Community insurance, Spain

Apartment blocks or communities of attached or detached houses are encountered throughout Spain. It is normal for these communities to take out insurance for zones and those parts of the buildings that are communal.

The biggest cause of claims in Spain is from water damage from one property to another. Typically, one apartment has a leak which damages the properties below. The damage could have originated from a communal or individual pipe. In both cases the damage should be covered under the public liability section of a community insurance.

Additional cover can be included for communal and or private glass, pipes, public liability, sanitary ware, communal contents, excess water consumption and disinfestation of animals or insects.

One note of warning is important. A community insurance policy provides cover for those parts which are communal and not individual. Therefore, it is recommended that owners of properties in communities should have their own building insurance to provide cover for that part of the building which is theirs individually and not communal. For example, if there was a fire in a kitchen, but the damage did not affect another property, there would be no cover under the community policy. A private buildings insurance would cover this damage. Older communities may have difficulties obtaining cover for pipes and again here it is crucial to have a private building insurance.