Buyers of a Langley townhouse or a White Rock condo read the strata fee, the depreciation report and the minutes. Very few ask the one number that can cost more than a year of fees in a single afternoon: the strata corporation's insurance deductible, and who pays it when the leak starts in your unit.
What the strata corporation has to insure
Section 149 of the Strata Property Act requires the strata corporation to insure the common property, the common assets, the buildings shown on the strata plan, and the fixtures the developer installed in each strata lot as part of the original construction. The insurance has to be for full replacement value and has to cover the major perils. Section 9.1 of the Strata Property Regulation lists them: fire, lightning, smoke, windstorm, hail, explosion, water escape, strikes, riots or civil commotion, impact by aircraft and vehicles, vandalism and malicious acts. Section 9.2 sets liability insurance at a minimum of $2M.
Earthquake is not on that list. Many strata corporations carry it, and the deductible on it works differently, which comes up below.
Bare land stratas, common in parts of Langley, are the exception. Section 149(3) takes developer fixtures out of the rule, and the province's guidance is that the individual homes in a bare land strata usually are not on the strata plan and not in the strata's property policy. The owner insures the house.
Who pays the deductible
Section 158(1) makes the deductible on a strata claim a common expense, paid through strata fees by unit entitlement. That is the default. Section 158(2) is the part that matters: it does not limit the strata corporation's capacity to sue an owner to recover the deductible if the owner is responsible for the loss or damage that gave rise to the claim.
Responsible does not mean negligent. The province's own guidance says an owner can be required to pay the deductible even if not at fault, and gives the example of a dishwasher hose that breaks early and floods common property and the units below. The hose was not your fault. It was in your unit. Many strata corporations have also passed bylaws on charging back deductibles, so the bylaws in the package matter as much as the Act. How strata bylaws are made and enforced is covered in what a BC strata can still restrict.
How big the number is
The province says strata insurance deductibles can range from $100,000 to $750,000 and higher, depending on the number of units and the corporation's claims history. Put that beside a Langley townhouse at the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board's October 2026 benchmark of $800,600, or a South Surrey and White Rock apartment at $558,600. A water deductible at the top of that range is more than the down payment most buyers bring to either.
The deductible tends to follow the claims. A building with a history of water losses usually carries a higher water deductible than its neighbour, and the premium moves with it. That history is in the minutes long before it is in a listing.
Earthquake deductibles are a percentage, not a dollar figure
The province's guidance is plain about this. Earthquake deductibles are typically a percentage of the building's full replacement value, from 10 to 20 per cent, not a percentage of the loss. Every owner shares it through unit entitlement.
An illustration, my numbers, not any real building: a complex with a full replacement value of $40M and a 15 per cent earthquake deductible carries a $6M deductible. Spread across 100 units with equal entitlement, that is $60,000 per unit before the insurer pays anything. The province notes that a table showing each unit's share can be included with the AGM notice. Ask for it.
What the owner's policy is for
Section 161 lets an owner insure what the strata does not: perils the strata policy excludes, amounts above the strata's limits, improvements to the original fixtures, loss of rental value, and liability. The province's guidance says strata corporation insurance does not cover personal liability, contents, the cost of living elsewhere after a loss, or paying the strata's deductible when you are responsible.
That last item is the one to read on your own condo policy. Owner policies can include deductible coverage, and the limit on it is a number you choose. If the building's water deductible is $250,000 and your policy covers $50,000, the gap is yours. The province also suggests separate coverage for your share of an earthquake deductible and for a special levy when repairs run past the strata's limits.
What a buyer should ask before removing subjects
Since April 1, 2023, the Form B Information Certificate has to include a summary of the strata corporation's insurance coverage. Under section 154, the strata also has to review its insurance every year, report on it at each AGM, and tell owners and tenants as soon as feasible about any material change, including an increase in a deductible. So the information exists. Read it for:
- The water damage deductible. Usually the one most likely to land on one owner.
- The earthquake deductible. A percentage, and your unit's share of it in dollars.
- The bylaw on charging back deductibles. Whether there is one, and what it says.
- Claims in the last few years. In the minutes, with the insurance renewal discussion.
- The renewal date. A renewal a month after you complete can change the deductible you bought into.
Then call your own insurer with those numbers before subject removal, not after. What else to read in a strata package is in the property disclosure statement and home inspections in Langley and South Surrey, and the condo side of the market is in the White Rock condo market for downsizers.
For owners already in a strata
Pull your policy and the strata's insurance summary from the last AGM and put the two deductibles side by side. If you are selling, expect a buyer's agent to ask, and have the summary ready with the Form B. If you are buying a townhouse or condo in Langley, South Surrey or White Rock, I read these with you before the subjects come off.
Sources
Strata Property Act sections 149, 150, 154, 158 and 161, and Strata Property Regulation sections 9.1 and 9.2 and Form B item (o), from bclaws.gov.bc.ca. Province of British Columbia strata housing pages on strata corporation insurance and on strata owner and tenant insurance, the latter published July 23, 2025, and the changes to strata legislation page, all from www2.gov.bc.ca, for the deductible range, the earthquake deductible method, the April 1, 2023 Form B requirement and the dishwasher hose example. Benchmark prices from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board's October 2026 statistics package. The earthquake example is illustrative arithmetic, not a real building. Checked November 13, 2026. Not legal or insurance advice.