Guide
Condo Insurance Requirements
Most condo buyers spend more time choosing their unit's paint colors than understanding how insurance works in a condominium. That asymmetry is costly.
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The association carries a master policy that covers the building — but its scope, its deductibles, and its exclusions directly determine what your personal HO-6 policy needs to do. Getting this analysis wrong can leave you exposed to losses you thought someone else would cover. This page explains the coverage split, the common gaps, and what to verify before you close.
Master policy versus HO-6: the fundamental split
A condominium association carries a master insurance policy covering the building structure, common areas, and — depending on the policy form — some portion of each unit's interior. Your personal HO-6 policy covers your unit interior, your personal property, and your liability exposure as a unit owner. The two policies are meant to work together without overlapping and without leaving gaps. In practice, gaps are common and overlap is rare. The most important step in sizing your HO-6 correctly is reading the master policy's declarations page — specifically, the policy form, the coverage limits, and the major deductibles. Both documents should be reviewed together, not separately. Your insurance agent should be working from the master policy details when they quote your HO-6.
Bare-walls-in versus all-in policy forms
The two dominant master policy forms in condominium insurance create fundamentally different coverage splits. A bare-walls-in policy covers only the building structure — framing, concrete, exterior walls, common mechanical systems — and stops at the interior surface of the walls. Everything inside your unit, including flooring, cabinetry, fixtures, and built-in appliances, is your responsibility regardless of the damage's source. An all-in policy extends the master coverage to include the original unit finishes and fixtures as installed by the developer. If you or a prior owner made improvements above the original specifications — upgraded countertops, custom flooring, additional built-ins — those betterments are typically your responsibility even under an all-in policy. Know which form your building carries before your HO-6 is priced. A bare-walls-in building requires substantially more interior coverage from your personal policy.
Loss assessment coverage: the most overlooked protection
When the association sustains a loss — a fire, storm damage, a liability claim — and the master policy's deductible or coverage limit is not sufficient to pay the full cost, the board assesses unit owners for their proportionate share of the shortfall. This is called a loss assessment, and it is a direct financial obligation on you as an owner. Loss assessment coverage, available as an add-on to most HO-6 policies, reimburses you for these charged amounts up to your policy limit. The coverage is typically inexpensive relative to the protection it provides. The right limit depends on your building's master policy deductibles — particularly the windstorm or hurricane deductible, which in coastal states can represent hundreds of thousands of dollars applied to the whole building. Ask your insurance agent to size your loss assessment coverage to your realistic maximum exposure, not just the policy minimum.
Windstorm, hurricane, and named-storm deductibles
In coastal and hurricane-exposed states, windstorm and named-storm deductibles are the single largest insurance risk variable for condo owners. Unlike a flat-dollar deductible, these are typically expressed as a percentage of the building's total insured value — often one to five percent. On a building insured for $20 million, a two percent deductible is $400,000. That entire amount must be funded before the insurer pays anything, and it is almost always funded through a special assessment on unit owners. Florida's coastal condo market illustrates the stakes: after major storms, assessments to cover master-policy deductibles have run into tens of thousands of dollars per unit in some buildings. Request the current windstorm deductible from the master policy declarations page, divide by the number of units as a rough per-unit exposure estimate, and make sure your loss assessment coverage limit is set accordingly.
Flood insurance: separate, federal, and often required
Standard property insurance — both the master policy and your HO-6 — does not cover flood damage. Flood insurance in the United States is primarily provided through the federal National Flood Insurance Program. If the building is in a FEMA-designated Special Flood Hazard Area, your lender will likely require you to carry a unit-level flood policy as a condition of the loan. Even outside a designated flood zone, flood exposure is worth evaluating: many loss events classified as flooding occur outside the mapped 100-year floodplain. Ask whether the association carries a flood policy on the building's common areas, check the property address in FEMA's flood map service, and get a flood insurance quote for your unit as part of your pre-close insurance planning.
What to verify in the master policy declarations page
The master policy declarations page is the single most useful insurance document you can request. It states the insurer, the policy period, the coverage limits, the named-storm and all-peril deductibles, and the policy form (bare-walls vs. all-in). It will also show whether the building is insured through an admitted carrier, a surplus lines carrier, or a state-backed facility such as Citizens Property Insurance in Florida. The carrier matters: a building insured by a financially stressed or non-admitted carrier carries more renewal risk. Look for the liability coverage limits on common areas and check when the policy renews relative to your closing date. A policy expiring shortly after you close with no confirmed renewal terms is worth asking about.
Reviewer's checklist
- Request the association's current master insurance policy declarations page
- Identify the policy form: bare-walls-in or all-in
- Record the windstorm or named-storm deductible as a dollar amount or percentage of insured value
- Estimate your per-unit windstorm deductible exposure by dividing the building deductible by the number of units
- Confirm whether the building is in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area using the FEMA flood map service
- Ask whether the association carries a flood policy on the building's common areas
- Identify the master policy carrier and confirm whether it is an admitted carrier or Citizens/surplus lines
- Request your HO-6 quote before closing, providing the master policy details to your agent
- Ensure your HO-6 includes loss assessment coverage sized to your realistic windstorm deductible exposure
- Confirm your HO-6 covers betterments and improvements above the original developer specifications
- Check whether a unit-level flood policy will be required by your lender
- Review the insurance premium trend in the association's budgets for the past three to five years
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State-specific resources
The framework on this page applies nationally. For state-specific statutes, disclosures, and the documents associations are required to provide, see your state hub.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
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