Town House Insurance

A townhouse or townhome is a single-family home that shares one or more walls with other independently-owned units. … Residents own their interior and exterior walls, lawn, and roof, as well as the insurance for both their home and property.

The homeowner’s insurance you purchase for a house or a townhouse usually comes in a package. Dwelling insurance pays for damage to structures and includes installed systems. Other structures coverage pays for structures such as detached garages, sheds, and fences. Personal property coverage insures your possessions such as appliances, furnishings, and electronics. Loss of use coverage helps offset the cost of living if your home cannot be occupied due to a covered peril. If guests or visitors bring suit against you for their injuries or their property loss and you are determined to be liable, personal liability coverage helps save you from having to pay potentially huge sums of money. Another aspect of liability insurance is known as medical payments insurance. It pays for medical bills associated with a visitor or guest being injured on your property.

A townhouse development is one that has been legally subdivided, with each townhouse owner owning a specific housing unit, usually with an entrance all its own. Often, townhouses are insured through an association master policy. In this way, townhouses are similar to condos, since they are likely to be connected via shared walls and may share or have adjoining roof lines. Townhouses can also differ from condos in that the owner may own the land or lot along with the townhouse and is adjacent landscaping and decks.

If the townhouse is covered with an association master insurance policy, the structures and common areas are almost certainly covered and liability may be covered as well. The owner should have access to the master policy to see where gaps may exits that he can fill in with his own liability and/or personal property insurance.