Strata Insurance in BC and the Deductible Problem

What the strata's policy covers

Every BC strata corporation must insure the buildings and common property for full replacement value against a list of named perils, fire, lightning, smoke, windstorm, hail, explosion, water escape, riots or civil commotion, impact by aircraft and vehicles, and vandalism, and carry liability insurance of at least $2 million, per the province's strata insurance rules. The strata must review the policy's adequacy every year and report on coverage at each AGM.

That policy is why you don't personally insure the roof over a condo. But notice what it covers: the building, as originally built, and the common property. Everything inside your specific life, your furniture, your renovated kitchen, your hotel bill after a flood, your liability, sits outside it.

What your own policy has to do

The personal policy, usually called a condo or strata owner policy, exists to fill four gaps the province's guidance for owners lays out:

• Contents. Your belongings, which the strata's policy never touches.
• Living elsewhere. Additional living expenses when an insured loss pushes you out during repairs.
• Upgrades. Improvements beyond the building's original standard, that renovated bathroom is yours to insure, not the strata's.
• The strata's deductible. The big one, and the reason this page exists.

The deductible problem

Here is the mechanism that surprises almost every first-time strata buyer we work with. When a loss originates in a strata lot, the strata corporation can recover its insurance deductible from that lot's owner if the owner is responsible for the loss. And in BC, responsibility does not require negligence.

The province's own example: a dishwasher water hose breaks prematurely and the overflow damages common property and neighbouring lots. The owner installed nothing wrong, ignored nothing, did nothing careless. The strata's insurance pays for the repairs, and the strata can still look to that owner for the deductible.

Now put a number on it. The province notes strata deductibles can range from $100,000 to $750,000 or higher, and water deductibles are typically the largest line. A six-figure bill, from a hose.

Where to find the numbers before you buy

Since April 1, 2023, a summary of the strata corporation's insurance must be included with the Form B Information Certificate, which means every properly assembled strata package now shows you the coverage and deductibles before subject removal. Two other places fill in the picture:

• The AGM minutes. The strata reports on insurance at every AGM, so renewal shocks, premium jumps, deductible increases, coverage struggles, show up in the minutes within the two-year window we already recommend reading.
• The bylaws. Some stratas define owner responsibility for deductibles in a bylaw. Read it with our bylaws guide beside you, and put anything ambiguous in front of your lawyer.

Insurance costs are strata fees in disguise

The strata's premium is an operating expense, financed by everyone's monthly fees. When a building's claims history or age pushes its premium up at renewal, the increase flows into the next budget and every owner's fee. A building with repeated water claims often carries the whole set: higher premiums, a higher water deductible, and minutes full of plumbing discussions. Each is a symptom of the same underlying thing, and the depreciation report usually names it: aging pipes with a replacement date.

That's why we treat the insurance summary as a health document as much as a coverage document. In our experience, a building that has kept its plumbing, roof, and envelope current reads calm across all three: modest deductibles, unremarkable minutes, and a reserve plan that matches its report.

What to actually do, in order

1. Pull the insurance summary from the Form B package and note every deductible.
2. Scan two years of minutes for renewal discussions and water incidents.
3. Check the bylaws for a deductible-responsibility provision.
4. Get your personal policy quote during the subject period, with deductible coverage matched to the building's actual numbers, and confirm the premium fits your monthly budget.
5. Send anything unclear to your insurance broker or lawyer before subjects come off.

Insurance is the least glamorous page of a strata package and, in a bad week, the most important one. If you're comparing two buildings and want a second read of their packages, book a no-pressure chat with the FRIVE team, we'll go through the summaries with you line by line.