The strata insures the building. The argument is about where the building stops.
Your strata’s policy covers the building, including the fixtures the original developer installed in your unit. Everything you or a previous owner added since is a different question. That line decides who pays, and the starting point for it is legislation rather than your building.
Tell us about your unit Read the short answer firstThe Act sets a minimum. Your building can insure more.
Upgrades, contents, and the assessment.
Ask for the building deductible.
What does the strata’s insurance cover inside my unit, and what has to be on my own policy?
The Strata Property Act requires the corporation to insure the buildings shown on the strata plan, and the fixtures in your strata lot if the original developer built or installed them. Fixtures is a defined term and it is narrower than the everyday word. The regulation covers items attached to the building, including floor and wall coverings and electrical and plumbing fixtures, and it leaves out appliances such as a fridge, stove, dishwasher, washer or dryer that come out without damaging the building. What you or a previous owner added above the original, such as an upgraded floor laid over the developer’s one, a renovated kitchen or better cabinetry, is generally insured under the betterments and improvements section of your own condo policy. Your contents, your liability, your living costs if you are put out of the unit, and any amount the corporation assesses against owners are also yours.
That test comes from the Act, so the starting point is the same everywhere. Where your building actually lands can be different, because the Act also lets a corporation insure fixtures the developer did not install. The corporation’s own insurance policy is the document that settles it. The Province, citing court decisions, says a strata owner can be deemed responsible, and required to pay the strata corporation’s insurance deductible, “even if not ‘at fault’ or negligent”. Whether it happens in your building turns on section 158 of the Strata Property Act and on your own bylaws, and if it is contested it is decided by the Civil Resolution Tribunal or the courts. Source: Province of British Columbia, strata owner and tenant insurance (opens in a new tab).
The first is the corporation’s deductible, which can be charged to an owner when a loss starts in their unit. The second is a loss assessment, which is your share of a levy when the corporation’s own loss goes past what its insurance pays. They arrive the same way, as a letter with a number on it, and they are answered by different sections of a condo policy. A unit owner can be well insured for one and hold nothing for the other, which is why both need to be on the policy by name rather than assumed.
Four sections that are yours alone.
Betterments and improvements
Everything above what the corporation insures. If the building was finished with builder-grade flooring and yours is now engineered hardwood, the difference is on your policy. This figure has to be reviewed after any renovation, because renovating enlarges the part of the unit that is your responsibility and nothing prompts you to update it.
Loss assessment
Your share when the corporation levies owners after a loss it could not fully insure. The limits offered on this section are commonly modest, and the Province says strata corporation deductibles can range from $100,000 to $750,000 or higher. Ask what your limit is and compare it with what your building actually carries.
Deductible assessment
This responds when the corporation charges its deductible back to you because the loss started in your unit. A burst hose on a dishwasher is the classic example. Wordings differ on how it is arranged. Some put it in its own section with its own limit and some fold it into loss assessment, where the two then share one limit. Check which you have, because one event can produce both a deductible charge and a levy.
Contents, liability and living costs
Your belongings, your legal liability to other people including neighbours below you, and somewhere to live while the unit is repaired. Additional living expense matters most when a building is closed for months, which in a serious water or fire loss is a realistic outcome.
Three ordinary situations in ordinary buildings. All three are illustrations, not client files.
The renovation nobody told the insurer about
A kitchen and a bathroom are redone properly and the unit is worth more for it. The betterments figure on the condo policy stays where it was set when the unit was bought. After a fire the corporation restores what it insured, and the gap between that and what was actually there sits with the owner, because the policy was never told about the upgrade.
The hose that failed upstairs
A supply line lets go and other units are affected. The corporation claims on its own policy and looks to charge its deductible to the unit where the water started. That owner’s condo policy either has a deductible section or it does not. Whether the charge can be made turns on the bylaws and on who is found responsible, which is a different question from who was careless.
The levy after a large loss
A major loss exceeds what the corporation’s policy pays or falls inside a very high deductible, and the shortfall is levied across all owners. Nothing happened in your unit and you had nothing to do with any of it. Loss assessment is the section written to answer that letter, and whether it responds depends on what caused the corporation’s loss.
The ones that come up when the letter arrives.
How do I find out what the strata insures inside my unit?
Ask the strata council or the property manager for the corporation’s insurance policy and the bylaws. The starting point is the Act, which reaches the fixtures the original developer installed. A corporation can choose to insure more than that, so the policy itself is the thing to read.
Do I still need my own policy if the strata has insurance?
Yes, and it is not close. The corporation’s policy does not cover your belongings, your liability, your upgrades, your living costs, the deductible it can charge you, or a levy it can impose on you. It is written to cover the building. Those are the six things a condo policy exists to answer.
My building’s deductible went up sharply. What should I change?
Look at your deductible coverage and your loss assessment limits and compare them with the building’s current deductible. Comparing those numbers is the way to find out whether you have a gap.
Is the water damage the strata’s problem or mine?
It depends where the water came from, what the building’s bylaws say about responsibility, and what the corporation’s policy covers. Whether the loss is the strata’s or yours turns on the bylaws, and that is a question for a lawyer or the Civil Resolution Tribunal. Send us your policy and we will tell you in writing what cover you hold.
I rent my unit out. Does any of this change?
Substantially. A unit that is rented needs a policy written for a landlord rather than an owner-occupier, covering rental income, liability as a landlord and the tenant’s use of the unit. An owner-occupier policy on a rented unit is the wrong policy for the risk.
Two more worth reading if this is your building: cover for a unit you rent out and what a water claim history does to your next renewal.
Not the question you had? Send your bylaws or your current policy through the short form and you will get a written answer, not a sales call.
Worth reading next: who pays the strata insurance deductible.
Find your building’s number before the letter arrives.
Ask the council for the building deductible and the corporation’s insurance policy, then send us your policy. You will get a written note comparing the limits.