year’s surprise.
Maintenance deferred into an exclusion
Insurers read depreciation reports too. A known issue left unfixed, the roof or the pipes, can turn a covered loss into a known problem.
The manager acting past the contract
A manager who arranges repairs, holds funds or makes calls beyond the written contract is working outside the cover bought for the written role.
Owner improvements nobody recorded
Hardwood, new kitchens and finished basements sit between the strata policy and the owner policy. The improvements list decides, if it exists.
Read the strata policy against the depreciation report once a year, before the AGM asks who knew what.
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 for a strata council.
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. Owner disputes about insurance start where people do not know what the building covers and what their own policy has to cover. A short plain-English briefing can head off a lot of that.
Not the question you had? Build the strata file and set out your own situation in plain words. A licensed broker reads it and replies in writing.
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
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