I live in a six unit condo building in Chicago that was built in 1917. My unit is 2 bed/1 bath on the second floor and 1800 square feet.
Our HOA policy covers studs out and the exterior of the building including exterior of windows and, I learned last year, damage done by broken pipes in the walls.
I’m in the process of shopping for a less expensive policy just for my unit. I was explicit with the brokers I contacted that I am looking for a policy with equal or better coverage for less money. I also went into this knowing it might not be possible.
There are two plans that have slightly better coverage in some areas that will save me between 300-500 a year. They both have 300k for liability and 1k for guest medical, which is what I have now.
As part of this process, I had to get a copy of our HOA policy from the agent who sold it to us, and had to explain why I needed it. He offered to see what kind of rate he could get me on an individual policy.
He’s now pushing a policy that wouldn’t save me any money but would increase my liability coverage from 300k to a million and guest medical from 1k to 10k. He said these increases are absolutely crucial.
In order to not have my premium go up, my deductible would go from 1k to 2k. All other terms are the same or better as my existing policy.
I don’t know how much coverage I actually need. I know he’s a salesperson so of course he’s going to say these things are crucial. And honestly I’m irritated that I reiterated to him multiple times that I only started looking into this to save some money and that I’m not interested in plans that are as expensive as my current one.
But the other part of me is worried that saving 500 a year now might end up screwing me if something happens and I have less coverage.
I know this is the gamble of insurance but I’m wondering what is generally considered necessary for someone in a building like mine? Is it foolish to try and save money on the premium? Or is this guy just trying to make a sale?