RECENT VISIT TO P. PARK

This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/18/2007.

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Goergia replied to a post inj thei thread, which got me thinking!

 http://www.eyeonspain.com/Secure/ForumPosts.aspx?thread=1241&dev=FB11&name=General%20chit%20chat

She has said that if you live in an apartment, you don't have to have your own individual buildings insurance, as it is covered by the insurance that the community pay for the building.

I have had contents and buildings insurance since we moved in (2003).

This was provided through Atlas via Mapfre insurers. Not once was I advised not to take out the buildings insurance, I jus went along with what normally happens here in the UK!

So, looks like I have been paying the premium for the buildings insurance for no reason!

I am confirming with our Presidente that the community does insure the building and am asking my new insurers, Saltsbay, to re-quote me for contents only. (They also by the way did not advise me for or against the buildings cover, but in fairness to Saltsbay, ?I did not make it clear that I had an apartment).

I am posting this to make buyers of apartments aware of this situation. I could have saved a fair bit over the last 4 years!

Hope this helps someone,

kind regards

 

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Hi Fibby Uk  .Thats correct you only have to take out CONTENTS  COVER  for a apartment  as the building is insured by the community  funds ( or should be )  sometimes if a complex  is mixed such as apartments/   villa / townhouses they will also be covered by the community insurance but its best too check  with the admin. /  president to be sure about this , where we lived before we had this mix of property and it all came under the community ins.   lets hope this info helps out the owners who are unsure about this .      Regards to all  Rosi n

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RosiN,

I don't want to calculate how much I have overpaid!

Never mind, I will save from my next renewal!

Rgds,

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This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/18/2007.

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This whole area is mega confusing.

I am assured by our administraror and our bank that Community Insurance covers only Community Elements...which does not cover the INSIDE of my apartment. But I'm reading posts which say that 'community insurance covers you if you are in an apartment block'.

Something is not quite right!! So, tomorrow we will go again to the Administrator and look again at the Community insurance and speak with the Insurers to try and put this dilema to rest.

I had understood that Community insurance covers only Community elements and the owner is responsible for any thing else ie. if a pipe burst in a Community wall, then the community insurance covers it, BUT if a pipe burst in your own apartment and waterloggs your internal wall necessitating a new wall, then you are responsible.....so it follows you need building insurance. However you may get a reduction because the Community has insurance.

I will post when I have more info........but I don't think I will be in a rush to cancell my building insurance yet awhile!!

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Thanks for your reply KarenSun,

It will be interesting to find the answer!

I owe you a bottle of vino if you come back with a good reply!!!

But I won't cancel my buildings insurance just yet!

thanks,

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This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/18/2007.

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Regarding this building insurance its possible that there are different  types  of policies around ,the insurance we had covered  all the building structure such as leaking roof  / tiles off  damage internal  /external repairs ( if the roof leaked you would claim from the community ins )  it sounds like some of the communities dont have a fully com.  ins. to cover the whole building  as that must come up with some very grey areas such as were does the com. ins. start or end , on the other hand some contents ins. have a big cover  for these strange grey areas , and as we all know ins. companys just love these grey areas so they can get out of claims ,  I still think the best way is one ins. policy for the whole structure . (no grey areas )   This is a very interesting subject  Jean Sis.

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This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/18/2007.

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I think it would be an astronomical cost to cover a communal building ( well two really .......as we are ) for the communal areas and 184 apartments. I don't see how the community can be responsible if an owner ( or tenant )  'accidently' bashes down an internal wall in his/her own apartment, or does other damage to the building in the apartment. It just doesn's seem logical that the whole community should pay for individual apartments.

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I think the point here is that all insurance policies vary, and can be tailored to specific needs. If you own a property in a community, esp. if it is an apartment, it may be a good idea to request a copy of the community policy from the administration (via your president if necessary), which as an owner you are entitled to see. If need be, get a transaltion, so that you can see exactly what is covered and what is excluded. Based on this, you can then decided exactly what level of cover is appropriate for your specific circumstances. Of course, you will inevitably forget the one thing that you wil find you need a few months later, but that's the way the game works!

In case anybody reads this and thinks that I'm knowledgeable on the subject, I should say I hadn't really given it much thought before coming across this thread, and when insuring apartments have never even considered what cover the community has. I just tell my insurers (Estrella) that the property is an apartment, and they understand that I'm not asking to insure a roof which I only own 1/50th of! My cover includes things such as water damage caused by washing machines etc., and this would extend to broken pipes so long as it can be proved that it is NOT a community pipe.

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Thanks for the imput Roberto. We also told ourinsurers we had Community Insurance and I feel sure our buildings cover is tailored to fit the scenario, certainly I know it covers the things you mention.

Community insurance is basic and while it covers the communal elements, it must be best to protect yourself.

Anyone in our community is welcome to a copy of our community insurance cover...it is in Spanish, but is quite specific in what is insured and for how much.

Will leave this now and post again tomorrow after visit to Administrator re. this subject.

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One example of where the community cover ends and you're on your own: our community ins. covers the underground garage for things such as flooding caused by broken (community) pipes, fire (when I get round to making sure the extinguishers have been serviced etc.) but does NOT cover any damage to cars while parked in the garage, unless it's indisputably a community cause such as the roof collapsing. So unless you have fully comp. on your car (I do!) it may not be quite as safe down there as you presume.

Look forward to hearing more from you, Karen. Good to have another President (or First Lady, anyway) to share ideas with!

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Well !!!! Back from Administrators but nothing to report as yet....so got to do another independent detective trail tomorrow.......too much conflicting info at the moment ...so will hang fire till I have something concrete to share.

Did you know that 50% of all concrete made in Europe is used in Spain?

All I am trying to find out is........who gets to insure it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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So.........................................having spent most of today trawling round this insurance conundrum I have much more info ..........

Basically, what type of insurance you personally require depends on the type of insurance your Community has. If the Community has a FULL ( and you need to get this in writing!) insurance then you need CONTENT insurance. If the Community has PART insurance( just for Community elements) then you need BUILDING and CONTENTS.

 Looking at the cost of FULL Community insurance, it seems probable that most communities will have PART insurance which covers only Communal elements. 

 Full insurance does cover the Community and inside your private dwelling place....but you need to be sure what your Community has...not just by word of mouth from the Administrator, but in writing. Trouble is this will probably be in Spanish ( and insurance people are reluctant to supply this) and difficult to follow through, however it obviously can be done!!

Also I am informed that private Contents insurance does NOT cover walls...............only that which can be moved.

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Hi Karensun. You have been busy checking out this insurance problem, We still think its best to have the whole building insured as it solves this problem of a claim and it stops the insurance companys fighting between them selves regarding who is going to pay for what .  It might cost the community a bit more but its all shared out and each owners ins. will be less anyway ,    just think of the problem that  if one owner had no building cover and a major problem occured with there property and the community only had very basic ins. ( not covered for this )  and the owner had no funds for repairs,   there  would be some major problems for the community it would  proberly be solved in time but what a head ache.  Unfortunatly you have to pay a bit more to be secure / safe in this respect,   so its important that we all check our ins. ( community ) to see our level of cover . as we all know insurance companys love to find ways of not paying  for problems.    We expect this has got many people thinking what cover do we have ?         Regards to all     Rosi n

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Well done KarenSun!

Thanks for clarifying this for us all. (Does our building have full or part insurance?! -  KarenSun is our Presidente's wife peeps!)

Just for interest, I asked my insurer to quote me once the Buildings in surance was removed. The annual premium only reduced by 30€.

So, for this small amount annually, I would advise people to take out Contents AND Buildings insurance.

Regards,

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I Just knew you would ask me that Fibby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mr. Preidente is at this very moment ploughing through a VERY long ( in Spanish ) Community Insurance policy to get that very answer!!!

And I thought we'd come to Spain for a quiet retirement (???????)

Well bring on the vino ( blanco or tinto...never mind which ) and I'll post the answer as soon as I know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Aw poor Mr Presidente, but we have such faith in him, he will find the answer.

Why do you think he was re-elected!!!

Best man for the job (and saves us the work!)

Well done!

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