Does Condo HOA Insurance Cover Damages to Car

Question

I currently reside in a condo. My car was recently vandalized in the condo complex and the cost of repair was lower than my auto insurance so I paid the cost out-of-pocket. Can the condo's HOA insurance cover damages to residents' cars?

Answer 1

The only real answer can be "ask the HOA contact." The chance, in my opinion, is not likely. Even in my own home, there's two policies, one for the house and contents, the other for the car. The association has an obligation to keep costs as low as possible. Insuring your car under that policy makes little sense.

Answer 2

tldr; damage to your car due to vandalism is normally only covered under your auto comprehensive policy.

You're probably out of luck. There are 3 different policies at play here:

1. Condo Association Main policy: this covers the building structure and the common areas. It also (usually) includes anything that is attached to the building structure inside of your condo, such as walls, floors, and ceilings, including any pipes and electrical wiring that are contained within them.
2. Your personal condo policy. This includes the contents of your condo: fixtures, appliances, furniture, etc. Typically this policy will cover your belongings that are inside of your car too, but nothing that is considered part of the car. Note if you are a renter, this is similar to a Renters Insurance policy (with the exception of fixtures and appliances which has some gray area as to whether you or your landlord's policy would pay for that).
3. Your auto insurance policy. This covers damage your car does to other property, and also (if you have it) damage done to your car due to an accident (collision) or theft/vandalism (comprehensive).

Summary: the damage done to your car from vandalism would normally only be covered by your auto comprehensive policy. If the vandal also happened to steal items from inside your vehicle, this would be covered under your personal condo insurance policy (or renters policy if you were a renter). Of course the total of the items stolen would have to be worth more than your personal condo policy's deductible for theft in order to make it worth considering.

Note: the reason I used the words normally and typically, is because if the vandal went down the line and vandalized many cars in the parking lot, then things could change a bit, as many owners collectively could act as a group and attempt to file a claim with the main condo policy. This would likely require attorneys to pull it off though.

Answer 3

Can the condo's HOA insurance cover damages to residents' cars?

No. Unless the condo board has a specific duty to prevent vandalism or malicious mischief on their premises or the property is in the legal custody of the condo board, there is no coverage.

One possible loophole is if you had proof that the damage occurred as a direct result of negligence of an employee or officer of the condo association within the course of that person executing official duties of the association.

An example would be if the condo employs a full-time janitor to shovel the snow on the grounds and damaged your car in the course of snow removal. If they use a subcontractor for snow removal who damages your car, that would be on the subcontractor's insurance.