Strata and Owner Insurance for Multiplex Homes | MultiLiving

The two policies are designed to fit together, and the seam between them is where the money is. Understanding it takes about ten minutes and can save a household a very large amount.

The short version

The strata's policy covers the building and common property. It does not cover your possessions or your liability.
Your own owner's policy covers contents, improvements you have made, liability and living costs if you cannot stay in the home.
A strata deductible can be charged to an owner where a claim originates in their home, which is the single biggest gap buyers miss.
Ask for the strata's insurance summary before you buy, and read the deductible figure.
Get your own quote before completion, because your lender will require proof of insurance before releasing funds.

What the strata's policy does

The strata corporation insures the building itself: the structure, the common property, and typically the original fixtures in each home as they were when the building was finished.

It also carries liability cover for the corporation, which responds when somebody is injured on the common property. In a small multiplex, where the owners are also the council, that cover is protecting you personally as well as the corporation.

What it does not do is cover your belongings, your liability inside your own home, or the cost of living somewhere else while damage is repaired. Those are yours.

Ask the strata for its insurance summary before you buy. You are looking for what is covered, what the total insured value is, and above all what the deductible is, because that number can end up being your problem.

Read the coverage summary rather than the certificate. A certificate tells you a policy exists. The summary tells you what it covers and, more usefully, what it excludes. Older buildings and buildings with a claims history sometimes carry exclusions that would surprise an owner who assumed everything was insured, and a new building can have gaps of its own while the first policy year settles.

If the building is brand new, ask when the strata corporation's policy was arranged and by whom. In the first months of a new strata the arrangements are often put in place by the company that built it and handed over later, and it is worth confirming that the cover in place is the cover the owners want rather than the minimum needed at handover.

The deductible trap

This is the part worth reading twice.

When the strata makes a claim, it pays the deductible. Where the damage originated in one owner's home, the strata may be able to recover that deductible from the owner, depending on the circumstances and on the bylaws for that building. Deductibles on strata water damage claims can run well into five figures.

So a burst supply line in your kitchen can produce a bill to you that is far larger than the damage in your own home, because the water reached other homes and the strata claimed. The protection against this is a specific piece of cover on your own owner's policy, usually described as deductible assessment or loss assessment cover.

Ask your insurer for it by name, and ask for a limit that matches the strata's actual deductible rather than a default figure. This is the single most useful thing in this whole hub for a buyer moving into a strata home for the first time.

Get the strata's insurance summary and note the water damage deductible
Ask your own insurer for deductible or loss assessment cover
Set the limit against the strata's actual deductible, not a standard amount
Check whether the bylaws make owners responsible for deductibles
Review it annually, because strata deductibles change at renewal

What your own policy needs to cover

Four things, and buyers usually think of only the first.

Contents, which is everything you own inside the home. Improvements and betterments, which is anything you have added or upgraded beyond what the building came with, since the strata policy generally covers the original finishes only. Personal liability, which responds if somebody is injured inside your home or if you cause damage to another home. And additional living expenses, which pays for somewhere to stay if your home is uninhabitable while repairs happen.

That last one is easy to dismiss and hard to do without. A water escape can put a household out of its home for months, and the cost of renting somewhere at short notice in Greater Vancouver is not small.

In a brand new home, take a moment over the improvements cover. On completion you have none, and after you have added flooring, built-in storage or a better kitchen you do. Insurance arranged on day one and never revisited will not reflect that.

Contents cover is worth doing properly rather than accepting a default figure. Most households underestimate what they own by a wide margin, because the total is made up of ordinary things rather than valuable ones. Walk through the home room by room and add it up once. It is a dull hour and it is the difference between a claim that rebuilds your life and one that covers half of it.

Liability cover deserves a thought too, particularly in a small building. If a guest is injured in your home, or if something you did causes damage in a neighbouring home, your liability cover is what stands between you and a claim from people you see every day. That social dimension is real in a four home building in a way it is not in a tower.

Finally, check how your policy treats a period when the home is empty. If you complete before you can move in, or you travel for an extended stretch, many policies restrict cover after the home has been unoccupied for a set number of days. Tell your insurer in advance rather than afterwards, since the restriction is usually removable by arrangement and never removable retrospectively.

Keep both policy documents, yours and the strata's summary, in the same place. When something happens the first question is always which policy responds, and answering it in two minutes rather than two days changes how the whole claim goes.

Review the strata's insurance at each renewal, not just at purchase. Deductibles in British Columbia have moved considerably in recent years, and an owner policy with a deductible assessment limit set when you bought can be well short of the strata's current figure. It is a five minute check once a year and it is the cheapest protection in this hub.

If you are buying with family into the same building, each household needs its own policy on its own home. Nothing about being related pools the cover, and two households assuming the other one dealt with it is a gap that only becomes visible at the point of a claim.

One last thing worth doing on the day you move in: photograph every room, empty. It takes ten minutes and it produces a record of the condition of the home at the moment you took it on, which is useful for a warranty conversation, an insurance claim and eventually for a sale.

Store those photographs somewhere that is not only your phone, along with the two policy documents and the strata's insurance summary.

Getting cover in place at the right time

Your lender will require proof of home insurance in place from the completion date before releasing funds. This is not a formality and it is one of the more common last minute problems.

Arrange the quote a few weeks before completion rather than a few days. Insurers sometimes want details about the building that take time to obtain, particularly for a brand new strata where the corporation's own policy has only just been arranged.

For a pre-sale purchase, remember that the completion date can move. Speak to your insurer about how they handle a shifting date rather than binding cover against a date you already know might change.

Keep the strata's insurance summary with your own policy documents. When something happens, the first question is always which policy responds, and having both in one place turns a stressful afternoon into a phone call.

Questions buyers ask

No. The strata corporation's policy covers the building and the common property, and typically the original fixtures as the home was finished. Your possessions, any improvements you have made, your personal liability and the cost of living elsewhere during repairs all need your own owner's policy.

It is the amount the strata pays out of its own funds on a claim. Where damage originated in one owner's home, the strata may be able to recover that deductible from the owner, depending on the circumstances and the bylaws. Deductibles on water damage claims can run into five figures, which is why owners carry cover for it.

Ask your insurer for deductible assessment or loss assessment cover by name, and set the limit against the strata's actual deductible rather than accepting a default figure. Review it each year, because strata deductibles are often adjusted at renewal and a limit set three years ago may no longer be enough.

They are anything you have added or upgraded beyond what the home came with: better flooring, built-in storage, an upgraded kitchen. The strata's policy generally covers the original finishes, so improvements need to be insured on your own policy. In a new home this grows over time, so revisit the amount rather than setting it once.

It pays for somewhere to stay if your home cannot be lived in while repairs are carried out, and it is easy to dismiss until you need it. A water escape can displace a household for months, and renting at short notice in Greater Vancouver is expensive. We would treat it as a core part of the policy rather than an extra.

From the completion date, because your lender will require proof of cover before releasing funds. Arrange the quote a few weeks ahead rather than a few days, since insurers sometimes need building details that take time to obtain, particularly for a brand new strata whose own policy has only just been put in place.

Completion dates on pre-sale purchases move, so speak to your insurer about how they handle a shifting date rather than binding cover to a date that may change. Tell them early that it is a new home purchase, and confirm what they will need from the strata corporation once the building's own policy exists.

Yes, and read the deductible figure specifically rather than skimming the coverage list. The summary tells you what the building is insured for and how large a deductible an owner could be exposed to, which directly determines what limit you should carry on your own policy. It is a standard document that any strata can provide.

Premiums depend on the building, its claims history, its systems and its location rather than on the number of homes, so there is no reliable rule either way. What is worth knowing is that a claim in a small building affects a small group, so one significant claim can move the strata's premium and deductible noticeably at the next renewal.

The strata's policy generally responds to damage across the building, and the strata may then be able to recover its deductible from the owner where the damage originated, depending on the circumstances and the bylaws. Your own liability cover and deductible assessment cover are what stand between you and that bill.

Standard owner's policies vary in how they treat business use, and some exclude it or limit equipment cover. If you work from home, particularly if clients visit or you hold business equipment there, tell your insurer rather than assuming. It is usually a small adjustment when disclosed and a declined claim when it is not.

Once a year, at renewal, and any time you make a significant improvement to the home or the strata changes its deductible. Both of those move the amount you should be insured for, and an owner's policy set on completion day and never revisited is usually the one that turns out to be short.

Also worth reading

Strata insurance for multiplexes

Where these numbers come from

Every figure on this page comes from the body that issues it. Rules and rates change, so each entry says when we checked it.

Strata Property Act, SBC 1998, c. 43, Part 6 (Finances), sections 91 to 94. BC Laws, Queen's Printer for British Columbia. Act current to 25 August 2026, accessed 29 August 2026.

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