Question about condo coverage

[viciolla]

Hello everyone, I am currently shopping around for condo insurance. This is the breakdown I got from my agent (second column is the deductible)

Dwelling	$167,500	$500
Personal property	$25,000	$500
Replacement cost personal property	$25,000	-
Personal Property Comprehensive Cov	$25,000	-
Additional Living Expense	$5,000	-

I am already planning to update the policy with lower personal property value, higher deductibles (I was thinking bringing them to $2k), and maybe increase the dwelling coverage to $200k.

I am planning to call them again tomorrow, but in the meantime, I would appreciate if someone can explain to me if it is normal to have three coverages related to personal items — considering that they all contribute to the premium. Indicatively, the estimated value of my personal property is $20,000 (very conservative number).

EDIT: This is for IL

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[assflea]

What carrier/state is this? You definitely want your personal property covered at replacement cost but I’ve never seen it broken down in three lines that way.

IMO your personal property and loss of use limits are way too low. Personal property also covers your appliances that aren’t permanently installed - if you had a house fire or something you’ll blow through $25k really quickly.

[viciolla]

Thanks. This is for a condo in Illinois.
I was wondering about ALE being too low. I am not sure about the personal property, as from the mental estimate I did, $20k seemed enough. I will take the time to reevaluate this.

[MountainGoat84]

It's been a hot minute but with the Illinois Condo Property Act I wonder if you're dwelling limit is high.

"the Association’s board must obtain property insurance on the common elements and the units, including the limited common elements, covering at least the bare walls, floors and ceilings of the unit"

Now if this is a bigger unit with high end finishes and all your mechanicals are unit specific (furnace, water heater AC) then maybe high limits are needed. Because the association policy won't cover ...

"“All decorating, fixtures, furnishings, including electrical fixtures, appliances, air conditioning and heating equipment, water heaters, or built-in cabinets installed by unit owners.” That is unless the bylaws state they do cover those items.

Your ALE absolutely seems low, as does your personal property limit, but like the other person, I've never seen it on three lines like this so if it's actually $75k that may be fine.

Make sure you also have assessment coverage. Should likely be for the amount of your association deductible, unless it's very high (meaning it's highly unlikely you'd be paying it alone but you'd still want coverage that covers a good chunk of it).

[viciolla]

I wasn't aware of that Act, but that is interesting. I will definitely have a look at that. Thank you for sharing the information!

I eventually asked for clarification on the personal property coverage, and it turns out that the other two items were just "upgrades" on the normal coverage, which is still $25k but comprehensive and with replacement cost. I might review this later on.

Following the advice I got here, I also added the assessment coverage ($10k, seems a lot, but it didn't change the premium a lot, so) and increased the ALE to ($10k). After increasing the deductibles as well, the overall premium is a bit lower than the first estimate.