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	<title>Answers for InsuranceLibrary.comCharles Newsome -  -</title>
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		<title>Answer on Does Auto Insurance Affect Credit Score? by Charles Newsome</title>
		<link>http://insurancelibrary.com/auto-insurance/does-auto-insurance-affect-credit-score#answer_144</link>
		<dc:creator>Charles Newsome</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:03:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://insurancelibrary.com/auto-insurance/does-auto-insurance-affect-credit-score#answer_144</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The short answer is NO!

This is a question commonly asked by clients, especially those that are looking for new insurance on a car or house they are wanting to finance. Every inquiry, they people are told, can lower their credit and could affect the interest rate on the final loan. While this is a general statement that is often true, it is very broad and non-specific and overlooks certain key details that you need to know.

Keep in mind there are two different types of credit inquires: “hard” inquiries and “soft” inquiries. Maybe you have heard of these by different names, but here is what I mean by “hard” and “soft” credit pulls.

A “hard” inquiry is one where you are looking to obtain a line of credit such as through an auto finance company, a store credit card at a retail store like BestBuy or Sears, a gas card at your Shell gas station, a mortgage (new purchase or refinance), and sometimes when opening a utility in your name (though not always) or trying to rent a property. Every time you apply for credit, the underwriters (people who decide to extend you credit, how much and at what interest rate) can see the inquiries AND some of the FICO score models are about 10% composed by the number of inquiries that you have. Basically, the more credit you apply for the riskier you become because you either are getting declined and the new company wants to know why, or you are getting a lot of credit and the next company has concerns that you can pay all of this new credit at once. Therefore, it is important that you keep all the inquires to a minimum when possible (less than 2 is ideal, zero being the most preferred.) A general rule is that you have to authorize someone to look at your credit for a hard inquiry.

Conversely, a “soft” inquiry is what companies use when they are looking at credit but not offering a line of credit to you directly. This is what most utility companies use to make sure you don’t have specific items on your credit report they are looking for when considering opening an account in your name; they usually are looking for late-pays and other items but not necessarily your credit score. NOBODY sees these inquiries except for the individual when pulling up their credit report (which can be done for free once a year.) So you might get a credit report and see 2 inquiries (one for the credit card you applied for and the other for a car you tried to refinance) but then another 5-10 other inquires you aren’t even familiar with. These could include the credit card companies sending you pre-approval letters to apply for a new credit card or utility companies when you moved to your new apartment. Don’t panic as these don’t affect your score.

With that being said, which one of these inquires is insurance? Insurance is a “soft” inquiry that does not affect your credit score. If you talk to an independent agent when buying a house, you could see multiple soft inquiries on your credit report from companies like ASI, The Hartford, Safeco, Erie, Kemper, Foremost, Mercury, and many other companies. This is because each of these companies wants to know your credit-worthiness or financial responsibility because it has a direct relationship with you paying insurance on time AND with the number of claims that you file (better credit means less claims as a general trend).

So don’t be afraid to get a quote for insurance. Your loan officer or bank manager or whomever is right in saying don’t apply for new lines of credit or anything that pulls as a hard inquiry, since that affects your score. However, getting an insurance quote for home, auto, life, or health insurance doesn’t affect your credit at all.

Don’t forget to pull your credit report once a year from the 3 major credit bureaus. You will probably see your new insurance company on there. However, insurance companies wouldn’t pull credit if it wasn’t important to make sure to review your credit once a year and verify everything is accurate. The only official website is annualcreditreport.com so go there for your free reports.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[The short answer is NO!

This is a question commonly asked by clients, especially those that are looking for new insurance on a car or house they are wanting to finance. Every inquiry, they people are told, can lower their credit and could affect the interest rate on the final loan. While this is a general statement that is often true, it is very broad and non-specific and overlooks certain key details that you need to know.

Keep in mind there are two different types of credit inquires: “hard” inquiries and “soft” inquiries. Maybe you have heard of these by different names, but here is what I mean by “hard” and “soft” credit pulls.

A “hard” inquiry is one where you are looking to obtain a line of credit such as through an auto finance company, a store credit card at a retail store like BestBuy or Sears, a gas card at your Shell gas station, a mortgage (new purchase or refinance), and sometimes when opening a utility in your name (though not always) or trying to rent a property. Every time you apply for credit, the underwriters (people who decide to extend you credit, how much and at what interest rate) can see the inquiries AND some of the FICO score models are about 10% composed by the number of inquiries that you have. Basically, the more credit you apply for the riskier you become because you either are getting declined and the new company wants to know why, or you are getting a lot of credit and the next company has concerns that you can pay all of this new credit at once. Therefore, it is important that you keep all the inquires to a minimum when possible (less than 2 is ideal, zero being the most preferred.) A general rule is that you have to authorize someone to look at your credit for a hard inquiry.

Conversely, a “soft” inquiry is what companies use when they are looking at credit but not offering a line of credit to you directly. This is what most utility companies use to make sure you don’t have specific items on your credit report they are looking for when considering opening an account in your name; they usually are looking for late-pays and other items but not necessarily your credit score. NOBODY sees these inquiries except for the individual when pulling up their credit report (which can be done for free once a year.) So you might get a credit report and see 2 inquiries (one for the credit card you applied for and the other for a car you tried to refinance) but then another 5-10 other inquires you aren’t even familiar with. These could include the credit card companies sending you pre-approval letters to apply for a new credit card or utility companies when you moved to your new apartment. Don’t panic as these don’t affect your score.

With that being said, which one of these inquires is insurance? Insurance is a “soft” inquiry that does not affect your credit score. If you talk to an independent agent when buying a house, you could see multiple soft inquiries on your credit report from companies like ASI, The Hartford, Safeco, Erie, Kemper, Foremost, Mercury, and many other companies. This is because each of these companies wants to know your credit-worthiness or financial responsibility because it has a direct relationship with you paying insurance on time AND with the number of claims that you file (better credit means less claims as a general trend).

So don’t be afraid to get a quote for insurance. Your loan officer or bank manager or whomever is right in saying don’t apply for new lines of credit or anything that pulls as a hard inquiry, since that affects your score. However, getting an insurance quote for home, auto, life, or health insurance doesn’t affect your credit at all.

Don’t forget to pull your credit report once a year from the 3 major credit bureaus. You will probably see your new insurance company on there. However, insurance companies wouldn’t pull credit if it wasn’t important to make sure to review your credit once a year and verify everything is accurate. The only official website is annualcreditreport.com so go there for your free reports.]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Answer on Do I Need Gap Insurance On A Used Car? by Charles Newsome</title>
		<link>http://insurancelibrary.com/auto-insurance/do-i-need-gap-insurance-on-a-used-car#answer_143</link>
		<dc:creator>Charles Newsome</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:01:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://insurancelibrary.com/auto-insurance/do-i-need-gap-insurance-on-a-used-car#answer_143</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“Gap insurance” is a coverage that is offered either on your auto policy or through the auto finance company as an option (or requirement) on your loan. Basically, what it does is provide you a clean slate if you total a car with a loan on it. Let’s look at an example:

Erica buys a 2009 Volkswagon Jetta from a used car shop for $14,000. The used car value could be 12,500 depending on what form you use (blackbook value, NADA, Kelly Bluebook value, etc.) The form doesn’t matter here other than answering the question of “is this car worth less than the loan I have on it?”

Erica is required to have other-than-collision coverage (often called “comprehensive coverage, which is a misnomer) and collision coverage as a stipulation for the loan she is getting with the bank or finance company. That coverage states that it will repair her car for specific reasons in the policy OR pay her the actual cash value of the car if it costs less than the repairs it would take to make the car drivable. Often a state variation will come here saying a car cannot be repaired if the expenses are 70% or more of the value of the car- the insurance company needs to pay the policyholder the actual cash value of the car instead.

If you look closely at your auto policy, you also have a coverage to protect yourself from liability caused by you damaging the property of others. This is often referred to as “property damage liability” or the third number in your limits (such as 100/300/100 limits). It states that it will repair the damage caused by your actions that you are held responsible for OR pay the actual cash value of that item if less than the cost of repairs. This is important, so remember it.

So what does this mean for Erica, knowing this information?

Let’s say Erica has had her Volkswagon Jetta for 3 years and diligently made payments on her car without missing a payment date. The loan is now $9,000 after interest. The value of the car has depreciated down to $7600 because of the age, mileage, and usage of the car. Technically, Erica is paying $1400 more on the car than what it is worth (taking interest out of the equation to make it easier.)

Let’s say at this 3 year mark, Erica gets into an accident and the car is beyond repair. It doesn’t matter if she causes the accident or if someone else was at fault, because both property damage (what the other party uses to fix Erica’s car if they caused the accident) and collision coverage (the coverage used to fix Erica’s car if she caused the accident) use actual cash value to determine how much repairs will be made and how much money they will pay Erica. Both coverages will give Erica $7600 for her car.

However, since Erica has a lien on the car because she is financing it, that money actually goes to the FINANCE COMPANY and Erica won’t see a penny of it. The finance company will apply that $7600 to her loan, meaning there is a $1400 balance left she is responsible for. The bank isn’t a charity so they will still tell Erica she has to pay it because it is still in her contract and the bank lost $1400 on a car that no longer exists. Erica still has to pay $1400 on a car she doesn’t even have, and still has to buy a new car. That’s a bad place to be in life, wouldn’t you say? Even worse, Erica might still have to make payments even if the accident wasn’t her fault! She gets all of the blame of the finance company but caused none of the problems!

If Erica had gap insurance, it would kick in at this point and relive Erica of the extra $1400 she would be responsible for. If Erica was ahead of her loan and the cash value of the car was more than the loan, she would get any money paid above the loan amount (thus satisfying her finance company as well) and the gap insurance would not take effect. Either way, Erica isn’t paying money any more on her car that is non-functional.

Here are some common stipulations found in gap insurance- check with your loan company to see if they apply to you:

Gap insurance is there to pay for the loan on the car and THAT’S IT! If you increase the loan to pay for any extras you are typically not going to get that part of the loan covered and will still have to pay. This includes things like the extended warranty, credit life insurance in case you die before the loan is paid off, and things like that. It might even say the gap insurance isn’t paid for either and you will have to pay for that. It’s definitely worth looking into. Gap insurance also says that it won’t take effect if you are behind on your payments on a certain amount, pay more because the car is worth less from overuse or modifications, and won’t cover intentional damage to the car. Basically, it’s not there to handle your loan if you are financially strapped and cannot handle the payments anymore and want to get rid of the car.

Another option in place of gap insurance is to get the “repair/replacement” coverage for your auto policy. This says that instead of getting the cash value of a car beyond repair, you get a replacement car instead (even if it costs more than the value of the car.) You would still have the loan but you’d have a car as well. This coverage might not be available and it often is only available for cars less than 1-5 years old and only if you are the original owner. Talk to your agent to see if you qualify.

Gap coverage is an excellent coverage to get, and is worth the investment. Used cars typically drop in value faster than the loan does from payments, and you don’t want to be stuck paying on a car you don’t even have anymore.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[“Gap insurance” is a coverage that is offered either on your auto policy or through the auto finance company as an option (or requirement) on your loan. Basically, what it does is provide you a clean slate if you total a car with a loan on it. Let’s look at an example:

Erica buys a 2009 Volkswagon Jetta from a used car shop for $14,000. The used car value could be 12,500 depending on what form you use (blackbook value, NADA, Kelly Bluebook value, etc.) The form doesn’t matter here other than answering the question of “is this car worth less than the loan I have on it?”

Erica is required to have other-than-collision coverage (often called “comprehensive coverage, which is a misnomer) and collision coverage as a stipulation for the loan she is getting with the bank or finance company. That coverage states that it will repair her car for specific reasons in the policy OR pay her the actual cash value of the car if it costs less than the repairs it would take to make the car drivable. Often a state variation will come here saying a car cannot be repaired if the expenses are 70% or more of the value of the car- the insurance company needs to pay the policyholder the actual cash value of the car instead.

If you look closely at your auto policy, you also have a coverage to protect yourself from liability caused by you damaging the property of others. This is often referred to as “property damage liability” or the third number in your limits (such as 100/300/100 limits). It states that it will repair the damage caused by your actions that you are held responsible for OR pay the actual cash value of that item if less than the cost of repairs. This is important, so remember it.

So what does this mean for Erica, knowing this information?

Let’s say Erica has had her Volkswagon Jetta for 3 years and diligently made payments on her car without missing a payment date. The loan is now $9,000 after interest. The value of the car has depreciated down to $7600 because of the age, mileage, and usage of the car. Technically, Erica is paying $1400 more on the car than what it is worth (taking interest out of the equation to make it easier.)

Let’s say at this 3 year mark, Erica gets into an accident and the car is beyond repair. It doesn’t matter if she causes the accident or if someone else was at fault, because both property damage (what the other party uses to fix Erica’s car if they caused the accident) and collision coverage (the coverage used to fix Erica’s car if she caused the accident) use actual cash value to determine how much repairs will be made and how much money they will pay Erica. Both coverages will give Erica $7600 for her car.

However, since Erica has a lien on the car because she is financing it, that money actually goes to the FINANCE COMPANY and Erica won’t see a penny of it. The finance company will apply that $7600 to her loan, meaning there is a $1400 balance left she is responsible for. The bank isn’t a charity so they will still tell Erica she has to pay it because it is still in her contract and the bank lost $1400 on a car that no longer exists. Erica still has to pay $1400 on a car she doesn’t even have, and still has to buy a new car. That’s a bad place to be in life, wouldn’t you say? Even worse, Erica might still have to make payments even if the accident wasn’t her fault! She gets all of the blame of the finance company but caused none of the problems!

If Erica had gap insurance, it would kick in at this point and relive Erica of the extra $1400 she would be responsible for. If Erica was ahead of her loan and the cash value of the car was more than the loan, she would get any money paid above the loan amount (thus satisfying her finance company as well) and the gap insurance would not take effect. Either way, Erica isn’t paying money any more on her car that is non-functional.

Here are some common stipulations found in gap insurance- check with your loan company to see if they apply to you:

Gap insurance is there to pay for the loan on the car and THAT’S IT! If you increase the loan to pay for any extras you are typically not going to get that part of the loan covered and will still have to pay. This includes things like the extended warranty, credit life insurance in case you die before the loan is paid off, and things like that. It might even say the gap insurance isn’t paid for either and you will have to pay for that. It’s definitely worth looking into. Gap insurance also says that it won’t take effect if you are behind on your payments on a certain amount, pay more because the car is worth less from overuse or modifications, and won’t cover intentional damage to the car. Basically, it’s not there to handle your loan if you are financially strapped and cannot handle the payments anymore and want to get rid of the car.

Another option in place of gap insurance is to get the “repair/replacement” coverage for your auto policy. This says that instead of getting the cash value of a car beyond repair, you get a replacement car instead (even if it costs more than the value of the car.) You would still have the loan but you’d have a car as well. This coverage might not be available and it often is only available for cars less than 1-5 years old and only if you are the original owner. Talk to your agent to see if you qualify.

Gap coverage is an excellent coverage to get, and is worth the investment. Used cars typically drop in value faster than the loan does from payments, and you don’t want to be stuck paying on a car you don’t even have anymore.]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Answer on Does State Farm Auto Insurance Cover Hail Damage? by Charles Newsome</title>
		<link>http://insurancelibrary.com/auto-insurance/does-state-farm-auto-insurance-cover-hail-damage#answer_142</link>
		<dc:creator>Charles Newsome</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Feb 2013 02:00:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://insurancelibrary.com/auto-insurance/does-state-farm-auto-insurance-cover-hail-damage#answer_142</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I am not a representative of State Farm as I am an independent agent.

However, with that being said, State Farm can OFFER the ability to cover hail damage. Every insurance company that can protect your personal auto is able to provide coverage for hail damage.

You are looking for a coverage called “Other-than-collision (OTC)” or sometimes called “comprehensive” coverage. This coverage is often called “all-risk” (a misnomer) or “open-peril” coverage. What the heck does that mean? It means that comprehensive covers EVERYTHING to your auto UNLESS it says it will not cover it. This is actually very robust as a coverage because it’s impossible to list everything that can happen to a car for exclusions, so you can have coverage for the random things that happen to your car.

If you look at your policy for OTC, nowhere does it mention that it will exclude (not cover) hail damage. This is good; it means you can file a claim for OTC to repair hail damage to your auto.

Here are a few things to understand about OTC with regards to hail damage:

You have to pay your deductible for the repairs. Most often, this means that the insurance company will pay you all the money to get the car fixed EXCEPT for your deductible, which you then pay to the repair company that fixed you car. So if $3,000 worth of repairs was needed to fix your car from hail damage, and you have a $500 deductible, then the insurance company will give you $2500 ($3,000-$500 deductible) so you can pay your $3,000 repair bill. The claim settlement might happen in another way, but the logic is still the same.

Your OTC will pay the actual cash value of the car if the repairs are over a certain threshold (which is determined individually for each car) to make the car usable again. The company can literally “scrap the car and pay you for it” instead of repairing the hail damage. Keep this in mind for when determining if you want to file a claim as some cars aren’t worth much but could be in EXCELLENT condition for driving. You don’t want to lose your car because you filed a claim for cosmetic damage, or keep the car and get a salvage title.

Talk to your agent to make sure you have OTC. Make sure that the deductible is an amount you can afford to pay in a reasonable amount of time. It’s no good to have a $500, $1000, or $2,000 deductible for OTC if you cannot get the money or put yourself in a poor financial position for 30+ days because of it. Sometimes paying the extra $5-10 per month for a lower deductible makes sense in households strapped for cash.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[I am not a representative of State Farm as I am an independent agent.

However, with that being said, State Farm can OFFER the ability to cover hail damage. Every insurance company that can protect your personal auto is able to provide coverage for hail damage.

You are looking for a coverage called “Other-than-collision (OTC)” or sometimes called “comprehensive” coverage. This coverage is often called “all-risk” (a misnomer) or “open-peril” coverage. What the heck does that mean? It means that comprehensive covers EVERYTHING to your auto UNLESS it says it will not cover it. This is actually very robust as a coverage because it’s impossible to list everything that can happen to a car for exclusions, so you can have coverage for the random things that happen to your car.

If you look at your policy for OTC, nowhere does it mention that it will exclude (not cover) hail damage. This is good; it means you can file a claim for OTC to repair hail damage to your auto.

Here are a few things to understand about OTC with regards to hail damage:

You have to pay your deductible for the repairs. Most often, this means that the insurance company will pay you all the money to get the car fixed EXCEPT for your deductible, which you then pay to the repair company that fixed you car. So if $3,000 worth of repairs was needed to fix your car from hail damage, and you have a $500 deductible, then the insurance company will give you $2500 ($3,000-$500 deductible) so you can pay your $3,000 repair bill. The claim settlement might happen in another way, but the logic is still the same.

Your OTC will pay the actual cash value of the car if the repairs are over a certain threshold (which is determined individually for each car) to make the car usable again. The company can literally “scrap the car and pay you for it” instead of repairing the hail damage. Keep this in mind for when determining if you want to file a claim as some cars aren’t worth much but could be in EXCELLENT condition for driving. You don’t want to lose your car because you filed a claim for cosmetic damage, or keep the car and get a salvage title.

Talk to your agent to make sure you have OTC. Make sure that the deductible is an amount you can afford to pay in a reasonable amount of time. It’s no good to have a $500, $1000, or $2,000 deductible for OTC if you cannot get the money or put yourself in a poor financial position for 30+ days because of it. Sometimes paying the extra $5-10 per month for a lower deductible makes sense in households strapped for cash.]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Answer on Does Auto Insurance Cover Theft Of Items From The Car? by Charles Newsome</title>
		<link>http://insurancelibrary.com/auto-insurance/does-auto-insurance-cover-theft-of-items-from-the-car#answer_141</link>
		<dc:creator>Charles Newsome</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:58:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://insurancelibrary.com/auto-insurance/does-auto-insurance-cover-theft-of-items-from-the-car#answer_141</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The answer is an astounding “maybe.”

Wow, that sounds pretty vague, doesn’t it? Well, it depends on what is stolen from the car. Items that are permanently installed in the car are covered for theft, such as your internal GPS system or sound system. CD’s, tapes, cassettes, and etc. can be covered if you add such coverage to your auto policy.

What if you have things like a laptop in your car, or textbooks, or things you just bought from the mall and couldn’t bring home yet? NOT COVERED. Unless there is a special coverage available from your insurance company in your state, this is NOT covered under an auto policy. These items are covered under your renters, homeowners, condo, or other property policy as stipulated under your coverages. This is why it is important to have more than just auto insurance, as a missing laptop is emotionally and financially frustrating to replace. Renters insurance can be around $120 a year and will cover these belongings after a deductible of $250-$1,000. Make sure you have these items properly listed on your property policy as some limits are there for theft of valuable items like jewelry, precious and valuable items, electronics for business, and other items. However, that is going beyond the scope of this question.

In short- auto policies are not designed to cover theft of items from the car. The policy covers some incidental items relevant to the car, but the rest of your items are really covered from your home property policy. So go out and talk to your agent and invest in the right policy to properly cover your contents.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[The answer is an astounding “maybe.”

Wow, that sounds pretty vague, doesn’t it? Well, it depends on what is stolen from the car. Items that are permanently installed in the car are covered for theft, such as your internal GPS system or sound system. CD’s, tapes, cassettes, and etc. can be covered if you add such coverage to your auto policy.

What if you have things like a laptop in your car, or textbooks, or things you just bought from the mall and couldn’t bring home yet? NOT COVERED. Unless there is a special coverage available from your insurance company in your state, this is NOT covered under an auto policy. These items are covered under your renters, homeowners, condo, or other property policy as stipulated under your coverages. This is why it is important to have more than just auto insurance, as a missing laptop is emotionally and financially frustrating to replace. Renters insurance can be around $120 a year and will cover these belongings after a deductible of $250-$1,000. Make sure you have these items properly listed on your property policy as some limits are there for theft of valuable items like jewelry, precious and valuable items, electronics for business, and other items. However, that is going beyond the scope of this question.

In short- auto policies are not designed to cover theft of items from the car. The policy covers some incidental items relevant to the car, but the rest of your items are really covered from your home property policy. So go out and talk to your agent and invest in the right policy to properly cover your contents.]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Answer on Do I Need Home Insurance For A Condo? by Charles Newsome</title>
		<link>http://insurancelibrary.com/home-insurance/do-i-need-home-insurance-for-a-condo#answer_140</link>
		<dc:creator>Charles Newsome</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:57:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://insurancelibrary.com/home-insurance/do-i-need-home-insurance-for-a-condo#answer_140</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You might need it if required, but it’s still a good idea to get it even if not required.

When would you be required to get condo insurance? Sometimes the condo association/HOA requires you to get it when buying the condo. If you had the condo for a while, you will find that you might be required to get it now that you are refinancing your loan through a mortgage company since mortgage guidelines have changed (which I see a lot).

It’s still a good idea to get it because it provides coverage for your personal items and for the internal items of your property that you improve (known as betterments.) It basically fills in the holes and supplements the policy the condo association has on the entire building. Talk to your agent because there are a lot of important reasons to have condo insurance, such as for loss assessment (commonly found with condos and townhomes), losses caused by a neighbor that does NOT have insurance, or losses happening because of your own doing.

The insurance only costs $100-$400 per year depending on what you need. Protect your investment and get the coverage, even if it isn’t required.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[You might need it if required, but it’s still a good idea to get it even if not required.

When would you be required to get condo insurance? Sometimes the condo association/HOA requires you to get it when buying the condo. If you had the condo for a while, you will find that you might be required to get it now that you are refinancing your loan through a mortgage company since mortgage guidelines have changed (which I see a lot).

It’s still a good idea to get it because it provides coverage for your personal items and for the internal items of your property that you improve (known as betterments.) It basically fills in the holes and supplements the policy the condo association has on the entire building. Talk to your agent because there are a lot of important reasons to have condo insurance, such as for loss assessment (commonly found with condos and townhomes), losses caused by a neighbor that does NOT have insurance, or losses happening because of your own doing.

The insurance only costs $100-$400 per year depending on what you need. Protect your investment and get the coverage, even if it isn’t required.]]></content:encoded>
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