Florida Condominium and HOA Claims Adjuster

Florida Condo Claims Adjuster

Condominiums are a popular way to live in some of the sunniest places in the sunshine state. From beachfront properties to trendy high-rises downtown, condo communities provide access to the spots you want to be — while doubling as an excellent investment.

Unfortunately, even the nicest condo isn’t immune to the combined forces of nature and chaos. Damage to condominium buildings and individual units often creates a maelstrom of confusion as to what insurance coverage is available and who is responsible. Adjusting these cases often requires juggling knowledge across state and municipal laws, the language of multiple policies, and the policies of the condo-owners association.

Pinnacle Claim Services can help both individual unit owners and HOAs navigate their way out of this confounding situation. We have years of experience helping community associations recover from disasters while obtaining the maximum policy coverage for their given situation. Handling an HO-6 or master policy claim without the expertise of a public adjuster can easily become overwhelming, but we are here to lend assistance when you need it most.

Reach out for a free case review, where we will discuss the contents of your policy and the nature of your claim. HO-6 condo owners may be eligible to receive a free damages inspection, policy review, and claims review! Call 877-70-CLAIM or contact us online to get started.

Condominium Insurance Claims Are Complicated — Frequently Leading to Disputes

The biggest source of stress for those who have suffered a loss in their condo building is the seemingly conflicting information you’ll come up against. Between HOA representatives relying on outdated laws or policies and insurance agents not putting in their homework, you may receive five different answers as to what is covered, how much coverage is available, and what rules or exceptions apply. Add in what is often multiple insurance carriers to the mix, and you have a recipe for an extremely unpleasant game of he said/she said.

Adjusting these claims can easily overwhelm even the most consummate professionals, including the Licensed Community Association Manager (LCAM). Carriers, claimants, and condo association boards are highly likely to have differing interpretations as to what policy will cover what damages and to what extent. A licensed public adjuster can provide invaluable assistance when it comes to sorting out these highly complex matters.

As a party working directly on behalf of the claimant, the licensed Florida public adjusters at Pinnacle Claim Services are uniquely motivated to untangle contentious matters and arrive at a final number for the total value of a claim. Whereas insurance carriers may bring in inspection and adjustment teams from all over the country to converge on one condo building in the wake of a disaster, your public adjuster acts as one source of truth with cross-discipline knowledge across all critical claims areas.

The public adjusters at Pinnacle arrive quickly after your damage has been incurred, and we bring our own skills to damage inspections and repair estimates. We are also experts at interpreting complicated insurance policies, especially when it comes to deciphering how a specific situation should play out given governing policies from multiple state, board, and insurer entities.

At the end of the day, you can rest easy when a Pinnacle Claim Services agent is on the scene. We work for YOU, not the insurance company, and our only goal is to help you get as much of your benefits as possible for the losses you have suffered.

Condo Insurance Claims Have Millions on the Line

A condominium unit can be a significant investment, especially in a building situated on one of Florida’s many desirable coastal properties. While real estate purchases tend to have a lower risk than other forms of investment, they do have one major risk that something like securities lacks: hurricanes.

Florida is home to some of the most destructive hurricane disasters in history. Total estimated damages for 2022’s Hurricane Ian range from $50 billion to $65 billion.

Beachfront condo units — some of the most valuable — also face one of the greatest risks: storm surges. Florida tops the list of states with major storm surge risks to their condominiums and other multi-family dwellings. Miami, Fort Myers, Tampa, Naples, Jacksonville, Bradenton, and Daytona Beach are all featured on the top 15 list of cities with the highest exposure to possible storm surge damages. Across these seven cities, over 76,000 complexes are at major risk of a storm surge, with estimated reconstruction costs topping $19 billion dollars.

Of course, in coveted markets like Miami Beach, an incident affecting even just one unit could have damages in the millions! That’s because Miami features some of the world’s most expensive condo buildings. The average price for a unit in some of these buildings is between $4 million to upwards of $10 million!

Insurance Companies Want to Protect Their Bottom Line

Naturally, with so much on the line when covering expensive condo buildings, insurance carriers want to do everything they can to control excess risk coming from the benefits provided in the wake of a damaging incident. They will frequently convene experts from across legal, actuarial, and policy claims disciplines to minimize their exposure to losses following an event like a fire or hurricane. 

Carriers will willfully interpret their own policy language in the most generous terms possible, especially when they feel they have the upper hand against an inexperienced or outmatched team representing the condo owners. 

Frequently, claims disputes will even escalate into lawsuits, as the outcome of a single HOA claim for an extensively damaged building could determine the carrier’s future solvency. In 2019, Florida accounted for only 8.16% of the nation’s total residential insurance claims, but the state filed over 76% of the country’s total claims lawsuits! That’s more than three out of every four.

Insurance companies bring their own teams, so HOAs and condo unit owners should bring theirs! Entrust your ability to recover after your disaster to an experienced and attentive public claims adjuster in Florida from Pinnacle Claim Services. We have helped thousands of homeowners, business owners, and condo owners throughout Florida earn more from their policies through our hard work and unwillingness to back down.

What Do Condo Policies Cover?

The coverage available under a condo policy differs according to whether the policy affects the building as a whole (the HOA or condo association’s policy, known commonly as the “master policy”) or just individual units (an HO-6 homeowner’s policy, or “condo owner’s policy”).

Individual policies within these categories may cover widely different things, as well. Read on for more details about what coverage is generally available under an average policy.

Master Policy / HOA Insurance Policy

A condominium building is a form of community living where the individual unit owners collectively own and manage the structure of the building itself. Members of the condo community serve on the Homeowner’s Association (HOA), helping decide key aspects like the level of coverage needed for the building, the size of the deductible, etc. 

HOAs set policies based on specific scenarios, including how situations involving property damage or loss are handled. They may have sole jurisdiction in setting policies, or they may allow for a vote to be held on certain matters. HOAs will also typically appoint a board to oversee the overall finances, business operations, and legal matters pertaining to the building.

HOA Policies Cover Damages to the Building Structure and Common Areas

Under Florida law, HOAs are responsible for obtaining insurance coverage covering damages to all common areas of the building, including exteriors, outer walls, exterior windows, roofing, gutters, and important infrastructure like plumbing, electricity, HVAC, elevators, etc. 

Damage to these areas is covered by HOA policy benefits. Individual unit owners pay for these general “master policies” in the form of HOA dues and other fees. According to the Community Associations Institute (CAI), over 9 million Floridians live in nearly 50,000 different community associations, contributing a total of almost $18 billion each year in HOA dues and maintenance fees. Naturally, condo building inhabitants will have a vested interest in the level of policy coverage and how much of that money they get back in the form of repairs, updates, and general maintenance.

HOA Policies Also Cover Liability for Personal Injury

In the event someone is injured in a common area of the condo building, a master policy provides coverage for the resulting liability costs. Note that this liability coverage does not extend to injuries occurring in individual units or situations pertaining to the negligence of a single unit owner or another party directly responsible for the injury.

A Master Policy Covers Only Certain Aspects of the Condo Units

The level of coverage available to condo owners for damages to their units differs based on the type of master policy selected by the HOA. The most common types of coverage are as follows:

• Bare walls in — This type of coverage only covers the physical structures of the interior walls inward, including the drywall, studs, steel framing, plumbing, wiring, and insulation. It does not cover fixtures in the home, such as flooring, cabinets, counters, and sinks.
• Single entity — A single entity master policy extends coverage beyond the bare walls to include certain fixtures, often encompassing counters, cabinets, closets, trim, sinks, and built-in appliances. These policies rarely cover any alterations or updates made to the condo unless such coverage is specifically added.
• All-in — An “all-in” master policy provides coverage for nearly everything within the interior of each unit. That includes all fixtures, appliances, alterations, flooring, lighting fixtures, and other interior components of the unit — just about everything except the occupants’ personal belongings! An individual dwelling policy may not be needed for buildings that offer all-in coverage.

Dwelling Coverage for Condo Unit Owners (HO-6 Policy)

An HO-6 policy is a form of homeowner’s insurance policy that specifically applies to condo unit owners. It bears many similarities to a renter’s insurance (HO-4) policy, except that it provides coverage for specific fixtures and other elements in addition to coverage for loss of contents.

Types of Loss Events Covered by a Typical HO-6 Policy

An average condo insurance policy claim will be filed in response to one or several of the following events:

• Fire and smoke
• Lightning
• Vandalism and theft
• Falling objects
• Windstorm or hail
• Accidental overflow or discharge of water or steam
• Sudden and accidental tearing apart, cracking, burning or bulging
• Damage from faulty wiring or electrical incidents
• Frozen pipes
• Weight of snow, ice, or sleet
• Explosion
• Riot or civil commotion
• Aircraft collision
• Vehicle collision

Damage or Loss to Interior Fixtures and Contents

A condo owner’s policy will cover either the actual cash value (ACV) or the replacement value of any material components within the interior of the unit (“from the studs out”). That can include fixtures not covered by the master policy as well as alterations, appliances, furniture, and other belongings — dependent on the language of the actual policy.

Personal Liability

Master policies don’t cover liability towards individual unit owners, but a condo owner’s HO-6 policy will.

HOA Assessments

One of the most beneficial (but overlooked) benefits provided by a condo owner’s policy is coverage for assessments leveraged against unit owners in response to repairs needed after the building was damaged. 

There are many reasons why an assessment might be applied:

• The coverage available for repairs under the master policy has been exhausted
• The coverage available for liability under the master policy has been exhausted
• The master policy has a high deductible, like $30,000 or higher, and members are expected to contribute

Lack of Maintenance and Owner Negligence NOT Covered

Keep in mind that coverage for damages is not available when the damage in question was caused by a lack of maintenance, general negligence, or intentional acts of the unit owner.

Flood Insurance Is NOT Included in Master Policies or HO-6 Condo Owners’ Policies!

While a typical HOA or condo dwelling policy will pay for wind, water, and other storm damages, it will not pay for damages caused by flooding. Instead, the building’s association may seek to add flood insurance coverage for their building under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). 

Individual unit owners may also choose to purchase a flood policy for their own unit, especially if they lie within the bottom few stories most vulnerable to storm surges. Keep in mind, though, that any damage caused by flooding may be exempted from a typical HO-6 policy claim. Since storm surges can damage upper floors — sometimes even reaching three to four stories— a flood insurance add-on may be wise.

21% of National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) backed policies covered condominiums and other multi-family residential properties.

Talk to the Florida Public Adjusters Condo Communities Trust!

For years, hurricane after hurricane, Pinnacle Claim Services has stood by its customers in their time of greatest need. 

Condo insurance claims can be incredibly confusing, frustrating, and time-consuming. HOA insurance claims can be even worse! Don’t assume anyone is looking out for your best interests — least of all an insurance company. Instead, get the only adjusters licensed and regulated by the state of Florida to work directly for YOU.

Receive a free claim evaluation and consultation when you call our Florida condo insurance adjusters today. Schedule your free appointment with a live representative, 24/7, when you call 877-70-CLAIM or contact us online.