Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: coho insurance question

[Diana E Carroll (dianaecarroll]

> I'm surprised at the high cost of insurance that folks have shared so far.
> So I'm assuming that these costs are for 'whole' communities - common
> buildings, lands and private units and that individual owners do not have
> extra coverage - is that a correct assumption?

Our cost is for the buildings and infrastructure (wells,
waste management, etc.)  It covers individual owners buildings
"from the studs out" because that's how much the association
owns.  from the studs in belongs to the unit owner, and they
have to insure that themselves.

This is typical of condos.  Individual owners get condo owners
insurance which is about half or a third of what a comparable single family
insurance policy would be, and covers the interior, as well as
their personal belongings.

Just for comparison, my 1500 square foot single family home
in suburban Boston costs about $1000 per year to insure.

My new home (1400 square feet) will cost me about $400, and the
whole cost of community insurance divided over all the units comes
out to about $600 per unit...so the total cost is...$1000 per unit.
Same as for my single family.  Which I'm sure is not
coincidental :-)

- Diana






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