My wife and I have just purchased a condo in Punta Cana, we are getting mixed reviews regarding purchasing insurance. Some say not to get insurance it is a waste of money. Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciate. Thanks in advance.
- Thread starter GLENK24
- Start date
Insurance
What you heard is correct. Complete Gringo ripoff. The only Insurance you need is on your car and health insurance.,,,,,,,,,,,,,
**** If you have a bank loan from here they require you have property insurance to me which is a scam but it's a requirement also life insurance in case you croak.if your place has no loans attached to it I would not get it and tell them to go pound salt where the sun don't shine
IMO it's a waste of money. You can get content insurance but I have never heard of anyone actually collecting after a break in.
Insuring the actual condo is even a bigger rip off. The way my agent explained it to me is in the event of a catastrophic event all condos would have to be insured. If you are the only one that has (for example) hurricane insurance and your complex is leveled they can't just rebuild 1 unit and walk away payout insurance is not an option here.
The cost for all units to have total loss insurance is approximately $1000.00 USD for each 100,000 of value. So if there are 50 units worth 250,000 each the annual cost is in the $125,000 per year range. Never going to happen especially when you can't even get all the owners to pay monthly condo fees.
Insuring the actual condo is even a bigger rip off. The way my agent explained it to me is in the event of a catastrophic event all condos would have to be insured. If you are the only one that has (for example) hurricane insurance and your complex is leveled they can't just rebuild 1 unit and walk away payout insurance is not an option here.
The cost for all units to have total loss insurance is approximately $1000.00 USD for each 100,000 of value. So if there are 50 units worth 250,000 each the annual cost is in the $125,000 per year range. Never going to happen especially when you can't even get all the owners to pay monthly condo fees.
I have property insurance on all of mine, I've claimed many times and it's worked really well. The broker I use is excellent and if you need to claim on anything she manages the whole process. I have cover for contents and it's especially useful for electrical items - they replaced my iMac when it fell off a table.
As you live in a condo, the administrator will have a policy covering the building and you will need to get an insurance broker to look at this and work out what you are and are not covered for, then tailor a quote. In the case of my condo for example there is a huge amount of glass and this is not covered under the building policy, so if we did have a hurricane the cost to replace my windows would come in at over US$ 50,000. Which is a fair amount of cheese. In addition I have coverage for third-party liability, so if (when) my pipes leak and flood the guys' apartments below me I am covered. Which saved me a fortune when it happened as the claim was several thousand dollars. And also I have cover for accidental damage and this paid out when my iMac fell off a table. They have also replaced TV's which got burnt out during a lightening strike.
I would suggest you speak to my broker, PM me and I'll put you in touch, she deals with a lot of expats and in the ten years I've dealt with her she's never been anything but excellent. Get her to look over the policy that is in place for the building and make recommendations. She takes her fee from the insurance company so to get a quote and discuss ideas is free.
In response to all those saying it's a waste of money, my cousin lives in Tortola and was hit badly by hurricane Irma. She didn't have insurance and she lost her business and her house. All these years later she is living in a small apartment, while her neighbors who had insurance have been rebuilt. Just take a look at the videos of Fort Lauderdale this week and you can see how a weather event can cause a lot of damage.
As you live in a condo, the administrator will have a policy covering the building and you will need to get an insurance broker to look at this and work out what you are and are not covered for, then tailor a quote. In the case of my condo for example there is a huge amount of glass and this is not covered under the building policy, so if we did have a hurricane the cost to replace my windows would come in at over US$ 50,000. Which is a fair amount of cheese. In addition I have coverage for third-party liability, so if (when) my pipes leak and flood the guys' apartments below me I am covered. Which saved me a fortune when it happened as the claim was several thousand dollars. And also I have cover for accidental damage and this paid out when my iMac fell off a table. They have also replaced TV's which got burnt out during a lightening strike.
I would suggest you speak to my broker, PM me and I'll put you in touch, she deals with a lot of expats and in the ten years I've dealt with her she's never been anything but excellent. Get her to look over the policy that is in place for the building and make recommendations. She takes her fee from the insurance company so to get a quote and discuss ideas is free.
In response to all those saying it's a waste of money, my cousin lives in Tortola and was hit badly by hurricane Irma. She didn't have insurance and she lost her business and her house. All these years later she is living in a small apartment, while her neighbors who had insurance have been rebuilt. Just take a look at the videos of Fort Lauderdale this week and you can see how a weather event can cause a lot of damage.
In the complex where I own my apartment there are 90 apartments and only 3 don't are behind with the monthly fees. The insurance is the largest part of the maintenance bill, my share alone comes in at US$ 300 a month. And we have full cover, even in the case of an earthquake which would cause a total loss.
It's really important to live somewhere with very strong administration. I have another property that I am renting to try out living there and I would never dream of buying as it is so badly run.
For $3,600 a year I could replace all my crap in two years
$300 a month is a TOTAL ripoff unless you are rooting for an earthquake............
I think I'd need more than US$ 3600 just to replace my shoes - although admittedly I do have a bit of a thing about shoes.
I think life insurance if you croak is a good idea. If you are paying a mortgage, it will pay it off so your surviving family/dependents aren't stuck with paying it off.
Read and check Terms & Conditions. I've got my property insured for a few years with MAPFRE. Claimed once some filtration costst..... waste of money at the end. Think it also a personal thing, if you feel (more) comfortable to have your property insured. (mine is free from a mortage) and when the whole block goes down, an individual insurance also will not help.
Almost all condominiums have the building insured for damage by hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, etc. The only thing you might want to consider is content insurance which usually includes liability and theft insurance. It's relatively cheap. Get a quote and decide for yourself if it's worth it or not.
You obviously wouldn't buy content insurance just for the theft coverage. Punta Cana is susceptible to hurricanes. Content insurance is a lot like car insurance. Some people just get the minimum liability required. Other want full coverage with zero deductible. It's really an individual preference. In the US, everyone I knew had content insurance.
I swear I am part woman. I just can't wear cheap shoes, I have tried. I know I have more than 3600.00 U.S in shoes. Business shoes, evening shoes, walking shoes,golf shoes and steel toe boots for going in the mines. My preference is Italian of course.