Imagine coming home to find water pouring through your ceiling.
Your flooring is damaged. Your furniture is soaked. The condominium hallway is affected, and the units below may also have suffered damage.
Who pays?
The condominium corporation?
The owner of the unit where the water originated?
Your insurance company?
The answer may involve all three.
Here are three things every condominium owner should know.
- The Condominium Corporation Does Not Insure Everything.
Many owners assume their monthly condominium fees include complete insurance coverage for their units.
They don’t.
Generally, the condominium corporation’s insurance covers the common elements and the “standard unit” as defined by the corporation’s governing documents.
It usually does not cover:
- Furniture
- Clothing
- Electronics
- Artwork and other personal belongings
- Additional living expenses if you have to move out temporarily
- Renovations or upgrades beyond the standard unit
That last category can be especially important.
If you installed hardwood flooring, custom cabinetry, upgraded countertops or other improvements, they may not be covered by the condominium corporation’s policy.
Your own condominium policy should therefore include appropriate coverage for your contents and for what insurers commonly call “betterments and improvements.”
- Your Own Condominium Policy Should Cover More Than Your Belongings.
Condominium insurance is sometimes casually called “contents insurance,” but a good policy should protect much more than your sofa and television.
Depending on your circumstances, it should generally include:
- Personal property and contents
- Personal liability
- Betterments and improvements
- Additional living expenses
- Loss assessment coverage
- Insurance-deductible assessment coverage
That final item can be critical.
Condominium corporations may have insurance deductibles of $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 or more—particularly for water damage.
Depending on the Condominium Act and the corporation’s declaration and by-laws, an owner may be required to pay some or all of the corporation’s deductible when damage results from an act or omission involving that owner’s unit.
Without adequate deductible-assessment coverage, that amount may have to come directly out of the owner’s pocket.
- An Overflowing Toilet Became an Expensive Court Case.
In Abeygunasekara v. Peel Condominium Corporation No. 392, water overflowed from a toilet in a condominium unit.
The water damaged several other units and the common elements.
The problem became worse because the toilet’s shut-off valve was broken, delaying efforts to stop the water.
The condominium corporation sought to recover the amount falling within its insurance deductible from the owners of the unit.
The owners disputed the charge and took the matter to court.
The Ontario Superior Court concluded that the owners were responsible for the loss falling within the corporation’s insurance deductible.
The case is an important reminder that condominium owners may face substantial liability even when they did not intentionally cause the damage.
It also demonstrates why owners should understand their corporation’s declaration, by-laws, standard-unit definition and insurance-deductible provisions before a loss occurs—not after receiving a very large bill.
Practical Tips
- Ask your property manager for the corporation’s current certificate or summary of insurance.
- Find out the amount of the corporation’s water-damage deductible.
- Review the standard-unit definition so you know which parts of your unit are—and are not—covered by the corporation.
- Make sure your personal policy includes contents, betterments, additional living expenses and deductible-assessment coverage.
- Tell your insurer whenever you renovate or make significant improvements to your unit.
- Check toilets, supply hoses, shut-off valves, washing machines and dishwashers regularly. A small maintenance problem can create damage far beyond your own unit.
Dig Deeper
Condominium Authority of Ontario – Chargebacks
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Condominium Act, 1998
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Abeygunasekara v. Peel Condominium Corporation No. 392, 2024 ONSC 606
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