Do you own a unit in a commercial condo building or does your commercial condo building & corp need insurance? Then you must ensure it’s protected. Luckily, ALIGNED is here to help you find quality commercial insurance for your property. We are a full-service insurance brokerage specializing in commercial insurance. We can help protect your commercial condo unit by helping you find the right insurance coverage. Keep reading to learn more about how you can safeguard your commercial condo through insurance.
Safeguard your commercial condo building from risk
To ensure your commercial condo will be protected against a range of unforeseen circumstances, we recommend speaking with a commercial insurance broker right away. All ALIGNED brokers are fully licensed and have years of experience helping commercial condo owners find dynamic and personalized insurance solutions. For tailor-made insurance coverage, look no further than ALIGNED.
For example, more than the standard commercial general liability insurance and commercial property insurance, we can recommend some other important types of insurance coverage for your commercial condo. These may include machinery breakdown insurance, crime insurance, business interruption insurance, and more. Your dedicated insurance broker will take the time to explain each type of coverage to you so that you can determine whether it’s the right fit for your commercial condo unit or building.
Overall, insurance for commercial condos is designed to protect your property and the revenue it generates against unexpected events. Get in touch with ALIGNED today to speak directly with a licensed insurance broker who can help you navigate the complex world of insurance for commercial condos.
What is a commercial condo?
Commercial condo buildings consist of units that are rented out for business purposes, as opposed to condo buildings consisting of residential units where people live. They range in size, from small buildings that are only a couple of stories to high-rise buildings with hundreds of units.
The most common risks that commercial condos face
While owning a commercial condo building and renting out units to businesses can be extremely lucrative, it is not without risk. That is why commercial condo insurance is so important. It is one of the most effective ways of mitigating risk. With the right coverage, you can rest easy knowing that if something goes wrong, you won’t be left to pay for the damage entirely out of pocket. To learn more about how commercial condo insurance can help protect you from risk, consider the common risks that come with operating commercial condos below (each of these risks may be covered by your commercial insurance policy):
- Storm, fire, or water damage to the physical condo building
- Break-ins, theft, or vandalism
- Unforeseen breakdown of machinery, such as HVAC systems, mechanical, or electrical machinery
- A tenant’s customer injures themselves while visiting their office
Coverage 101 | Commercial Condo Insurance Explained
Not sure what type of insurance your commercial condo needs? While every commercial property has its own unique coverage needs, it can be worthwhile to purchase a policy with the following coverage types:
- Commercial general liability insurance: Commercial general liability insurance, sometimes referred to as “slip-and-fall insurance,” protects against the day-to-day risks that come with owning a commercial condo building. For example, if a tenant slips and falls on a wet floor or an icy walkway leading up to the building, they could sue you. In such an instance, your insurance company might help pay for medical bills, along with legal defence fees, settlement fees, and more. Overall, commercial general liability coverage can cover the cost of medical expenses, repair bills, legal fees, etc. for claims related to third party injury, property damage, libel or slander, and more.
- Commercial property insurance: Protect the physical structure of your commercial condo building or the betterment and improvements and contents if you are a unit owner from unforeseen circumstances like theft, vandalism, fire, water damage, etc with commercial property insurance. When you add commercial property coverage to your commercial condo insurance policy, your insurer may pay for repairs or replacements in the event of loss or damage caused by an insured peril.
- Business interruption insurance: Business interruption insurance can protect your commercial condo building from lost income if it is forced to close due to an insured peril. Insured perils covered by business interruption insurance vary but can include theft, fire, vandalism, windstorms, water damage, and more.
- Machinery breakdown insurance: Machinery breakdown insurance is specialized insurance coverage that effectively provides HVAC insurance and electronic equipment insurance for a unique set of perils like electrical arcing, power surges, etc. It can be an important type of coverage for commercial condo buildings, especially when tenants rely on these services.
- Crime insurance: Crime insurance can help mitigate the financial losses of employees or customer crimes related to your commercial condo building, such as employee dishonesty, fraud, burglary, robbery, theft, etc.
- Umbrella liability insurance: Umbrella liability insurance takes effect when regular liability limits are reached, meaning it can protect you and/or your condo corporation against unforeseen or catastrophic events.
Does my commercial condo need commercial general liability insurance?
Commercial general liability coverage is standard with almost any kind of commercial insurance policy. Why? Owing to the protection it offers. As the owner of a commercial condo unit, you are effectively a “landlord”, and as a landlord, you are vulnerable to all kinds of risks, especially lawsuits. That’s where commercial general liability insurance comes in. This type of coverage can protect you as the condo building owner against claims made by both tenants and users of your building. Specifically, this insurance can provide coverage for third party claims of bodily injury, advertising and personal injury liability, and property damage related to your property, operations, and products. Some of the most commercial general liability claims for commercial condo buildings are slip and fall incidents and damage to your physical building caused by perils like floods or fires. Ultimately, owning a commercial condo building comes with a lot of responsibility, one of which is to protect your business against the financial ramifications of a lawsuit. Commercial general liability insurance for commercial condos can help you do just that.
Commercial property insurance coverage for commercial condos: what’s included
Commercial property insurance is a core component of many insurance policies for commercial condos. This type of insurance can protect against property damage to your commercial condo building and its contents caused by a whole host of incidents. Though the exact terms of your coverage will vary depending on your provider and the policy you choose, commercial property insurance policies for commercial condo buildings may provide coverage for:
- Building: Commercial property insurance may cover the cost of replacing or repairing damage to your office building that was caused by insured perils (insured perils will be clearly stated in your policy and may include fires, floods, theft, vandalism, etc.)
- Business contents: Commercial property insurance may cover the cost of replacing or repairing business-related contents in the building if they are lost, stolen, or damaged due to an insured peril (e.g. fires, floods, theft, etc.). Specifically, the physical assets that commercial property insurance may cover (beyond the premises itself) include:
- Equipment and tools used for business
- Inventory
- Furniture
- Computers/electronics
- Fixtures
- Exterior signs
- Fencing and landscaping
- Important documents
- Inventory
- Others’ property
It is worth noting that there are typically two types of insurance coverage offered through commercial property insurance policies: replacement cost and actual cash value. Replacement cost covers the cost of repairing or rebuilding the property using materials of the same or comparable quality while actual cash value covers the current value of the damaged property minus depreciation.
Commercial property insurance coverage for commercial condos: what’s excluded
To help you understand how commercial property insurance works, we outlined a few incidents that are not covered by most policies.
- The disappearance of an item where the cause of the loss cannot be determined.
- Commercial condo units or buildings that are left vacant or unoccupied for more than a certain stretch of time (often 30 days).
- Regular wear and tear to equipment due to regular usage.
- Losses of cash, securities, or precious metals (you will need to add crime insurance to your commercial condo building policy if you want to be covered for this).
Cost breakdown of commercial condo insurance
Once someone starts considering insurance, one of the main questions we get asked is “how much will it cost?” The reality is that the cost of insurance is a major factor for most policyholders. Therefore, it’s unsurprising that you wish to know more about how much insurance for commercial condos costs. The reality is that insurance for commercial condos varies in price. This is because premiums are based on many factors, like the location and size of your condo buildings and your personal insurance claims history. Therefore, it’s difficult to provide an accurate estimate or average cost of insurance for commercial condo buildings without knowing some basic details about your condo building. To help you get a better idea of how insurance companies calculate premiums, the experts at ALIGNED have put together the following list of factors impacting the cost of insurance for commercial condo buildings:
- The location and size of your commercial condo building or unit
- The age and condition of your commercial condo building or unit
- The number of tenants in your commercial condo building or unit
- The type of businesses leasing space in your commercial condo building or unit
- Your insurance claims history
- The amount of rental income generated by your commercial condo building or unit
- The revenue generated by your commercial condo building or unit
- The policy coverages, limits, and deductibles you choose
As the cost of insurance for office buildings varies so considerably, the best course of action if you want to know how much commercial condo insurance will cost you is to contact an insurance brokerage for an estimate. ALIGNED is pleased to offer commercial insurance quotes to all business owners, including owners of commercial condo buildings. All you have to do is give us a call, provide us with some basic information about your commercial condo building and coverage needs, and one of our licensed brokers will provide you with an accurate, competitive, and obligation-free quote as soon as possible. No matter the size and occupancy of your commercial condo building, an ALIGNED broker will help you obtain multiple commercial insurance quotes. We work with Canada’s top insurance companies (over 65 of them, in fact) while operating completely independently of them, allowing us to prioritize your needs at every turn. Plus, when you contact us, we can offer some tips on how to save money on insurance for your commercial condo building (we never want our customers to spend more than they have to on insurance).
Finally, when discussing the cost of insurance for commercial condo buildings, it is important to note that insurance companies are the ones that set insurance premiums, not brokers. So while ALIGNED can help you find a great commercial condo policy and even unlock discounts on your behalf, we do not set rates. Call us today or continue reading to learn more about the benefits of working with an insurance broker. Our ALIGNED insurance brokers help clients across Canada find insurance coverage for commercial condo buildings. Our insurance brokers in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto are supported by our National Operations headquarters in Cambridge, Ontario.
How the premiums for commercial condo insurance are calculated
The way that premiums are calculated varies from provider to provider. While many consider a wide range of factors, such as the location, size, and revenue of your commercial condo building, how these factors are weighed can differ significantly. For example, premiums for commercial property insurance and machinery breakdown insurance are usually based on the total insured value of the condo building being insured. Note that the total value of the building includes everything (e.g. improvements made to the building, the amount of rental income generated by the building, etc.). Meanwhile, premiums for commercial general liability insurance are calculated based on the revenue generated by your business operations. (However, other factors, like the type, location, and size of the commercial condo building will also come into play)
Key considerations before purchasing insurance for commercial condos
- Coverage: It is up to each commercial condo owner to decide what coverages they want to include with their commercial insurance policies. To make an informed decision, you will need to assess your risk level. As mentioned, commercial general liability insurance and commercial property insurance are fairly standard for most commercial insurance policies. However, that doesn’t mean that they are the only two coverages your policy should include. For example, depending on the unique risks you face, you might decide that adding additional coverage in the form of machinery breakdown insurance, crime insurance, or business interruption insurance is worthwhile.
- Cost: The next key consideration when purchasing commercial condo insurance is the cost. The cost of insurance is one of the most important factors for many policyholders. No one wants to overpay for insurance. To ensure you’re getting the best possible rate for your commercial insurance policy, we recommend contacting ALIGNED. We can obtain and compare quotes on your behalf to ensure you’re getting the best possible coverage at the lowest possible price. We can also explain how premiums for commercial condo insurance are calculated and provide you with a quote. Ultimately, how much your commercial condo insurance policy costs will depend on several factors, like the size and location of your building, your insurance claims history, the deductibles and coverage you choose, and the revenue your building generates each year.
- Insurance broker vs. insurance company: Finally, before buying a dental hygienist insurance policy, you will need to decide whether you want to purchase it directly through an insurance company or through a broker. There are benefits to both, though working with an insurance broker is the best way to ensure you are getting a great rate for your policy since we compare quotes on your behalf.
3 reasons to buy insurance for your commercial condo building from an ALIGNED broker
Interested in buying insurance for your commercial condo but aren’t sure whether to buy it from an insurance provider or a broker? We urge you to consider the top three benefits of working with an insurance broker below:
Brokers are knowledgeable about a wide range of insurance products
The first reason to buy insurance for commercial condos from an insurance broker is that they have knowledge about a wide range of insurance products. This makes them an unbeatable resource when shopping for commercial condo insurance. A broker is well-versed in the insurance offerings of multiple insurance providers, allowing them to compare options and find you a great policy. For example, here at ALIGNED, we work with over 65 insurance providers in Canada to help you find a great policy.
Brokers work independently of insurance companies
The next reason to work with an insurance broker is that they operate independently of insurance companies. That is why, when you contact ALIGNED, you can rest easy knowing your broker is working for you and not the insurance company. You can always count on ALIGNED to provide unbiased, objective advice on the best insurance policy for your commercial condo building.
Brokers do the work for you
One final reason to work with an insurance broker is that they do the work for you. Here at ALIGNED, our insurance brokers take care of everything from start to finish. Simply get in touch, tell us what type of policy you’re looking for, and we will get to work.
Get ALIGNED with quality insurance for commercial condos
Start protecting your commercial condo building by contacting ALIGNED today. Our team of friendly and licensed insurance brokers is eager to help find the right coverage for your commercial condo building. We take the time to understand your unique needs as a property owner and will always put them first. Contact ALIGNED today to learn more about the benefits of commercial condo insurance or click here for a free quote.
